Criticism of the Novel

20 would not conclude that The Da Vinci Code is substantially similar to Daughter of God and that Any slightly similar elements are on the level of generalized or otherwise unprotectable ideas. Perdue appealed, the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the original decision, saying Mr. Perdues arguments were without merit. Dan Brown himself dilutes the suggestion of some of the more controversial aspects being fact on his web site: The FACT page makes no statement whatsoever about any of the ancient theories discussed by fictional characters. Interpreting those ideas is left to the reader. However, it also says that these real elements are interpreted and debated by fictional characters, it is my belief that some of the theories discussed by these characters may have merit. and the secret behind The Da Vinci Code was too well documented and significant for me to dismiss. Browns ambiguity on the matter continues to fuel debate over the factual content of the novel. Browns earlier statements about the accuracy of the historical information in his book, however, were far more strident. In 2003, while promoting his novel, he was asked in interviews what parts of the history in his novel actually happened. He replied Absolutely all of it. In a 2003 interview with CNNs Martin Savidge he was again asked how much of the historical background was true. He replied, 99 is true ... the background is all true. Asked by Elizabeth Vargas in an ABC News special if the book would have been different if he had written it as non-fiction he replied, I dont think it would have. More recently Brown has avoided interviews and has been rather more circumspect about the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 21 accuracy of his claims in his few public statements. He has also, however, never retracted any of his earlier assertions that the history in the novel is accurate, despite substantial academic criticism of his claims. In 2005, UK TV personality Tony Robinson edited and narrated a detailed rebuttal of the main arguments of Dan Brown and those of Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln, The Real Da Vinci Code, shown on British TV Channel 4. The program featured lengthy interviews with many of the main protagonists cited by Brown as absolute fact in The Da Vinci Code. Arnaud de Sède, son of Gérard de Sède, stated categorically that his father and Plantard had made up the existence of the Prieuré de Sion, the cornerstone of the Jesus bloodline theory - to quote Arnaud de Sede in the program, frankly, it was piffle. The program also cast severe doubt on the Rosslyn Chapel association with the Grail and on other related stories like the alleged landing of Mary Magdalene in France. The novel has also attracted criticism in literary circles for its alleged lack of artistic or literary merit and its allegedly stereotyped portrayal of British and French characters. Stephen Fry has referred to Browns writings as complete loose stool- water and arse gravy of the worst kind. In a live chat on June 14, 2006, he clarified, I just loathe all those books about the Holy Grail and Masons and Catholic conspiracies and all that botty-dribble. I mean, theres so much more thats interesting and exciting in art and in history. It plays to the worst and laziest in humanity, the desire to think the worst of the past and the desire to feel superior to it in some fatuous way. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 22 In his 2005 University of Maine Commencement Address, best-selling author Stephen King put Dan Browns work and Jokes for the John on the same level, calling such literature the intellectual equivalent of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. The New York Times, while reviewing the movie based on the book, called the book Dan Browns best-selling primer on how not to write an English sentence. The New Yorker reviewer Anthony Lane refers to it as unmitigated junk and decries the crumbling coarseness of the style. Linguist Geoffrey Pullum and others posted several entries critical of Dan Browns writing, at Language Log, calling Brown one of the worst prose stylists in the history of literature and saying Browns writing is not just bad; it is staggeringly, clumsily, thoughtlessly, almost ingeniously bad. Roger Ebert described it as a potboiler written with little grace and style, although he did say it did supply an intriguing plot. http:www.rbooks.co.ukproduct.aspx?id

2.4 Context of the Novel

The context of the story will be seen through the biography of the writer and the setting of the story. The biographical approach is used to show us the life of Dan Brown that inspires himself to write about thriller novels. Dan Brown Danielle Brown was born and raised in Exeter, New Hampshire, USA. Brown grew up on the campus of Phillips Exeter Academy, where his father, Richard G. Brown, was a teacher of mathematics. Browns interest in secrets and puzzles stems from their presence in his household as a 23 child, where codes and ciphers were the lynchpin tying together the mathematics, music and languages in which his parents worked. When he was young Brown spent hours working out anagrams and crossword puzzles, and he and his siblings participated in elaborate treasure hunts devised by their father on birthdays and holidays. After graduating from Phillips Exeter, Brown attended Amherst College. Brown spent the 1985 school year abroad in Seville, Spain, where he was enrolled in an art history course at the University of Seville. In 1991 he moved to Brown graduated from Amherst in 1986. Hollywood to pursue a career as singer-songwriter and pianist. To support himself, he taught classes at Beverly Hills Preparatory School but in 1996, Brown quit teaching to become a full-time writer. The Da Vinci Code was released in 2003 and received immediate attention from critics. It was the book that achieved lasting literary success and popularity for Dan Brown. All of his books are about thriller. He used his experience about codes in writing his novel. We can see the same theme in Digital Fortress, one of the novels written by Dan Brown. The story takes place in Paris. It starts off with the murder of Jacques Saunière one of the Grand Masters of Priory of Sion. Sauniere’s body is positioned as “The Virvituan Man”, Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous painting. Around his body, there are codes written with his own blood. There is a message 24 for Sophie Neveu, who is his granddaughter and Robert Langdon. Sauniere knows that Langdon has skills in deciphering codes. Therefore they are chased by the police since the police think that Langdon murdered Sauniere. Later on in the story, Neveu and Langdon get help from Sir Leigh Teabing, a British historian. Langdon and Neveu start to sort through the riddles, and they find a trail that leads to the work of Leonardo Da Vinci, and the secret society, the Priory Sion. The Priory Sion think that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married. Here they find out that Sauniere was a member of the Priory. Jacques Sauniere wants to tell this secret to Sophie Neveu, but their relationship getting worse since Sophie Neveu saw her grandfather having a ritual sex. Since that time, she had not met her grandfather. At the end of the story, Sophie Neveu finds her long-lost grandmother and her brother. 25

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

This chapter consists of four sections. The first is subject matter. It deals with the subject of the study. The second is approaches. It deals with the literature approaches that I use to analyze the novel. The third is data collection. It deals with the sources that I use in analyzing the study. The fourth is procedures. It deals with the steps in completing the thesis.

3.1 Subject Matter

The subject matter here is a novel that I choose to be analyzed. It is entitled The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. This novel is about 489 pages and published by Anchor Books, a division of Random House, Inc New York in year 2003. This novel originally written in English and was translated into 44 different languages. This novel tells a story about Robert Langdon, a writer and also lecturer. When he came to Paris, he was accused as the murdered to Jacques Sauniere. Jacques Sauniere wrote a mesage which led Sophie and Langdon to find a series of riddles and anagrams. Here the secret behind the work of Leonardo Da Vinci came up. Leonardo Da Vinci has purpose in making the painting such as Monalisa, Madonna of The Rock, The Last Supper. In the end of the story, they find Sophie’s long lost grandmother and brother.