I have finished The Da Vinci Code and liked it a lot. I especially liked the twist at the end, when it turned out who was Langdon’s adversary to find the Grail. While reading, I always had a question in my mind: why is Langdon trying to find the Grail, even if it means the end of his life. It is a very hard question to answer but I think I figured it out.
In the book, a murdered victim leaves a message to Langdon, right before his death. This message has some clues to possibly find the Holy Grail, which is Langdon’s dream. His friend asks him in the book why he is pursuing these clues to find the Grail. Langdon replies saying he’s a historian and he wants to discover all the unsolved mysteries in life. That might be true. As a little boy, I always wondered about the Holy Grail. I saw the movie Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade where he and his father try and find the Grail. Also, I read the book about King Arthur and the Grail and wanted to learn more about it.
Now the question is: what are Langdon’s intentions? Many historians pursue what they want to learn. Langdon is more determined than most historians I’ve read about. In the book we learn that the Grail is supposedly a woman: Mary Magdalene, a companion of Jesus. It says that she was married to Jesus and had his baby, who then becomes the protoplast of a long dynasty in Europe. Finding the Grail could prove or deny this legend. Langdon follows his dream up to risking his life for scientific reasons but he is also driven by his responsibility and care for the people and world. He knows that other people look for the Grail for their selfish, criminal and murderous reasons. He can predict what could happen when Grail gets into such people and how much problems it can bring. He sees himself as the only one that can “save the world.” It is just another James Bond, Jason Bourne or Ethan Hunt.
And this is what makes this book good. An old war between good and evil takes all you have to offer and in return puts your life in stake, but the prize is worth doing it. This is what makes this genre so great, popular and successful. The controversial material just adds more spices to the book and does good publicity. I am ready to follow Professor Langdon in his search of mysteries.