Existentialist Approach to Literature

mostly taken from the writing of Leloup on Jesus and Marie Magdalene 57 . Since this idea is one the most controversial ideas in this novel, other prominent works are also used as the source of the story. Works from writers like Tau Malachi, Jean Markale, and Jane Schaberg are used as the elements of the story. Another theme that is highlighted in this novel is the theme of secret societies. This theme has been written by so many writers before and therefore Brown uses this idea as one of the elements of this novel. However, Back states that the story in this novel is different from other writings that discuss the same theme. The accuracy of particular ideas and its mixture with fiction are the elements that make this novel interesting. Back states that: The line that distinguishes fiction and nonfiction just simply wasnt present for these readers, caught up as they were in the tantalizing mix of real and pretend that Brown created. Passion, emotion, and fervor erupted from all sides, with books, television programs, and Web sites all promoting what each group perceived as true. At this point the entertainment factor seemed to collide with reality and the controversy began 58 . The quality of this novel exhibits the thin line between fact and fiction. According to Back, this point makes readers crave for more stories from Dan Brown. This paper is not discussing the quality of the novel or certain character in the novel, but it merely states that the thin line between fact and fiction is the point that makes people crave and read this novel. This paper is the evidence of how Brown beautifully elaborates fact and fiction, which at some point help this thesis to see Brown’s novel in a different perspective, it is more than just a pop novel. 57 T. Back, “Riddling TheDavinci Code”, Reference User Services Quarterly, 20 58 T. Back, “Riddling TheDavinci Code”, Reference User Services Quarterly, 19 Furthermore, Bradley Bowers exposes another writing that expresses the phenomena of Dan Brown’s The Davinci Code. In his book, he states that debate among scholars is one of many elements that make this novel interesting both for the common reader and critical academic 59 . The thin line between fact and fiction exposes many rooms for study and critics. However, other critics are not very fond of Dan Brown’s novel. The other novel from Dan Brown that acquires major attention from readers around the world is The Lost Symbol. Calabrese and Rossi write a remarkable paper based on this novel. The paper, actually, discusses all Dan Brown novel and its relation to one another. It exposes massive similarities between Dan Brown’s novels which, at some point, might help this thesis. Calabrese and Rossi state that there are similarities among three of Dan Brown’s novels. Since The Davinci Code has already been discussed through a different scope, this section will focus on the similarities between The Lost Symbol and Angels and Demons. Calabrese and Rossi state that, in the sense of the main character, both novels share the same characteristic; always told in the third person point of view and shares the main character, Robert Langdon, which suspected as the improvement of Indiana Jones 60 . Another similarity that is recognized by Calabrese and Rossi is the form of time. Both novel use temporal dimension on their plots. Both novels uses 24 hours 59 Bradley Bowers, The Da Vinci Code in the Academy Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Newcastle, 2007 vii. 60 Stefano Calabrese and Roberto Rossi, “Dan Brown: Narrative Tourism and “Time Packaging””, International Journal of Language and Linguistics 2.2 June, 2015: 32. time frame. Such resemblance is also found in The Davinci Code, but the novel uses a little more than 24 hours from the beginning to the end. Furthermore, Calabrese and Rossi state that both novels expose a very little portion of nature. They state that: Only occasionally we meet ecologically uncontaminated landscapes where humans have left no trace. There are no seas or mountains. Brown’s storytelling acts as a herbicide working at the roots. Only the great monuments of human history can resist it, the great cities, the works of artists and scientists: no nature, all culture 61 . They see this novel in an exceptional perspective which can be correlated with the capitalization of tourism. Although they do not explicitly spite the idea of capitalism, people will able to see the notion of propaganda in most of Dan Brown’s novels. This idea gives readers new perspective in gazing Dan Brown’s novel. Now, it cannot merely be considered as a shallow piece. Calabrese and Rossi also stated that this “Macdonaldized” 62 writing is one of the reasons why Dan Brown’s novels are mostly liked by the movie investor. The global taste that is exhibited by all Dan Brown’s novel is a guarantee of success in the movie industry. The analogy that is used by Calabrese and Rossi in this paper is quite interesting since Macdonald consider as a junk food. In conclusion, Calabrese and Rossi expose that there are two things that make Dan Brown’s novel so famous. 61 S. Calabrese and R. Rossi, “Dan Brown: Narrative Tourism and “Time Packaging””, International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 33. 62 S. Cal abrese and R. Rossi, “Dan Brown: Narrative Tourism and “Time Packaging””, International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 33