In chapter 33, Sophie and Langdon continue driving and try to formulate a plan of escape. Langdon looks at the key. Its handle forms a cross with four arms of equal length. Sophie has an idea and drives to the train station. Langdon is apprehensive about her plan and wishes he had turned himself in. They go to the station to buy tickets for the next train out of Paris.
In chapter 34, at the airport in Rome, Bishop Aringarosa gets into the car that will take him to Castel Gandolfo, the Pope’s summer residence. He remembers the last time he was at Gandolfo, at a meeting five months ago. On the ride that time, he was thinking about how the current Pope was too liberal, and how ridiculous it was that the Church used Castel Gandolfo, which houses an astronomical observatory, for scientific purposes. Religion and science cannot coexist, he believes. At the meeting, some terrible truth was unveiled. Now, as the Bishop travels to Gandolfo, he wishes the Teacher would call and say that Silas had the keystone.
In chapter 35, Sophie and Langdon buy two tickets and get in a waiting taxi. Langdon discovers an address written on the back of the key. They head toward that address.
In chapter 36, Fache tells Collet that the train tickets Sophie bought were probably decoys. He decides to alert Interpol to their flight.
In chapter 37, while the taxi drives through the Bois de Boulogne, Sophie asks Langdon to tell her about the Priory of Sion. He tells her the brotherhood was established to guard a secret. Its legion of knights found a special cache of documents in a ruined temple. The cache made them rich and famous, but then a pope caused them all to be killed. Since then, the documents have made their way around the globe are now hidden in an unknown place. Langdon tells Sophie that the documents and the secret they corroborate are commonly known as the Holy Grail.
In chapter 38, Langdon explains to Sophie that the documents the Priory protects are called the Sangreal, or Holy Grail. The Grail is not just a cup, as it is most commonly portrayed, but this group of documents. The cup, he explains, is an allegory for something. Langdon remembers showing his manuscript about the Holy Grail to his editor, who reacted dubiously to his theory. (Though Brown does not reveal what this theory is, he makes it clear that it is a controversial theory that does have supporters). Many prominent historians have written about this theory, but it never gained legitimacy because it was not supported by the Bible or the Church. Sophie realizes that their cabbie is about to turn them in. Holding him at gunpoint, she forces him out of his cab and makes Langdon take the wheel. Langdon can’t drive a stick shift, but they manage to get away.
In chapter 39, Silas sits in the room at the Opus Dei safe house, fretting over the fact that even though he killed all of the brothers, he doesn’t know where the secret is. He is also worried that by killing Sister Sandrine, he has put Bishop Aringarosa in danger. Silas considers killing himself. He feels he has let down the only man who has ever helped him. Silas remembers how the Bishop told him that Noah of the Ark was an albino, white like an angel. The Bishop said Silas, too, was destined for great things.
In chapter 40, Sophie takes the wheel, and they continue driving toward the address written on the key. As Langdon looks at the key, he thinks about the equal-armed cross engraved on it. The cross is very similar to the symbol used by the Knights Templar, the guardians of the Holy Grail. Nobody has seen the Grail since 1447, when a church fire forced the Priory of Sion to relocate it. Langdon is certain that when Leonardo presided over the Priory of Sion, he knew of the Grail’s whereabouts. Langdon thinks the Grail probably hasn’t been moved since then. Many historians study Leonardo’s work closely in the hopes of discovering the secret of the Holy Grail’s hiding place. It was recently discovered that one of Da Vinci’s paintings, Adoration of the Magi, was painted over after his death in order to cover up a secret message. This discovery has fueled a lot of speculation about the conspiracy around the Grail. Sophie wonders if the key is to the Grail itself, but Langdon thinks it unlikely that Sophie’s grandfather was so high up in the hierarchy of the Priory of Sion that he had access such classified information. Sophie, remembering the traumatic event in which her grandfather participated, believes it is perfectly plausible that her grandfather had access to such information. They finally reach the address on the back of the key. It is the Depository Bank of Zurich, a Swiss bank.
In chapter 41, Bishop Aringarosa arrives at Castel Gandolfo, the Pope’s summer residence, where he meets with the Secretariat Vaticana, the man in charge of Vatican City’s legal matters, as well as with two high-ranking cardinals. They present Aringarosa with a suitcase filled with the Vatican bonds he requested. The Church officials are uncomfortable giving him such a large sum of money, which could easily be traced back to the Church. They don’t know what the Pope will use the money for. Bishop Aringarosa signs an official document, which appears to be his resignation.
In chapter 42, in the Depository Bank of Zurich, Sophie and Langdon use the key to get through the elaborate security measures—gates, metal doors, and so on. They arrive at the front office, where a guard greets them and points them to an elevator, which will take them to their vault. The guard recognizes the pair from the news and calls Interpol and the bank’s president, Monsieur Vernet. Sophie and Langdon make it to the vault only to find that they need an account number to access the box. They don’t realize that they have been discovered—or that they are locked in the vault. Fache sends Collet to the bank to apprehend Langdon and Sophie.
Although it seems as if not much has happened in this section, Brown reveals what the entire novel is about - the search for the Holy Grail. I think this is super important because before we were just following the clues to solve the mystery of why Sauniere did what he did and what he was trying to tell Sophie and Langdon. Now we are following the clues to find the Holy Grail and to unravel its secret. I think this was kind of a turning point in the novel for that reason.
No comments:
Post a Comment