article entitled Consequentialism and fanaticism religious and otherwise http:rightreason.ektopos.comarchives2007.
The Divine Command theories were taken from Boss’ Ethics for Life 2
nd
edition and Hinman’s Ethics: a Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory 2
nd
edition. The writer took the review on Christian Morality, from Kohmescher’s Catholicism Today
and Bernard Häring’s The Idea of Catholicism. And last, to support the analysis about the moral-philosophical study in
this literary work, the writer applied the review on philosophy and the Relation between Philosophy and Literature. Review on Philosophy were taken from
Randal’s Philosophy An Introduction, Liang Gie’s Philosophy as an Element of Human Existence,
and Lawhead’s The Philosophical Journey an Interactive Approach, and The Relation Between Philosophy and Literature were taken from
Knight’s Literature Considered as Philosophy and Guerin’s A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature.
In analyzing the work, there were some steps taken. After the book was read and reread, the writer identified the character of Silas by applying the theory
of character and characterization. The writer tried to find out the characteristic of Silas through his personal description, his past life, his thought, his manner, other
characters’ point of view, and his attitudes toward other characters. After the characteristics were identified, the writer then tried to find out religious fanaticism
aspects within his character by applying Review on Religious Fanaticism and The Divine Command Theory. And last, the writer tried to find out the significance of
Silas’ fanaticism in The Da Vinci code by applying the review on religious 27
fanaticism, focusing on the differences between the true believers and the fanatics, and Christian Morality. In this part the writer analyzed Silas’ twisted mind as a
fanatic. Silas, as a fanatic Opus Dei’s monk, lived his life to do anything for his organization. However, his dedication was misused and he was led to do things
that are against Christian Morality. The writer applied this review on religious fanaticism focusing on the differences between the true believers and the fanatics
to discover his tendencies as religious fanatic, after that the writer contrasted it with Christian Morality to reveal his violation toward Christian Morality value.
In addition, Review on Philosophy was applied for a better understanding about philosophy and its function in human’s life and since this study tried to
reveal the moral-philosophical issue of Silas, the review of the relation between philosophy and literature was applied in order to support the writer’s analysis
about the philosophical aspect through literary work. 28
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
A. The Characteristics of Silas in The Da Vinci Code
As mentioned by Murphy in his book Understanding Unseen, there are several ways to discover the characteristics of a character; those are by personal
description, by presenting the characters as seen by another character, by speech, by past life, by the conversation of others, by reactions, by direct comment, by
thoughts, and by mannerisms. In this analysis, the characteristics of Silas is traced out by his personal descriptions, his past life, his conversation with other
characters, his speech, his reaction toward some situations, his thoughts, and his manner. The writer also tries to find the characteristics of Silas through other
characters’ – Robert Langdon, Bishop Manuel Aringarosa and the Teacher or Sir Leigh Teabing – opinion and point of view about his character.
1. Silas as the Pitiful Character
Before the writer moves to a deeper analysis, the writer realizes that it is important to portray Silas as a pitiful character in order to give a better
understanding regarding Silas from which his underlying motives as a religious fanatic can be further understood. The writer categorizes Silas as a pitiful
character for two reasons, first is because of his miserable life as an albino and second is because of his desperation of protecting his new life leads him to be
used by people to do bad things that soon will bring him into sin and tragic death.
29 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
The portrayal of Silas’ past in this novel tries to illustrate the pitiful life of an albino. Albinism – the term refers to certain people with lack of melanin
pigment in the eyes, skin and hair – can be so difficult, especially for young people because the society might isolate and be so cruel to them, just like what
Silas experiences in this novel. Silas’ real name is unknown. He is an albino who originally lived in
Marseille with his parents. His condition as an albino makes him being rejected by the society and even by his own father. His father who cannot accept his physical
condition often beats Silas and also his mother for an accusation of having an albino son.
His drunken father, a burly dockworker, enraged by the arrival of an albino son, beat his mother regularly, blaming her for the boys
embarrassing condition. When the boy tried to defend her, he too was badly beaten p. 60.
Not only beats Silas’ mother, his father also eventually kills his mother. Silas feels so guilty for his mother’s death and thinks that it is his entire fault. Enraged by his
father, then Silas murders his father. Without a word, the boy stabbed him in the back. His father cried out in
pain and tried to roll over, but his son stabbed him again, over and over until the apartment fell quiet p. 60.
It can be seen that Silas is not naturally an evil man. He is driven to violence by others’ cruelty. He murders his father because he is angry to his father who kills
his mother, the only person in the world who loves and cares for him. The psychological scar which is created by the loss of his mother is the first thing that
drives him to various crimes. 30
