Silas as the Pitiful Character
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
There are two crimes committed by Silas before he becomes the monk of Opus Dei that is narrated in this novel. First is when he is twelve years old, he
almost kills a drifter girl who is twice older than him for mocking his condition as an albino and trying to steal his food. Second, at eighteen, he kills one of the two
sailors who catches and beats him for stealing a case of cured ham from a cargo ship just because the sailor smelled of beer, just like his father did. Silas had a
traumatic experience with his father, so that when he finds this sailor similar with his father, his traumatic experience begins to haunt him again. Being so afraid of
it, he unconsciously commits the same thing like he did to his father. At eighteen, in a port town, while attempting to steal a case of cured ham
from a cargo ship, he was caught by a pair of crewmen. The two sailors who began to beat him smelled of beer, just as his father had. The
memories of fear and hatred surfaced like a monster from the deep. The young man broke the first sailors neck with his bare hands, and only the
arrival of the police saved the second sailor from a similar fate pp. 81-82.
Driven by his violence, Silas grows as an albino with horrifying look. People are more afraid of him than before and see him as “a ghost with the eyes of
a devil” p. 61. Some are just mocking him as a ghost. The society has made him feel like he never existed. He starts to lose his individuality by also considering
himself as nothing but a ghost, “and he felt like a ghost... transparent... floating from seaport to seaport. People seemed to look right through him” p. 61.
Rejection from the society is the second thing that also influences his crime. Society never appreciated him as a human being therefore he also cannot
appreciate other people as human beings. Yet, Silas cannot be judged as a person who is naturally cannot respect others, he is driven to the action of not respecting
others by others’ rejection toward him. 31
It is from Bishop Manuel Aringarosa Silas finds refuge and love. This Bishop gives him shelter and also name. From the story of The Book of Acts
chapter 16 about the prisoner named Silas who is also freed by an earthquake, this bishop finally gives him name Silas. Treated like a man, Silas feels like he finally
has an identity as a human being. Acts 16.
The verses told of a prisoner named Silas who lay naked and beaten in his cell, singing hymns to God. When the ghost reached Verse
26, he gasped in shock. “...And suddenly, there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and all the doors fell
open.”
His eyes shot up at the priest. The priest smiled warmly. “From now on, my friend, if you have no other name, I shall call you Silas.” The
ghost nodded blankly. Silas. He had been given flesh. My name is Silas p. 64.
Silas’ years had pass without anyone who care or show any kindness to him, but Manuel Aringarosa is very kind to him and since then he is the only
person that Silas trust most. Later Silas becomes very loyal and obedient to the bishop and to the organization that is lead by this bishop, Opus Dei. This attitude
of him that soon will lead Silas to be misused to do bad things. Silas sees Opus Dei as the symbol of the beginning of his new life, one in
which he can find peace and acceptance. Therefore, when he is told by Aringarosa that Opus Dei is under the threat of losing its power, Silas is extremely disturbed
and is convinced that he needs to do whatever it takes to save Opus Dei. As he murdered the four leaders of The Priory of Sion, it is obvious that besides hatred,
he is also driven by his desperation. Silas cannot afford to lose his sanctuary and his place of peace. The Opus Dei is the only place where he can escape from the
cruelty of his past. Losing the Opus Dei may mean that he will no longer be safe. 32
Indeed, had it not been for this desperation, he would not have been so eager to do his murders.
As the pitiful character, Silas is one that a lot of people can relate to. Having a past as miserable as his will lead anybody into desperation. His cruelty
and murders, though fearsome and terrifying, shows just to what extent a person will protect the things that are important to him. Silas may have taken the wrong
advice and done the wrong things, but that is what makes him feel more human. In desperation, most people make the riskiest decisions only to find things becoming
even worse. This desperation is also testified by the character of Leigh Teabing after he learned Silas’ attack on The Priory of Sion, “men go to far greater lengths
to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire. I sense a desperation in this assault on the Priory” p. 288.
Silas’ mistake is that he takes the advice from the wrong person: Leigh Teabing as the Teacher, who seeks to destroy the very foundations of the
Christian faith. Had he received the guidance from a different person, a more trustworthy person, then perhaps things would not have become the way they are,
and Silas would not have had to die. It is very important to really know who is giving the advice. Just because
the bishop saved Silas from a certain problem does not mean that whatever the person says must be true. It is thus important to keep in mind that even in the case
of emergency, it is important to keep a cool mind in order to judge which advice or advisor is good, and which is not.
33 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI