Angels and Demons;A Critical Analysis

Introduction to the Author :

Dan Brown,the author of this book, was born in Exeter, New Hampshire on June 22, 1964. He was a graduate of Amherst College and Phillips Exeter Academy, where he spent time as an English teacher before turning his efforts to writing.

In 1996, his interest in code-breaking and covert government agencies led him to write his first novel, Digital Fortress, which quickly became a Number-1 national bestselling eBook. In its first week on sale, The Da Vinci Code debuted at #1 on The New York Times Bestseller list, simultaneously topping bestseller lists at The Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and San Francisco Chronicle. Later, the book hit #1 on every major bestseller list in the country. The book was adapted for film by Columbia Pictures. His book ANGELS AND DEMONS, for which this analysis is written, was also adapted into a film.

His novels have been translated and published in more than 50 languages around the world. He married Blythe Newlon in 1997. They reside in his home town in New Hampshire. Brown is an English teacher at his alma mater, The Phillips Exeter Academy. In 2004  he and his siblings donated $2.2 million to the school in memory of their father to set up the Richard G. Brown Technology Endowment to help "provide computers and high-tech equipment for students in need.

General introduction to book:

Title                ANGELS AND DEMONS                                                            

Author            Dan Brown

Edition           Reprint

Publisher        Corgi Books, 2001

ISBN              0 552 15073 8

Length            619 Pages

Subjects          Fiction

Introduction to Novel and Report :

The novel is a breathless, real-time adventure. It is exciting, fast-paced, with an unusually high IQ.

The novel covers a fiction-based adventure, occurring in Rome, including all factual places and architecture.

The setting in the novel is all antique Christianity-based art-work including churches, sculptures and paintings all over Rome(Vatican City). The time frame is based on the long-lasting confusion between Science and the religion, increasing in this modern age, where Science is progressing rapidly, influencing our lives.

My report on this novel discusses the aspects stressed by author.

One of the major issues discussed in the story is the ever-lasting conflict between religion and science. The story is sketched between the Roman Papal-dominance and an ancient brotherhood of Science The Illuminati (the enlightened ones).

Another aspect is the question for the preference of Science or religion on basis of which gives the best suitable answers to the questions the man has, since the very beginning of time. There is again an argument whether Science or religion solves or aggravates the situation.

In the report, character development, continuity and coherence of the events taking place in novel, imagery and details of the ancient Roman art and structure and central dogma of the novel are discussed.

Plot of the novel :

The plot follows Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, as he tries to stop the Illuminati, a legendary secret society, from destroying Vatican City with the newly discovered power of antimatter.

Leonardo Vetra, a world renowned scientist at CERN is found brutally murdered. His chest is branded with an ambigram of the word "Illuminati”. Director of CERN, Maximilian Kohler contacts a Harvard professor Robert Langdon, an expert on the Illuminati, who determines that the ambigram is authentic.

Kohler calls Vetra's adopted daughter Vittoria to the scene, and it is ascertained that the Illuminati have stolen a canister containing antimatter — a substance with destructive potential comparable to a small nuclear weapon. When at CERN the canister is stored in a unique electrical charger which ensures the anti-matters stability but when removed its back-up battery provides power for 24 hours after which the anti-matter will self-destruct. The canister is somewhere in Vatican City, with a security camera in front of it, as its digital clock counts down to the explosion.

Langdon and Vittoria make their way to Vatican City, where the Pope has recently died. It is discovered that the four Preferiti, cardinals who are the most likely papal successor, are missing. Langdon and Vittoria search for the Preferiti in hopes that they will also find the antimatter canister. Their search is assisted by Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca (the late pope's closest aide) and the Vatican's Swiss Guard.

Langdon attempts to retrace the steps of the "Path of Illumination", a process once used by the Illuminati as a means of inducting new members; aspirants to the order were required to follow a series of subtle clues left in various landmarks in and around Rome. The clues indicate the secret meeting place of the Illuminati. Langdon sets off on the Path of Illumination in hopes of delivering the Preferiti and recovering the antimatter canister.

The Path leads Langdon to four locations in Rome, each associated with one of the primordial elements: 'Earth', 'Air', 'Fire', and 'Water'. Langdon finds one of the Preferiti murdered in a way thematically related to each location's related element. The first cardinal was branded with an Earth ambigram and had soil forced down his throat; the second was branded with an air ambigram and had his lungs punctured; the third was branded with a fire ambigram and was burned alive; and the fourth was branded with a water ambigram and was left to drown at the bottom of a fountain.

After finding the bodies of the first two Preferiti, Langdon hurries to the Santa Maria della Vittoria Basilica and finds the Preferiti's abductor in the act of setting the third cardinal on fire. The kidnapper is an unnamed assassin who is working under the orders of the Illuminati master "Janus", whose true identity is unknown. Commander Olivetti is killed and the assassin kidnaps Vittoria. Langdon escapes and accosts the assassin at the final element's landmark (Water), but is unable to save the cardinal.

Langdon must complete the Path of Illumination in order to find the assassin and rescue Vittoria. His search leads him to Castel Sant'Angelo, that hides a tunnel leading directly into the pope's chambers in the Vatican. Langdon frees Vittoria, and together they send the assassin falling several hundred feet to his death. The two hurry back to St. Peter's Basilica, where they find that Kohler has arrived to confront the camerlengo in private. Langdon and Vittoria fear that Kohler is Janus, and that he has come to murder the camerlengo. Hearing the camerlengo scream in agony from being branded with the Illuminati Diamond, the Swiss Guards burst into the room and open fire on Kohler. Just before he dies, Kohler gives Langdon a videotape that he claims will explain everything.

With time running out, the Swiss Guard evacuates the Basilica. The camerlengo rushes back in, claiming that he has received a vision revealing the location of the antimatter canister. With Langdon in pursuit, the camerlengo ventures into the catacombs and finds the canister sitting atop the tomb of Saint Peter. Langdon and the camerlengo retrieve the antimatter and get in a helicopter with only minutes to spare. The camerlengo manages to parachute safely onto the roof of St. Peter's just as the canister explodes harmlessly in the sky. The crowd in St. Peter's Square look in awe as the camerlengo stands triumphantly before them. Because of this "miracle", the papal conclave debate whether to elect the camerlengo as the new Pope. Langdon managed to survive the explosion by using a window cover from the chopper as a parachute, and landed in the Tiber River.

After viewing Kohler's tape Langdon, Vittoria, and the cardinals confront the camerlengo; Shortly before the beginning of the novel, the Pope met with Leonardo Vetra who believed that anti-matter was capable of establishing a link between Man and God. Vetra's beliefs caused great discomfort to the camerlengo. While discussing Vetra, the pope reveals that his support is due to science having given him a son. Without waiting to hear the explanation (that the child was the result of artificial insemination), and horrified that the Pope appeared to have broken his vow of chastity, the camerlengo plots to "rectify" the situation. He poisoned the pope and, under the guise of an Illuminati master (Janus), he recruited the assassin, to kill Vetra, steal the antimatter, and kidnap and murder the Preferiti. The camerlengo planted the antimatter in St. Peter's in order to be seen as the savior of Christendom. The Illuminati "involvement" was merely a plot engineered by the camerlengo to cover his own plans. It is revealed that Camerlengo Ventresca himself was the birth son of the late pope, conceived through artificial insemination. Overcome with guilt Ventresca soaks himself in oil and immolates himself before a crowd of onlookers in St. Peter's Square.

Chapter-wise dicussion of the novel :

Novel contains 619 pages and 137 chapters. To covers all the events and details in chapters, I have divided the whole book into 8 parts, each part comprising 17 chapters.

Prologue :

The prologue of the book depicts a scene, on which the entire plot of the story is developed. It shows the murder of a physist Leonardo Vetra, by a ruthless assassian, who is trying to investigate some sort of Password from him. When he refuses to tell the passcode, the assassian brutally kils him. While dying, the only contentment Leonardo has is the murderer will never know the password to his lab. This idea of Leonardo Vetra is proved totally wrong as we proceed in the story.

Chapter 1-17:

The story begins with a dream that is gradually converted into a nightmare. The dreamer is Robert Langdon, the protagonist of the story, who lives in Boston. He is professor at Harvard, fond of swimming in spare time and so nick-named as “The Dolphin”. He is also an author of a book “The Art Of Illuminati”.

In the novel, Langdon wakes up from his dream due to his continuously ringing phone in early morning. He picks up and refuses to talk to the caller, who insists on seeing him immediately. Shortly after the phone call, Langdon receives a fax; a picture of a dead body branded with the ambigram of “Illuminati” (name of an ancient brotherhood of Science). The sender of the fax is the same who had called before. The caller again calls him and asks Langdon to help him. This time, stunned by the resurgance of the secret brotherhood, Langdon agrees.

The caller, who claims to run a research facility, tells him that his lab is just at one-hour flight from Boston, at Geneva. At first, Langdon gets Geneva, New York. The caller sends a Super Mach-15, X-33 jet to pick him up. The jet is of weird shape and the pilot braggs its extra-ordinary features to Langdon. While chit-chatting, Langdon is surprised to know that his destination is Geneva, Switzerland, not New York and he will be right there in one hour, crossing six time zones.

When he reaches there, Langdon get to know that his destination is CERN (Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire)- the world’s largest Nuclear research facility and the one who called this morning is director of the CERN- Maximilian Kohler.

Kohler welcomes him there and takes him to the assassinated scientist Leonardo Vetra’s room, where his corpse is kept. The news of his murder is still kept strictly confidential.

Langdon examines the corpse, which is brutally-treated with face twisted completely to the ground, chest branded with the ambigram and one eye missing from its socket

Langdon and Kohler then visit Vetra’s study and here Langdon finds Vetra to be a physist as well as a Catholic priest. Kohler tells him that Vetra always tried to prove that Science doesn’t confronts, rather reinforces the religion. He demands Langdon to tell him about the Illuminati and Langdon describes the long-fogotten, part of history books-tale of the Illuminati.

Meanwhile, an assassian is pictured talking to an un-seen boss, taking orders and reaching for a tunnel to proceed with his work. Another scene occuring simultaneously is of a guard on duty in a far off country, who suddenly notices a security camera missing from its original location in the complex, located elsewhere and focusing on a canister with some luminous droplet hanging in its centre and a digital clock counting down, at its bottom.

Kohler, on the other hand, calls Vittoria Vetra(adopted daughter of Leonardo Vetra) to come back immediately, who is on her research-field. He gives her the news of her father’s death. Vittoria gets back and Kohler demands her to take them to her lab, where some secret experiment had been conducting, which Kohler is considering as a reason of Vetra’s murder.

Vittoria reluctantly takes them both to the lab, breaking the vow she and her father had taken that they won’t tell anyone about the project untill it is completed. The entrance to Vetra’s lab comprises a Retina-Scan as a password. There, Kohler and Langdon notice the drops of recently-dried blood on the floor, which Vittoria doesn’t notice. Here, Kohler and Langdon get to know the horrible reason for which the dead Vetra’s eye was removed by the assassian.

Chapter 18-34:

In the lab, Kohler is surprised to see the experiment. The anti-matter, having opposite charge to matter and with 100 percent efficient energy (nuclear power is 1.5 percent efficient) is produced and stored by Vetra.

The anti-matter is the ultimate power-source (considered as God-particle by some people) with no pollution or radiation.

Vetra and Vittoria have produced an invisible, very small (in nano-grams) amount of anti-matter, annihilation of produces a big-bang like explosion, which Vittoria demonstrates in front of Langdon and Kohler in an annihilation chamber. Anti-matter is stored in special vaccum canisters designed by Vittoria, that hold anti-matter in the centre of the canister(as it eplodes as early as it comes in contact with anything) with the help of a continuous magnetic field, generated by un-intreppted electricity source, with battries of 24 hours backup if detached from the chargers.

There is also revealed a fact that Vittoria and Vetra had generated another sample of quite larger amount (a droplet of visible size). Kohler insists on checking out that sample too, about which Vittoria is dead sure to be safe and intact.

The larger sample is kept in another underground Haz-Mat chamber, where it simply comes out that the canister with larger amount of anti-matter is no more in the lab.

Meanwhile, Kohler gets an urgent call from somewhere and asks caller to meet him at Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport, Vatican city. Kohler’s physical condition and fits of cough doesn’t allow him to go there and he sends Langdon and Vittoria to Vatican for urgent.

The call is about the strange canister, showed by a wireless camera removed from within the Vatican and is still in there at some unknown location. At this moment, Vatican, the cradle of modern civilization, contains a time bomb (in terms of anti-matter) at its core.

While landing down at Vatican, Langdon and Vittoria notice a crowd of TV-channel reporter vans, considering if the news of anti-matter is leaked. In fact, media is crowded there to cover te Conclave event (to select a new pope, as the former died just 15 days ago). For Conclave, every cardinal on earth is crowded at Vatican City and all of them are literally sitting on a ticking time-bomb.

Meanwhile, the calm environment inside the Sistine Chapel is imaged, where the Conclave is supposed to occur. Cardinal Mortati, being the senior-most cardinal, overseer of the whole event wonders if the four Prefritti cardinals are absent from the chapel and sends a caution to the Swiss-Guards for their absence.

Chapter 35-51:

Langdon and Vittoria, as arrived at Vatican come across absurd investigations of Swiss-Guards and are later locked in an office by a Swiss-guard Commander Olivetti, as he doesn’t believe their statement of being called by Vatican itself. During all this, they notice some unusual bustle in offices of Swiss-guards, as if they are searching for some missing thing. Later, Olivetti receives direct orders from Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca (pope’s right hand in his laife, also called Chamberlain) to bring both Langdon and Vittoria to his office immediately.

In Camerlengo’s office, while Vittoria convinces Olivetti about the possible-hazards of anti-matter explosion, they receive a call from the assassian, who announces himself as a messenger of Illuminati-brotherhood and about the four missing cardinals kidnapped by him. This news surprises Camerlengo, who is still unaware of their absence and reveals on Langdon and Vittoria that it was the cardinals the Swiss-guards were searching for. The assassian alerts them that they will find their cardinals dead on four altars of Science-a secret path laid by Illuminati that lead the scientists to their secret meeting point under Papal-dominance.

Vittoria stresses to find out the canister and Olivetti assures the Camerlengo that he’ll sort it out before time out.

The office of BBC in London receives a call from some unknown person, demanding the phone-number of reporter present at Vatican to cover the event of Conclave. Reluctant at first, but later with the idea of “wasting a few seconds is better than missing a headline”, the operator gives him the number.

The secret path is laid across the Vatican, comprising the secret markers, known for the concerned people only and totally simple for others. Langdon, knowing that Gallelio’s book(named Diagramma) contains some clue to the secret path/markers is present in Rome’s most secret vault “Archivo Vaticano”, is granted access to the secret vault.

In the vault, Langdon and Vittoria find Diagramma after some difficulty. They then try to find out the clue mentioned in the book somewhere that may guide them to the secret altars of Science.

Gunther Glick, a new correspondent at BBC, with Chinita Marci-the camera assistant is present at Vatican City to report may be just a 10-seconds clip of Conclave. Meanwhile, he attends a call from someone, who is claiming that he’s about to change his life. Listening to the caller’s information, he asks Marci to type some keyword to search something he has just got the idea for. Marci is stunned at the word Glick has said.

Chapter 52-68 :

In the book Diagramma, Langdon and Vittoria eventually find something specially written on folio 5 by Jhon Milton(showing he was also an Illuminatus) in form of a poem, which read as

“From Santi’s earthly tomb with demons hole,

Cross Rome the mystic elements unfold.

The path of light is laid,the sacred test,

Let angels guide you on your lofty quest.”

These verse makes them realize that path of Illumination begins at Santi’s earthly tomb. It also made the 4 elements (earth,air,water,fire) of Science clear.

Langdon and Vittoria concludes Raphael’s tomb in Pantheon as Santi’s earthly tomb and give Olivetti a caution to be there, in order to have a chance to get the assassian or to save the cardinals.

In the pantheon, both of them move in separate directions to search for anything unusual, with Olivetti and its force vigilant outside the tomb. As the assassian warned the first cardinal’s murder would be on 8 p.m., they are on time at the spot.

On the other side, the doors to the Sistine Chapel are sealed despite of the 4 preffreti missing and the ceremony of the Conclve is commenced.

There are still 8 minutes to 8 p.m., when dreadfully Vittoria finds out that they have concentrated on a wrong place. Santi’s earthly tomb stands in fact for the Capala Chigi (Chigi Chapel), which means “the Church of Earth”. When they reach there, they find Cardinal Ebner assassinated, branded on chest with the ambigram “Earth” and died due to his throat and mouth stuffed with soil.

Inside the Sistine Chapel, Cardinal Mortati is supervising the process of election. The event of first balloting is completed. Mortati opens the ballot boxes, examines the ballot-papers ,beading them in a string he put them in a tray, sprays some chemicals and empties the tray in the chimneys. The chemicals he’d added create black smoke. Cardinal Mortati has sent his first communication of Conclave to the outside world. This smoke simply indicates Balloting-1 ended with no pope.

Chapter 69-85  :

Totally engrossed by the scene he had recently observed, Langdon harly focuses on the chapel to sort out a clue that lead to the next altar of Science, related to air. There he finds that interior adornments of the Chigi Chapel are by Gianlorenzo Giovanni Bernini (an artist famous for religious sculptures).

Following the information obtained from the unknown caller, Glick and Marci reach Piazza del Popolo (Chigi Chapel), where a crowd of Swiss-guard is present removing the corpse of Cardinal branded with the ambigram. They shoot the event and transmitt it to the editor.

Langdon finds a sculpture of an angel pointing to a particular direction. He examines all churches in that directions, any of them containing something related to the element “air”. One of the Swiss-guard directs him to the correct marker of West Ponente, depicting “the breath of God” or “air”, present in St. Peter Square. They set of for St. Peter Square, this time followed by Glick and Marci in a BBC van.

As Langdon, Vittoria,  Olivetti with Swiss-guards and Glick along with Marci reached there, it was about 9 p.m. Everything usual, Langdon notices a man and a woman with camera chasing them. In the next moment, a little girl began screaming, on seeing someone shabby decrepit man slumped down near the base of the obelisk. Langdon approaches him and observes his rags stained with fresh, flowing blood. The man comes out to the Cardinal Lamasse with his lungs punctured and branded with the ambigram “air”.

During this incident Glick and Marci are noticed by Olivetti, shooting the whole scene. Olivetti chases Marci and demands the film-reel of the event, which she refuses to give. In the crowd, Glick successfully yanks the video from her coat and Marci hands Olivetti over some other reel and flees away.

Glick sends the video to the BBC headquarters and the editor in-chief, who asks his media coordinators to sell out this video of live homicide for a million U.S dollars per footage to some other channel (CNN or MSNBC).

To trace the third altar of Science from the direction of God’s direction, Langdon is again headed towards the Secret Archives. Meanwhile, Pope’s offices watches the footage of murdered Cardinals on MSNBC, which they have got by the courtesy of BBC. Olivetti is still hopeful to find out the canister as well as assassian while Camerlengo doesn’t believes so. In the same time, the reporter on the MSNBC breaks the news about Illuminati taking responsibility of assassination of the Cardinals. She breaks another shocking news that the late Pope was murdered, not naturally died, poisoned by Illuminati. Eveyone in Pope’s office watches the news that follows a live-call to Glick who confirms the news, as he has been in contact with the killer.

Camerlengo stunns hearing the Pope’s was murdered. As per Papal rules, no autopsy could be performed and consequently the Pope’s death was considered due to a stroke.

On Camerlengo describing that Pope used “Heparin” injections for “thrombophlebitis” disease, Vittoria reveals a biological fact that over dosage of Heparin causes death, with the symptoms of some stroke, the most obvious being the tongue of the victim turned black. Hearing this, Camerlengo decides to take a look at the Pope’s dead body.

On the other hand at CERN, Sylvie (Kohler’s PA) watches the news “Terror at Vatican” and at the same time is wondering about the absence of Kohler. While Kohler is busy checking out Vetra’s room and personal diaries.

In Vatican, Cardinal Mortati puts another tray of ballot papers into the chimney, burning it and the black smoke indicates Balloting 2 with no Pope elected still.

Langdon proceeding step-wise finds out Maria della Vittoria as a third altar of Science, containing the sculpture “Ecstasy of St. Teresa” as a sign of third element of Science “fire”.

He traces out the out-of-the-way spot by recalling that sculpture shortly after its unveiling was moved somewhere in the Vatican by artist’s own suggestion, as Bernini probably intentionaly created a work so sexualy-explicit that it forced Vatican to move it that way, on a place Bernini really intended it to be, without making himself suspicious. This strengthens the idea of Langdon aboutBernini being an Illuminatus,too.

After sorting this out, as Langdon intends to get out of the secret Archives but suddenly power fails and he stucks in there and after struggling a lot gets out of there.

On the other hand, Camerlengo alongwith Vittoria and Swiss-guards remove the tomb’s lid and to their shock, Pope’s mouth is already opened and black as death.

Chapter 86-101 :

Langdon after escaping hardly from the vault, reaches Pope’s office, where an argument is going on whether to evacuate the Cardinals or to concentrate on searching the canister. Langdon guides them to the third altar of Science “Maria della Vittoria” church. Olivetti stesses on being careful about privacy. At 09:41 p.m., they reach the altar and search the premises to find some clue about assassian. Shortly, they observe high flames rising from within the church. When they approach inside, the most gruesome scene awits them. Cardinal Guidera is burned alive, branded with the ambigram “fire”. In the same church, the assassian kills Olivetti, imprisons Langdon in a horrible sarcophagus (flesh-eater) and kidnaps Vittoria. Captured in the sarcophagus chamber and imaging his death drawing near him, Langdon is worried for Vittoria. In this short time, since they have met each other, both of them are at home and amiable with each other, feeling that they know each other for centuries.

After seeing Pope’s dead body, Camerlengo decides to tell the world the truth, the fact Vatican has to faced; a fact that they are hostage. This is for the very first time in the history of Vatican, as before this anything like this was kept confidential from people of the Vatican. Camerlengo is going to break the law to explain the truth to people and to address the world and Illuminati on the behalf of Vatican City.

Camerlengo’s address is one of the best debates in the novel. He beautifuly explains what is actually happening or going to happen that night. He compares Science and religion in a very good manner, with logics and suitable arguments. He announces for the Illuminati as “you have won the war” and “Science is the new God”. He also mentions that the whole is and will always pay enough cost for the development of Science. He states that even though Science has won the war this moment, it still failed to develop faith within the people. Cardinal Mortati and the whole college of Cardinals are greatly impressed by personalization of Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca; even thogh he has overruled the old tradition of Rome by addressing the whole world on-air from BBC. Cardinal Mortati gets the reason for violation of Conclave as its was the only dramatic and desperate plea for help. After the address, Camerlengo kneels at the altar saying “pray with me” and the whole college of Cardinals do the same.

The hassassian reaches at the Church of Illumintion; the Illuminati liar (for which the whole path of illumination is laid) with the kidnapped Vittoria.

After the prayers at the altar, Camerlengo tells Glick (who has covered throughout the address) that he will hand him over the photos and videos of branded and murdered Cardinals and also of the anti-matter canister counting down somewhere at the Vatican. Glick is very excited and eager to get them as early as possible, as it will prove a break-through for his career.

The fire-fighters’s team at Maria della Vittoria church, that has arrived breifly to fight the fire and to find the corpse of branded Cardinal, eventually rescues Langdon and give him some medical treatment.

Far there at CERN, Sylvie receives orders from Kohler to get his jet ready in 5 minutes and he has to fly somewhere urgently.

After getting a first-aid treatment, Langdon wonders for the fourth altar of Science as well as for Vittoria. Pondering on the maps and clues over and over again, Langdon is hit by the idea of that iambic pentameter’s last line “cross Rome the mystic elements unfold” , getting the fact that all the four altars are spread over the Rome in form of a cross; and according to this Piazza Navona is the fourth altar of Science.

In another scene, Glick is so enthusiastic for his break-through and considers Marci’s careful attitude as a professional jealousy. He analyzes the American president George Bush an Illuminati and CERN as a house of Illuminati. He also critiques the Illuminati-logo, numbers of duality and pentagram and the world-famous Illuminati diamond.

Chapter 102-119 :

 Langdon reaches Piazza Navona before its 11 p.m. At 10:46 p.m., he sees a black van emerging from the dark ally besides. The van stops in the compound of Bernini’s fountain (fourth marker is shown by the Fountain of the four rivers) and assassian drags out Cardinal Baggia branded with the ambigram “water” and loaded with heavy chains. The assassian pushes the Cardinal into the foggy fountain pond. At the same instant, Langdon and the assassian come across. Afterwards they fight underwater for life. Though Langdon is a very good swimmer and one of the best water-polo player at Harvard, at moments he seems to be over-powered by expertise of the professional killer. Assassian plays the final trick and Langdon deciets him by acting as if he’s dead and his body in the condition of “rigor mortis”. Assassian considering him dead flees away. Langdon, after the killer has gone, tries to save the brutally wounded, completely- drowned, half-dead Cardinal, but he does not succeeds in his attempt.

Later Langdon looks for any clue in Bernini’s fountain that may guide him to the Illuminati liar, where he thinks Vittoria is kept in hostage. Finding a dove on the top of the fountain, he recalls a quote of St. Gregory of Nyssa “as the soul becomes enlightened, it takes the beautiful shape of the dove”. Dove’s direction points to Castel St. Angelo, that certainly is the Church of Illuminaion; where all the Scientists used to conferrence, centuries ago, right under the nose of the Vatican.

For the safety of the dense crowd gathered in St. Peter’s bascilica, Camerlengo and Captain Rocher decide to evacuate the bascilica as well as Sistine Chapel right at 11:15 p.m.

Langdon reaches the Castel St. Angelo and passing through the topsy turvy tunnels and passages, approaches the killer at moment when he’s about to kill Vittoria. After having an argument accompanied by a hide-and-seek fight, finally Langdon and Vittoria kills the assassian by pushing him from the top of the building.

The time is beyond 11:15, but Rocher doesn’t allows to open the doors of Sistine Chapel. Lt. Chartrand is getting worried and suspicious about Rocher, as he is behaving in a very weird way.

At 11:23 p.m., Langdon and Vittoria observes a helicopter and considering the threat of Illuminati master-mind Janus (that he’ll shortly arrive himself at Vatican to branded the still left, most important Papal official i.e Camerlengo). Watching the new-comer from the landed helicopter, they are astonished to see that the person is Maximilian Kohler. Thinking Kohler as Janus and to alarm Camerlengo about the danger and not to meet Kohler, they at once set off for the St. Peter bascilica through Il Passeto, a secret tunnel-way (also Pope’s secret way to escape in time of danger) that ends in Pope’s private library.

There at Pope’s office, the attitude of Kohler and Rocher is very strange and disturbing for Chartrand. He wonders why Rocher has got Camerlengo’s permission for a private and urgent meeting with Kohler. Waiting for Camerlengo, Kohler somehow recalls his childhood and that his parents’ blind convictioin in religion and confrontation of Science left him handicapped for the whole life (as they never allowed him a medical treatment saying it is better for him if Gos wants him to br this way). Recalling this, Kohler thinks “Tonight I may die at the hands of the religion but its not for the first time”. Finally, he reaches Camerlengo and Camerlengo knelling in front of fire, praying asks him, “Mr.Kohler ! Have you come to make me a martyr?”

While running through the Il Passetto, Langdon and Vittoria dicuss the reasons of Kohler’s arrival if he’s the real Janus. They wonder if he has really come to brand Camerlengo, it is obvious that he would never escape alive. They consider it as a suicide.

As Kohler gets in Camerlengo’s room, he bolts the door from inside and still Rocher remains indifferent. Chartrand is getting more and more suspicious. Before he could say something, they hear some noise from down the hall. He rans down to sort out from where the banging is coming and finds it from Sala Clementia, wondering only one room was present there. He hurries to the room, that is in fact Pope’s private library and appraoches the locked door from where the noise is coming. Finally, it comes out that it is Langdon and Vittoria on the other side, who try to alarm Chartrand about the danger the Camerlengo may face if he meets Kohler. Chartrand interprets the message and is about to leave while he notices the keys to the long-locked door are there. Wondering for they must have been in some secret vault, he opens the door. All three of them rushes upward to alert Camerlengo. They try to open the bolted door but it was too late. From inside Pope’s office came a bloodcurling sream of Camerlengo. They blow open the door and the inside scene is staggering.

As expected, Camerlengo is branded (but with someunknown shape) by Kohler. Getting the situation, Chartrand opens fire at Kohler. Camerlengo twisting badly on the floor due to wound points out Rocher as “Illuminatus” and Rocher is also killed by Chartrand. Kohler, at his last breathes in his wheelchair,thinking “Somethings are worth dying for”,  hands Langdon a tiny camcoder and advices him to give it to media. Langdon having no plan to do this, keeps the camcoder in the innermost pocket of its jacket, considering it must contain some final address to the worl declaring  the triumph of Science and defeat of religion.

They make their way outside to get Camerlengo to some hospital when Camerlengo suddenly escapes to the top of St. Peter bascilica’s pillar, where all the cameras are focussed. Watching the brand on the large LCDs also placed there by different channels, Langdon gets the ambigram as the “Illuminati Diamond”.

All the crowd there watches Camerlengo’s strange expressions and suddenly he blurts out as

“Ti sento, Dio. Grazie, Dio

(I hear you, God. Thank you, God.)”

Then again shouting “Upon this rock, I will build my church”, Camerlengo dashes downstairs. All of them thinks if the physical trauma has caused madness or some real kind of revelation to God (and has actually got a message from God).

At 11:42 p.m., the frenzied convoy plung back into the bascilica to retrieve Camerlengo. He claims to have got that anti-matter is placed right on the St. Peter’s tomb (that is five-storey down in basement) and rushes into the Necropolis. Glick and Marci are still chasing them, first halted by Chartrand and later requested to accompany them for they have a large camera flash-light. Langdon and Vittoria, chasing Camerlengo, continuously argue not to go down there. Camerlengo states that he’s not ordering anyone to stay with him. Those who are willing to go, can leave. He will not mind. At the same time, he requests all of them to have some faith in him as he won’t allow any more death tonight.

Chapter 119-137 :

With time running out, the Swiss Guard evacuates the Basilica. The Camerlengo rushes back in, claiming that he has received a vision revealing the location of the antimatter canister. With Langdon in pursuit, the Camerlengo ventures into the catacombs and finds the canister sitting atop the tomb of Saint Peter. Langdon and the Camerlengo retrieve the antimatter and get in a helicopter with only minutes to spare. The Camerlengo manages to parachute safely onto the roof of St. Peter's just as the canister explodes harmlessly in the sky. The crowd in St. Peter's Square look in awe as the Camerlengo stands triumphantly before them. Because of this "miracle", the papal conclave debate whether to elect the Camerlengo as the new Pope. Langdon managed to survive the explosion by using a window cover from the chopper as a parachute, and landed in the Tiber River.

After viewing Kohler's tape Langdon, Vittoria, and the cardinals confront the Camerlengo; Shortly before the beginning of the novel, the Pope met with Leonardo Vetra who believed that anti-matter was capable of establishing a link between Man and God. Vetra's beliefs caused great discomfort to the Camerlengo. While discussing Vetra, the pope reveals that his support is due to science having given him a son. Without waiting to hear the explanation (that the child was the result of artificial insemination), and horrified that the Pope appeared to have broken his vow of chastity, the Camerlengo plots to "rectify" the situation. He poisoned the pope and, under the guise of an Illuminati master (Janus), he recruited the assassin, to kill Vetra, steal the antimatter, and kidnap and murder the Preferiti. The Camerlengo planted the antimatter in St. Peter's in order to be seen as the savior of Christendom. The Illuminati "involvement" was merely a plot engineered by the Camerlengo to cover his own plans. It is revealed that Camerlengo Ventresca himself was the birth son of the late pope, conceived through artificial insemination. Overcome with guilt Ventresca soaks himself in oil and immolates himself before a crowd of onlookers in St. Peter's Square. Cardinal Saverio Mortati is elected as new pope by the unanimous decision of the collegeof Cardinals.

At the end of the setting, Langdon again sees the dream with which the story was begun. At that moment, Langdon realized that the woman in his dream was Vittoria. He and Vittoria both stays in “Hotel Bernini”.

Captain Rocher brings a letter and the Illuminati Diamond as a gift from Mortati, for Langdon.

Commentary :

This section of the report will deal with comments of my own, about different levels and aspects in the novel.

It will discuss points as;

      Major settings in the story

      Imagery in the novel

      Coherence of the events

      Development of characters

      Different worth-discussing events with examples

      Author’s unbiased flow in the novel

      Tone/ mood of the story and writing style

      Writer’s theme/ central dogma

      Some differences between the novel and the movie based on it

      Climax and resolution

Major Settings In The Novel:

There are two major settings in the novel.

Ø  The first is the Vatican and its surrounding sites of Catholic worship in Rome

Ø  The second is CERN, a scientific counterpoint to the Vatican.

Vatican City :

More than half of the story revolves within the Vatican. It also discusses a number of Catholic churches, tombs, paintings, structures and sculptures. Most important being;

·         Sistine Chapel

·         Castel St. Angelo; The Church of Illumination; The Illuminati liar

·         Piazza Navona

·         Piazza Maria della Popolo

·         Rapheal’ tomb

·         Chigi Chapel

·         St. Peter’ tomb and St. Peter bascilica

·         Tiber river

·         Il Passetto

CERN :

Located in Geneva, Switzerland, CERN is ultramodern and filled with world-class minds and gleaming technological artifacts that extend its reach around the world (such as the Internet, which it had a hand in creating, and the X-33 jet that carries Langdon there at several times the speed of sound).

Imagery in the novel :

Imagery in the novel is used very successfully. The protagonist, Robert Langdon, Leonardo Vetra, Vittoria Vetra, Camerlengo Carlo Vetrensca, Captain Chartrand and Maximilian Kohler are described with all their backgrounds and history.

The imagery of churches is also well-depicted. The structure of ambigrams is so well described that the reader can easily imagine how it must look like. The scenes in the novel, of the murdered and branded Cardinals  are gruesome, but very well imaged. The process of the Conclave and Papal laws are elaborated. The higher-level conspiracies are discussed so that a lay man can understand it well.

Coherence of the events :

There seems to be a perfect coherity in all the events, that takes place in the story. All the scenes occur in a complete flow and continuity. The arrangements in the story are in a coherence.

Development of the characters in the story :

• Robert Langdon: A professor of symbology at Harvard University and the main protagonist of the novel. He is flown to CERN to help investigate the murder of Leonardo Vetra. He is described as wearing a pair of chino pants, turtleneck, and tweed jacket. His name is a tribute to John Langdon.
• Leonardo Vetra: A scientist working at CERN and a priest. He is researching on antimatter when he is murdered by the Assassin. He is also the adoptive father of Vittoria.
• Vittoria Vetra: The adopted daughter of Vetra. She, like her father, works with CERN. Her research focuses on biology and physics. The reader learns early in the novel that Vittoria worked with her father in their research of antimatter.
• Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca: The Camerlengo (Papal Chamberlain) during the conclave. He murdered the pope, who is later revealed to have been his biological father. His codename for dealing with the assassin, "Janus", was taken from the two-faced Roman god of beginnings and ends, and for whom the month of January was named.
• Cardinal Saverio Mortati: The most senior cardinal in the conclave, and the current Dean of the College of Cardinals. He was the Devil's Advocate for the late pope.
• Commander Olivetti: The commandant of the Swiss Guard. He is initially skeptical on the claims of Langdon and Vittoria until he talks with the Hassassin. He, along with other Swiss Guards, search desperately for the missing antimatter hidden somewhere at the Vatican. He is killed by the Hassassin at the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria.
• Captain Rocher: The second in command after Commander Olivetti. He is contacted by Max Kohler telling his knowledge on the real cause of the events. He is killed by Lt. Chartrand, who was under the impression that Rocher was an Illuminatus.
• Hassassin: The killer hired by Janus, the Camerlengo in disguise, to fulfill his plans. He is of Middle Eastern origin and displays his sadistic lust for women throughout the novel. He murders Leonardo Vetra, the Preferiti, and Commander Olivetti. He dies after being pushed from a balcony by Langdon at the Castel Sant' Angelo and breaking his back on a pile of cannonballs below.
• Maxillian Kohler:The director of CERN. He is feared at CERN despite his paralysis. His wheelchair contains electronic gadgets such as a computer, telephone, pager, video camera, and a gun. He contacts Langdon to help him find the killer of his friend, Leonardo Vetra. He blames the Church for his paralysis, due to his highly religious parents denying him medical care as a child, becoming a scientist as a way to rebel.
• Gunther Glick and Chinita Macri: A reporter and his photojournalist for the BBC. They are contacted by the Hassassin regarding the events happening in the Vatican. Glick has a notorious reputation as a sensationalist and conspiracy theorist journalist. Macri, meanwhile, is a veteran camera crew and a foil to Glick. They have the first-hand account on the events in the novel, from the beginning of the conclave to the election of Mortati as pope.
• Lieutenant Chartrand: A young Swiss Guard. He, together with Commander Olivetti and Capt. Rocher, search desperately for the antimatter hidden somewhere in the Vatican. He shoots and kills Captain Rocher after he is mistaken as an Illuminatus. Near the end of the novel, he is sent by the new pope to give the Illumanti Daimond as an indefinite loan to Langdon.
• Cardinal Ebner: One of the four Preferiti and a cardinal from Frankfurt, Germany. He is killed by asphyxiation, by means of putting dirt and soil into his mouth.
• Cardinal Lamassé: One of the four Preferiti and a cardinal from Paris, France. He is killed by punctures to his lungs, from which he bled to death.
• Cardinal Guidera: One of the four Preferiti and a cardinal from Barcelona, Spain. He is incinerated alive.
• Cardinal Baggia: One of the four Preferiti and a cardinal from Milan, Italy and the favorite to succeed as the new pope. He was drowned to death.

Different worth-discussing scenes, with examples :

All the scenes in the story are all well-described. Some of them are as follows ;

1.      Langdon narrates the history of Illuminati- Langdon being a historian explains the Illuminati concept before Kohler. He narrates the history how the church confronted Galilio and other scientists and imprisoned them so as to remain the sole authority. Some scientists were burned alive so that no one could dare compete the Church again. After this incident, scientists feld away ti Italy and other countries of Europe Then and founded a group named Illuminati (the enlightened ones) to gather somewhere to discuss and relate their research and findings with each other, under the very eyes of Vatican. The also designed a path of Illumination for the new scientists who wanted to join them. To point out the path, they designed some secret markers regarding the four basic elements of Science (air,water,fire,earth) and hid them in the public places of Rome. Those who had the urge to find the truth could find those markers easily, that lead them to the place of their gathering; The church of Illumination(Illuminati liar). They invaded in Free-Masonic groups and controlled the finance,politics and other major fields of life with being noticed. But gradually, they were totally out of scene since past 400 years, when suddenly Leonardo Vetra was found branded with an ambigram, which they had specially designed for their group 4 centuries ago.

2.      Structure of the air-craft that Kohler sends to pick up Langdon- Kohler sends a special air-craft for Langdon. It was a vaguely reminiscent of a space shuttle, with its wings and windows totally non-existant. The pilot describes it as “HSCT (high speed civil transport) that runs on slush hydrogen. Its shell is a titanium matrix with silicon carbide fibers and has a 20:1 thurst/weight ratio.” He also exclaimed it to be “Boeing X-33.”

3.      Langdon’s dream with a young woman, twice in the story- The story starts with the dream in which Langdon (the protagonist) is trying to climb the Great Pyramid of Giza, while his young wife is already at the top, bucking him up to hurry saying “I knew I should have married a younger man”. But this dream ends as a nightmare as Langdon sees a weird old man with rotting teeth and curling his lips to a lonely grimace. But, in the dream for second time, there are only Langdon and Vittoria.

4.      Inside betrayal of Camerlengo- In chapter 26, the assassian is shown waiting in a tunnel rusty but still strong (actually Il passetto) as his (so-called Illuminati) boss Janus has directed him to do. He knows Camerlengo is going to open the door for him to kidnap the Cardinals and escape with them to the Illuminati liar, where this secret tunnel ends.

5.      Vittoria’s attitude is very amiable, fluent and confident. She has a good decision-power. She is bold and is never reluctant in her doings. For example, outside the Chigi Chapel, when Olivetti direct her and Langdon to be vigilant about the killer and hands them a pistol, Vittoria unreluctantly takes the gun while Langdon thinks for a moment.

Another example is when inside the Secret Archives, both Langdon and Vittoria search and find out Galilio’s old scripture “Diagramma”, Langdon is conscious not to take the folio 5 with them outside the Archives. While Vittoria is of the view that the emergency situation allows them to do so and so she takes the folio with her and walks outside without listening to the next words of Langdon.

6.      An important fact that Langdon reveals to his students and to most of the readers even is that Jesus was not born on December twenty-fifth. According to Bible, Jesus was born in March. December 25^th is an ancient pagan holidau of “sol invictus” (unconquered sun), coinciding with the winter solstice.

7.      While examining the interior of the Chigi Chapel (Santi’s earthly tomb), Langdon finds out an important fact (may be surprising for some readers) that Gianlorenzo Givovanni Bernini who is actually an Illuminatus. Most of the historians thought him to be apple of the eye of Vatican as well as Catholic churches.

8.      In the whole run, the settings of Camerlengo are though loathsome but admirable. The relativity of markers and altars of Science is well-done with the way in which Cardinals are killed. For example, Cardinal murdered at 1^st altar, Chigi Chapel (which literally means Church of the earth)  is branded with ambigram earth and is killed by stuffing dirt and soil into his throat. Similarly, as second altar is related to air and is recognized by “West Ponente’s breath” (termed as breath of God), the Cardinal murdered there is branded with “air” and is killed by punctures in each of his lungs, showing relation to air and so on.

9.      One of the most important thing in the story is Camerlengo’s address to the college of Cardinals and to the whole world with the coverage of BBC. Second being the Kohler’s thought before being killed “Cripples are powerless or the world so believes” and “somethings are worth dying for”.

Author’s un-biased flow in the story :

The coherence never breaks in the novel. Author has remained unbiased throughout the story. He has neutrally compared Science and Religion and has left the decision to the reader for the right choice. He has just made a debate for positive and negative aspects and has pictured effects and side-effects of both for the readers.

   Tone /mood of the story and writing style :

The author at first seems to be more stuffed with scientific terms as he introduces CERN and explores so many modern devices in there i.e Particle accelerator, HSCT (high speed civil transport), Haz-Mat, the world wide web, Kohler’s electric wheel-chair, anti-matter and specially designed canisters for its storage, annihilation chambers etc.

The writing style of the story is very moving and captivating. At time, while reading, the reader miss a heartbeat. Collectively, it was not a literary novel in terms of writing but the author knew how to end a chapter, keep a book moving and develop some good character.

Writer’s theme / central dogma :

The main purpose of the author to write such a story seems as if he is trying to coincide the ends of Science and Religion, which most of the times is thought to be a distance apart. The author has set a fitction as well as thriller in a historic plot. All the settings in the novel are stunningly superb. It keeps a reader going and also u-to-date with history as well Science. The main objective that author wants to achieve is he is trying to tell a new way how to balance between both the important things for life. He also gives a notion to the readers that Science never confronts the religion rather it reinforces its ideas. He is of the view that Science itself is not bad at all, but who is uses it makes the difference. So is the case with religion. It seems that the story satisfies the dogma and objective that wants to get, so far.

      Some differences between the novel and the movie based on it:

1.      In the novel, the anti-matter concept was kept between Vittoria and her father, but this is not mentioned in the movie.

2.      Leonardo Vetra wasn’t found dead in the movie.

3.      Robert Langdon finds everything easily and so quickly in the movie, while in the novel he faces the difficulty of dim-lighting, choking (no air inside the Archives in order to keep ancient scriptures safe from environmental hazards) and complex catalouging.

4.      The annoying tour-guide that Langdon and Vittoria find in the Pantheon is completely absent in the movie.

5.      The BBC reporter and camera-woman, Gunther Glick and Chinita Marci that follow them all throughout the expedition are absent in the movie.

Climax and resolution:

Using the fore-shadowing technique at many places, it may occur to the reader as climax at every such point, but the original climax comes when it is revealed that as the Illuminati plot was engineered by Camerlengo Carlo Vetrensca and no Janus or Illuminati really exist in the whole scene. The fact unveiled at the end that Carlo is the son of late Pope (which he conceived by artificial insemination) can be said another climax.

The point when Carlo pretends to get a revelation or a secret message from God regarding the exact location of anti-matter may also seems to be a climax.

But the actual climax is the one mentioned earlier and the author has superbly resolved it, leaving no confusion in the reader’s mind.

Besides the climax, the story contains a number of scenes where a reader cannot leave the story (that is actually the definition of climax)

 

 Conclusion:

Angels & Demons is a 2000 bestselling mystery-thriller novel written by American author Dan Brown and published by Corgi Books.

The novel introduces the character Robert Langdon. It also shares many stylistic literary elements with its sequel, such as conspiracies of secret societies, a single-day time frame, and the Catholic Church. Ancient history, architecture, and symbolism are also heavily referenced throughout the book.

My initial reaction to this book, having read the cover blurbs was definitely not a positive one. I envisioned an international spy thriller with religious and historical overtones. While a perfectly acceptable premise for a novel, but subject matter that has little interest for me. But I was wrong. While the capsule description on the cover is accurate, Angels and Demons has a much more wide ranging appeal.

The story itself is very plot-driven and the suspense never seems to end. It is a page turner, thriller-packed from the very beginning. It contains a little bit of everything including a little romance, drama, science fiction and lots of action. But what had my eyes glued to the pages was the amount of mysteries and questions that came with every moment. The reader doesn’t need to worry about getting lost, this book didn't have so many characters that one couldn't keep up easily.

It is exceedingly well written. The author makes no mistakes in plotting, and draws the reader’s interest into unfamiliar territory with his accurate prose. Scientific matters are explained in terms laymen can easily understand. The history and customs of the Catholic church are discussed in detail as they relate to the plot. A physical description of the buildings and terrain of Vatican City, worthy of any travelogue, both as it appears today and did historically is presented adding a realistic touch to the novel.

In short, Angels and Demons is a good escapist fiction. Black-hearted villains, a damsel in distress, a reluctant hero, a mystery, a smattering of red-herrings.