4. THE ANALYSIS OF THE ASSASSINATION OF THE POPE IN DAN BROWN’S NOVEL “ANGELS AND DEMONS”
4.1. Assassination The assassination which occurs in the novel is a murder carried out in a
related series by one of the member of secret terrorists. The group of secret terrorists are the Hassassin, the Knights Templar and the Armies.
There are five events involved in the assassination of the pope which is organized by the group of secret terrorist.
The first event is to kill the pope who is performed by a camerlengo, a cardinal who has charge of the papal treasury and accounts. The camerlengo is the
cardinal who is against the pope to make or to add the new rule which never happens before in the church. He tries to talk about the case but the pope keeps
consistent with his new rule. Then they quarrel to each other. The quarrel can be seen from one of the following conversation about the Vatican fund Vetra’s work
as a gesture of goodwill toward spiritually based scientific research. Madness The church investing in research that threatened to make the church
obsolete? Work that spawned weapons of mass destruction? The bomb that had killed his mother. . .
‘But . . . you can’t ’ the camerlengo had exclaimed. ‘I owe a deep debt to science,’ the Pope had replied.
‘Something I have hidden my entire life. Science gave me a gift when I was young man. A gift I have never forgotten.’
‘I don’t understand. What does science have to offer a manof God?’ ‘It is complicated’, the Pope had said. I will need time to make you understand.
But first, there is a simple fact about me that you must know. I have kept it hidden all these years. I believe it is time I told you’.
Then the Pope had told him the astonishing truth.
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He disagrees with what the pope has planned. Therefore he is angry and plans to kill the pope. He prepares a needle filled with a drug known as Heparin
with overdose dosages which would cause massive internal bleeding and brain hemorrhages. That is the equipment to kill the pope. The way he kills the pope
can be illustrated from the story found in the novel. “Sneaking into the Papal bed chambers . . . filling his syringe . . . covering the
deceiver’s mouth as his body spasmed into death. In the moonlight, the camerlengo could see in the Pope’s wild eyes there was something he wanted to
say. But it was too late. The Pope had said enough”.
The second event is to kill a cardinal, senior Roman Catholic priest, who is performed by the Hassassin, a group of secret terrorist. The camerlengo asks him
to kill cardinal named Ebner from Frankfurt, Germany. He plans to kill Ebner because he supports and agrees what pope has done for the church. Therefore,
camerlengo feels furies to whomever supports the pope and make them his enemies. All his enemies are kidnapped and locked up in a cell in the basement in
the castle of Angels. Ebner is one of them. He is taken out from a cell in the basement in the castle of Angels to the basement of Chigi chapel. But before he is
killed, one of member the Hassassin whch is ordered to kill the victim, he must brand the victim with symbol “Earth” which shows that such symbol is token as
one of the first element the ancient elements of science. The element “Earth” means from Santi’s earthly tomb. Actually there are four brands for the Hassassin
to perform their strategy to kill the victim as a token that they are illuminati people who have or profess to have special intellectual or sprititual enlightment
to whirl one’s mind that they are from the Centuries of illuminati legend. The brands are Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Usually the brands will be marked to the
victims in teir chest before being killed. It happens to Ebner. Since the brand
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“Earth” is identic with the ground, so the way the illuminati to kill the victim must be to the ground. Ebner is buried up to his waist in the earth. Standing upright
with half of him below the ground stripped naked. This hands tied behind his back with a red cardinal’s sash. He is suffocated. Then he is dead. The way he kills the
cardinal Ebner can be illustrated from the story found in the novel. “Hello?” Langdon choked through his sleeve. Nothing. As he drew nearer,
he realized the man was very short. Too short . . . “What’s happening?” Vittoria called from above, shifting the light.
Langdon did not answer. He was now close enough to see it all. With a tremor of repulsion, he understood. The chamber seemed to contact around him.
Emerging like a demon from the earthen floor was an old man. . . or at least half of him. He was buried up to his waist in the earth. Standing upright with half of
him below ground. Stripped naked. His hands tied behind his back with a red cardinal’s sash. He was propped limply upward, spine arched backward like sone
sort of hideous punching bag. The man’s head lay backward, eyes toward the heavens as if pleading for help from God himself.
“Is he dead?” Vittoria called Langdon moved toward the body. I hope so, for his sake. As he drew to
within a few feet, he locked down at the upturned eyes. They bulged outward, blue and bloodshot. Langdon leaned down to listen for breath but immediately
recoild. “For Christ’s sake”
“What ” Langdon almost gagged. “He’s dead all right. I just saw the cause of
death”. The sight was gruesome. The man’s mouth had been jammed open and packed solid with dirt. “Somebody stuffed fistful of dirt down his throat. He
suufocated”
“Dirt?”, Vittoria said. “As in . . . earth?” Langdon did a double take. Earth. He had almost forgotten. Then brands, Earth,
Air, Fire, Water . The killer had threatened to brand each victim with one of the
ancient elements of science” The third event is to kill the second cardinal who named Lamasse from
Paris. He is taken out from a cell in the basement in the castle of Angels and brought to St.Peter’s Square. Before killing him, Lamasse is branded with symbol
“Air” and he is stabbed by Javelin into his both lungs just below his ribs. Unfortunetly he is not dead. Because he is still alive, then he is brought to St.
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Peter’s Square and he is laid stretched out on the ground and left alone. Finally he is dead. It is done in order to the public knows his death is the act of illuminati.
The way he kills the cardinal Lamasse can be illustrated from the story found in the novel.
Vittoria ripped the rest of the rags off the man’s abdomen. He had two deep puncture wounds, one on either side of the brand, just below his rib cage. She
cocked the man’s head back and began to administer mouth to mouth. Langdon was not prepared for what happened next. As Vittoria blew, the wound on either
side of the man’s midsection hissed and sprayed blood into the air like blowholes on a whale. The salty liquid hit Langdon in the face.
Vittoria stopped short, looking horrified. “His lungs . . .” she stammered.
“They’re . . . punctured” Langdon wiped his eyes as he looked down at the two perforations. The holes
gurgled. The cardinal’s lungs were destroyed. He was gone”
The Fourth event is to kill the third cardinal who named Guidera from Barcelona. He is taken out from a cell in the basement in the castle of Angels to
the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria. Before killing him, he is branded with symbol “Fire” which means something burning. It shows that the illuminati wants
to kill his victim by burning him. In this story, Guidera is first made unconscious by hitting his head with a piece of wood. Then he is hung by fastening both his
wrists with the incestor cables. Below his body, there is burning wood burned with frankincense oil when make him to death. The cremation of his dead is like
the funeral pyre in the epic tale. The way he kills the cardinal Guidera can be illustrated from the story found in the novel.
As Langdon’s eyes followed the inferno upward, the true horror of the scene descended like a bird of prey.
High overhead, from the left and right sides of the ceiling, hung two incensor cables— lines used for swinging frankincense vessels above the congregation.
These lines, however, carried no incensor now. Nor were they swinging. They had been used for something else. . .
Suspended from the cables was a human being. A naked man. Each wrist had been connected to an opposing cable, and he had been hoisted almost to the point
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of being torn apart. His arms were outstretched in a spread-eagle as if he were nailed to some sort of invisible crucifix hovering within the house of God.
Langdon felt paralyzed as he stared upward. A moment later, he witnessed the final abomination. The old man was alive, and he raised his head. A pair of
terrified eyes gazed down in a silent plea for help. On the man’s chest was a scorched emblem. He had been branded.
High above the chapel floor, Cardinal Guidera endured his last torturous moments of consciousness. As he looked down the length of his naked body, he saw the
skin on his legs begin to blister and peel away. I am in hell,
he decided. God, why hast thou forsaken me? He knew this ,ust be hell because he was looking at the brand on his chest upside
down. . . and yet, as if by the devil’s magic, the word made perfect sense”
The fifth event is to kill the fourth cardinal who named Baggia from Italy. He is taken out from a cell in the basement in the castle of Angels to edge of
piazza. In that place, there is a fountain named The Fountain Rivers. Before killing him, he is branded with symbol “water” which means the colorless,
transparent liquid occuring on earth as rivers, lake, oceans etc. It shows that the illuminate wants to kill his victim by shinking his body to the water. In this story,
Baggia is the first made unconscious by hitting his head with a piece of wood. Then he is sank into the pool and he loses his breath till to die. The way he kills
the cardinal Baggia can be illustrated from the story found in the novel. The motion was utterly unexpected. For an instant Langdon thought the laws of
physics had ceased to exist. The killer seemed to hang weightless in the air as his legs shot out from beneath him, his boots driving into the cardinal’s side and
launching the chain-laden body out the door. The cardinal splashed down, sending up a sheet of spray.
Water dousing his face, Langdon realized too late what had happened. The killer had grasped one of the van’s roll bars and used it to swing outward.
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4.2. The Murders 4.2.1 Carlo Ventresca Camerlengo
Carlo Ventresca is the son of the results of the process of artificial insemination. He is the son of a nun. He is about 30 years old and has a handsome
face, brown hair and bright green eyes. He works as the Head of Papacy Household or commonly called the camerlengo a cardinal who has charge of the
papal treasury and accounts . He is the pope’s reliable cardinal and as well as Pator. When there is a private meeting of the cardinals to elect a pope, he is the
one of the cardinals appointed to be commision. “I am Carlo Ventresca,’’ he said, his English is perfect.
“The late Pope’s camerlengo’’. His voice was unpretentious and kind, with only the slightest hint of Italian inflection.
“Vittoria Vetra ,”she said, stepping forward and offering her hand. “Thank you for seeing us”.
4.2.2 The Hassassin The Hassassin is a name of the group of the secret terrorists. The typical of
the members of the Hassassin can be described that they are tall and large, their eyes glistened, black like oil, their accent like people from Middle Eastern, their
skin darkened. They can speak Arabic and Italian language. They serve as the messenger of the ancient brotherhood who hate their enemy very much coming
from the Catholic church. To that reason, camerlengo takes the opportunity to use the Hassassin to kill the member off the Catholic church including the pope and
cardinals. The opportunity to use the Hassassin can be proved in the following talks.
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“I would do even that for God, the camerlengo thought, and yet he had not. The deeds had been carried out by the Hassassin –a heathen soul tricked into thinking
he was doing the work of the illuminati. “I am Janus, the camerlengo had told him. I will prove my power. And he had. The Hassassin’s hatred had made him
God’s pawn”.
4.3. The motive of Assassination 4.3.1. To Revenge
To revenge is to take vengeance in behalf of a person, one self, etc. it is hatred feeling which can harm someone to inflict damage, injury, or punishment
in return for an injury or insult. Concerning with the story of the novel, the main case take revenge is
about adding the new rules which causes conflict between the pope and the one of the cardinals. Such a new rule, for example, is about the church fund research
which will provided for the goodwill toward spiritually based scientific research. The following statement can be shown when one of the cardinals is against the
pope. As the opposite of the above statements which cause conflict, the pope has a reason why he makes the new rule.
“This is insane Church fund research that will make the church look outdated? Works that produce weapons of mass destruction? Born who had killed his
mother…” “I don’t understand. What does science have to offer a man of God?”
As the opposite of the above statements which cause conflict, the pope has a reason why he makes the new rule.
“I owe a deep debt to science,” the pope had replied. “Something I have hidden my entire life. Science gave me a gift when I was a
young man. A gift I have never forgotten”. “This is insane Church fund research that will make the church look outdated? Works that produce weapons of mass
destruction? Born who had killed his mother…”
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“I don’t understand. What does science have to offer a man of God?” 4.3.2 To Protect the Church
For the people like pope, cardinals, pastors, nuns, fraters give a protection to the church is a must. Therefore they must keep watching, for what is
happening, happened, will happen to the church. Related to the story in the novel, one of them is the case about the science which the pope think as a gift for human
being as the astononishing truth. On the other hand, the pope’s suggestion is to be in contradiction. Such contradiction can be seen from the following statements.
“Science is knowledge about the structure and behavior of the natural and physical world, based on the fact on the fact that it can be proved. This science is
a science that considers that the planet Earth and its inhabitants is a point that has no meaning in a tremendous scheme. A cosmic event that occurs in the universe.
Even the technology that promises wants to unite us, it actually separates us. All people are now electronically connected to each other, but we still feel very alone.
We are bombarded with violence, division, fracture, and betrayal. Skepticism is considered as a higher value. Cynicism and demand will be considered as
evidence of the enlightened mind. Science destroys the world created by God into smaller pieces in their search for meaning ... and it was only generate new
questions. we can measure the progress of science in a matter of weeks. We are getting out of control. Widened the gap between us, and when religion behind,
humans find themselves on the spiritual emptiness. We are trying hard to find meaning. And believe me, we really tried hard”.
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5. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
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