the answer itself. Langdon says that “It’s the conflict between Apollo and Dionysus
—a famous dilemma in mythology. It’s the age-old battle between mind and heart, which seldom want the same thing.”
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Parallel to Hamlet, Bertrand Zobrist suffers from the perplexity of self. When he decides to meet Sinskey in New York, he wants to discern of WHO. It is not a
portrait of his humble soul for he is a man with a high confidence. It is a depiction of his journey to find an answer for his anguish. He shows the human population data.
He also shows the exponential math of duplication and he also shows the spiritual destruction that will happen if mankind does not control their population. It is not an
act of persuading; it is an act of finding justification. Zobrist says that: “I have shown you this image of impending misery.” He refreshed the
screen, again displaying th e image of the bodies. “I have reminded you of
the awesome power of unchecked population growth.” He pointed to his small stack of paper. “I have enlightened you about the fact that we are
on the brink of a spiritual collapse.” He paused and turned directly toward her. “And your response? Free condoms in Africa.”
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Zobrist derides Sinskey because he does not understand her denial. She fails to see a simple math. He claims that Sinskey has failed to see the fact. The way WHO
handles this matter results in nothing but failure. Zobrist, moreover states that: The man gave a derisive sneer. “This is like swinging a flyswatter at an
incoming asteroid. The time bomb is no longer ticking. It has already gone off, and without drastic measures, exponential mathematics will
become your new God … and ‘He’ is a vengeful God. He will bring to you Dante’s vision of hell right outside on Park Avenue … huddled
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masses wallowing in their own excrement. A global culling orchestrated by Nature herself”
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. Elisabeth Sinskey is one of the best scientists in the field of virology and she is
the chief of WHO. It makes her opinion important. Whatever the opinion that is given by Sinskey, it is an answer that will justify Zobrist idea. If she does not agree with his
idea, it makes him sure that he needs to execute his decisions alone because the people that should take the necessary action, the WHO, do not want to act. On the
other hand, if Sinskey agrees with his idea, it will convince him that his idea is the right idea for Sinskey is one of the best scientists in the world. Sinske
y’s answer will only decide whether he needs to execute his plan by himself or by the help of others.
Her answer has nothing to do with Zobrist mindset. His perplexity is related to the question whether he needs to do it alone or with the help of others. Even before
Zobrist meets Sinsky, he already predicts that most people will disagree with his idea. That is the reason why he mocks Sinsky’s response; he does not need a justification.
Zobrist’s data shows that the continuity of mankind is threatened by their existence. He believes that the only way to save the human race is to stop the growth
of the population. His idea is based on simple math and logic. He has shown it to the authority, but they cannot fathom the fact and even calls him a monster. Zobrist was
alienated from the world because of his idea. Comparable to Dante who was alienated because of his political point of view, Zobrist is alienated because of his idea. His
idea is exceptional, but credits must be given to Zobrist for his bravery to challenge
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common logic. He plans this action for almost two years. He already thinks about anything that might prevent him to complete the operation. Based on the length of
preparation and the time that he has been dedicated to the operation, there is no doubt that Bertrand Zobrist has made his mind.
Based on existential perspective, Zobrist’s effort is the reflection of a man who understands the key of his existence. He exercises his idea in order to exist. He
understands that men are nothing until they decide to be something. Therefore, he decides that he needs to be the savior of mankind for other people does not
understand that merit of the situation.
C. Self and Social Alienation
From the beginning of his mission to the end of his life, when he decides to commit suicide, Zobrist suffers from alienation. Zobrist is hated by people who
originally hate him and the people who initially love him. Other characters see him as a fanatic, confuse individual or even crazy.
In the notion of alienation, Zobrist is the only character in this novel that suffers from both social and ideological alienation. There are some evidences in which
Zobrist is physically and mentally alienated. Even the provost, the leader of the consortium who always thinks that client and protocol are the kings, eventually thinks
that Zobrist is nothing more than a crazy and disturbing person. When he sees the book that was given by Zobrist, he says:
“First off, the provost thought, you and I were never friends”. He read the inscription three more times. Then he turned his eyes to the bright red
circle his client had scrawled on his calendar, highlighting tomorrow’s date
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. Zobrist considers The Provost as one of his friends because he is willing to
help Zobrist to develop the virus. However, The Provost is just doing his job and eventually, The Provost betrays Zobrist and his own rule. When he decides to see the
video that was given by Zobrist, The Provost has betrayed his own rule, the “no
questions ask ” rule. Furthermore, by doing so, The Provost has alienated Zobrist from
the other client; Zobrist is the only client that makes The Provost betrays his own rules. The Provost also betrays the very foundation of Consortium rule, the secrecy,
when he decides to take Sinskey onboard. “God, no And risk leaking the video to the public? It would be mass
hysteria. I want Dr. Sinskey aboard this ship as soon as you can get her here.” Knowlton stared in disbelief. He wants to bring the director of the
WHO on board The Mendacium? “Sir, this breach of our secrecy protocol obviously risks
—” “Just do it, Knowlton NOW” The reason behind the invitation is clear, for the sake of mankind. However, it
is also a picture that Zobrist is alienated by both his enemy and his friend. Zobrist has physically alienated himself when he asks help from Consortium to provide him a
covert place. He needs that place to re-engineer the virus that he wants to release. However, this alienation is nothing compare to the ideological alienation that he
suffers.
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When Zobrist firstly exposes his idea, he was alienated by most people. He is alienated by his friend, the fellow scientist. He is also alienated by other men that
have the responsibility to fix the population problem. In his explanation, Sienna says that:
“Zobrist was immediately attacked from all sides—politicians, clergy, the World Health Organization
—all of whom derided him as a doomsayer lunatic who was simply trying to cause panic. They took
parti cular umbrage at his statement that today’s youth, if they chose to
reproduce, would have offspring that literally would witness the end of the human race. Zobrist illustrated his point with a ‘Doomsday Clock,’
which showed that if the entire span of human life on earth were compressed into a single hour … we are now in its final seconds.”
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Physically, Zobrist has no friend. Moreover, ideologically, Zobrist is also considered as a weird man, he is alienated. Zobrist, however, understands that
alienation is the consequence of his decision. He does not want to change his mind just because he is being alienated. Therefore, he is an existential hero.
Furthermore, in the sense of ideological alienation, Bertrand Zobrist is an alienated man. Although the main problem of human existence that he points out is
dreadfully clear, people still call him a monster because his idea does not fit the general idea of mankind. It is natural for men to fight for their life and to reproduce.
In the sense of nature, stopping men reproduction is an unacceptable action to the common truth. However, in the conversation with Langdon, Sienna explains that it is
true if Zobrist’s idea is unacceptable, but it does not change the fact that he is a noble man and he really tries to save mankind. His ethical consciousness can be seen in the
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virus for he creates the virus with certain constraint so it will only affect 13 of world population:
Langdon: “Hold on,” Langdon interjected, finally finding his voice. “If the virus makes everyone on earth infertile, there will be no new
generations, and the human race will start dying out … immediately.”
Sienna: “Correct,” she responded, her voice sounding small. “Except extinction was not Bertrand’s goal—quite the opposite, in fact—which is
why he created a randomly activating virus. Even though Inferno is now endemic in all human DNA and will be passed along by all of us from
this generation forward, it will ‘activate’ only in a certain percentage of people. In other words, the virus is now carried by everyone on earth, and
yet it will cause sterility in only a randomly selected part of the population.”
Langdon: “What … part?” Sienna: “Well, as you know, Bertrand was fixated on the Black Death—
the plague that indiscriminately killed one third of the European population. Nature, he believed, knew how to cull itself. When Bertrand
did the math on infertility, he was exhilarated to discover that the plague’s death rate of one in three seemed to be the precise ratio required
to start winnowing the human p
opulation at a manageable rate.”
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From that conversation, extinction is not the goal. Zobrist tries to reduce the population into the manageable number. It might sounds monstrous, but based on the
fact that the virus will be able to reduce human population in a particular timeline, his deed is, at some points, the only endeavor that will be able to save mankind. He does
not try to kill all men; he wants to stop the growth of the population, therefore the earth will still be able to supply the resources for men to live.
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Zobrist’s idea about population is exceptional. He uses a mathematical calculation to predict men existence in the future. Since mathematics does not have
any feeling, he thinks that even death is acceptable when it comes to the safety of mankind. In one occasion Sienna Brooks says that Zobrist even sees the Black Death
as a boon. She says: Essentially it’s a mathematical recognition that the earth’s population is
rising, people are living longer, and our natural resources are waning. The equation predicts that the current trend can have no outcome other
than the apocalyptic collapse of society. Zobrist has publicly predicted that the human race will not survive another century … unless we have
some kind of mass ex
tinction event.” Sienna sighed heavily and locked eyes with Langdon. “In fact, Zobrist was once quoted as saying that ‘the
best thing that ever happened to Europe was the Black Death
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. The dialogue shows that Zobrist obsession on reducing population is not merely
evil. He has logical calculation and based on other experts, his calculation is possibly accurate. Although it cannot be used as a justification for his action, from the passage,
it is clear that Bertrand Zobrist is not crazy. All of his acquisitions are based on math, on truth.
Besides his evil action, when people see his reason, Bertrand Zobrist is an existentialist hero who relies on himself and himself only. The core of existential
doctrine is men and their freedom. Men are the one who decides their own life. There is nothing that able to change a man besides his own choice. He decides to release the
Viral Vector virus that will make 13 of human population sterile, which in the sense of morality, especially for people who claim themselves as pro-life, is unacceptable.
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