Plot In The Novel “The Da Vinci Code” By Dan Brown
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ISSN: 2302-920X
Jurnal Humanis, Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Unud
Vol 17.2 Nopember 2016: 261 - 269
Plot In The Novel “The Da Vinci Code” By Dan Brown
Tri Wulandari1*, I Gusti Ayu Gede Sosiowati2, I Nyoman Udayana3 123English Department Faculty Of Arts, Udayana University 1[[email protected]] 2[[email protected]]
3
Corresponding Author
Abstract
Penelitian ini berjudul “Plot in the Novel “The Da Vinci Code”yang dikarang oleh Dan Brown.” Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisis struktur plot dan hukum plot di dalam novel “The Da Vinci Code.” Terdapat dua masalah dalam penelitian ini, yaitu: struktur plot apa yang digunakan dan informasi apa saja yang dapat ditemukan di setiap struktur plot di dalam novel “The Da Vinci Code’?,; dan bagaimana penggunaan hukum plot di dalam novel “The Da Vinci Code”?. Sementara itu, sumber diambil dari novel yang berjudul “The Da Vinci Code.” Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode qualitativ. Teori yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah teori dari Kenney, How to Analyze Fiction (1966). Teori ini digunakan untuk menganalisis struktur plot dan hukum plot. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukan bahwa terdapat tiga bagian struktur plot yang terdapat dalam novel. Struktur pertama adalah awal atau eksposisi yang terdiri dari pengenalan karakter, pengaturan tempat, dan potensi konflik. Kemudian, yang kedua adalah pertengahan yang terdiri dari konflik, komplikasi dan klimaks. Ketiga adalah akhiran atau kesudahan, dibagian ini resolusi cerita akan diberikan. Selain itu terdapat tiga hukum yang mengatur (masuk akal, kejutan, dan ketengangan).
Kata Kunci: plot, struktur plot, hukum plot.
Hornby (2010:869) stated that literature refers to pieces of writing that are valued as works of art, especially novels, plays, and poems (in contrast to technical books and newspapers, magazines, and so on). According to Brooks and Warren (1948:89), literature can also be defined as a social creation. Literary work is the written product of literature.
Novels are generally thought of as containing forty-five thousand words or more (Kenney, 1966:103). They are relatively long and usually through
connected events, involving characters in specific setting, and have strong plot. The topic of this study is plot.
Literary work that would be analyzed in this study is a novel entitled “The Da Vinci Code” written by Dan Brown (2003), first published in Great Britain by Bantam Press. It was a story between faith and knowledge, a conspiracy within Church (Catholic Church) to cover up the truth of the Holy Grail.
There are two main problems that appear based on the background of the study above as follows:
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1. What plot structures are used and what information can be found in each structure of the plot in the novel “The Da Vinci Code”?
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2. How are the laws of plot applied in the novel “The Da Vinci Code”?
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3. Aims of the Study
To relate the two problems of the background of study above, this study have two objectives as follows:
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1. To analyze what plot structures are used and what information can be found in each structure of the plot in the novel “The Da Vinci Code”
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2. To analyze how the laws of plot were applied in the novel “The Da Vinci Code”
The data source of this study is the novel entitled “The Da Vinci Code.” This novel was written by Dan Brown and was first published in Great Britain in 2003 by Bantam Press. This novel was chosen as the data source because it was an international bestseller book and was translated into over 50 languages in the
world. It was a story between faith and knowledge, a conspiracy within Church (Catholic Church) to cover up the truth of the Holy Grail.
The method that was applied in this study was the documentation method. The data were collected through note taking. There were several steps taken in collecting the data. First, reading the whole contents of the novel to select the data. Second, finding out which statements are related to intrinsic elements related to the topic, especially plot structures and the laws of plot. Third, taking note of some important events that are related to the plot structures and the laws of plot.
The method used in this study was the descriptive method. The theory proposed by Kenney (1966) was applied in this study. There were three steps to analyze the data. First, the data that had collected were identified to identify the structure of the plot and the laws of plot. Second, the data were classified in accordance with the structures of the plot. Third, the data were classified.
The method used in this study was informal method. The analysis was presented descriptively.
This part deals with the result and discussion of the analysis of plot structures and the laws of plot. The data were taken from the novel entitled “The Da Vinci Code.”
In the novel “The Da Vinci Code,” the exposition shows the introductory of the characters, setting and potential conflict of the story, as explained below.
There were 24 characters found in the novel “The Da Vinci Code,” the main and the protagonist character of this story was Robert Langdon. He was the one who dominated from the beginning until the end of the story. At once, he was the main concerned of the story and succeeded in solving the problem of the story.
Then, the secondary character of this story was Sophie Neveu. She was a character who helped Robert Langdon solve problem. Finally, the antagonist character of this story was Sir Leigh Teabing and also as the mastermind why a conflict in this story emerged.
Potential conflict of this story appeared when a French police found the corpse of the curator of Musee du Louvre, Jacques Sauniere lay on the parquet floor in the strange position.
The pallid corpse of Jacques Sauniere lay on the parquet floor exactly as it appeared in the photograph. As Langdon stood over the body and squinted in the harsh light, he reminded himself to his amazement that Sauniere had spent his last minutes of life arranging his own body in this strange fashion. (Brown, 2003:54)
The quotation (Brown, 2003:54) shows that the potential conflict of this story emerged when the French Police found a pallid corpse of Jacques Sauniere lay on his own office at Musee du Louvre. The strange position and some symbols on his naked abdomen made Bezu Fache (a police captain) had invited Robert Langdon during his lecture at Paris.
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c. Setting
There were two cities as the main settings of the story: Paris and London.
Then, the time of setting was in the evening.
The middle of the plot consists of three parts. They are conflict, complication, and climax, as explained below:
A major conflict of this story appeared when Sophie Neveu and Robert Langdon were trying to uncover the message that Jacques Sauniere left beside his corpse.
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O, Draconian devil!
Oh, lame saint!
P. S. Find Robert Langdon. (Brown, 2003:97)
The story moved from the beginning to the complication plot when the Jacques Sauniere’s anagrams were broken up by Robert Langdon and the new rearrangement of the anagrams led Sophie Neveu to the painting Madonna of the Rocks, and she found something beneath it, a gold shimmering chain with fleur-de-lis beneath it. Eventually, she recognized why her grandfather would leave a word games; as he did not want this key to fall into the police, and only she could have it. According to the legend, fleur-de-lis always referred to the Priory of Sion, which existed for the sole purpose of protecting a secret. This secret was incredible power, the Holy Grail. Then, Sophie Neveu, exclaimed that the letters P. S did not had literary meaning post script but referred to her initial, Princess Sophie.
The movement from the initial statement of conflict to the climax is often referred to as a complication (Kenney, 1966:18). Generally, in this part, the readers will get rattled.
This fresco, in fact, is the entire key to the Holy Grail mystery. Da Vinci lays it all out in the open in The Last Supper" Sophie scanned the work eagerly. "Does this fresco tell us what the Grail really is?" "Not what it is," Teabing whispered. "But rather who it is. The Holy Grail is not a thing. It is, in fact... a person" (Brown, 2003:316)
The statement Da Vinci lays it all out in the open in The Last Supper" Sophie scanned the work eagerly (Brown, 2003:316) shows that Sir Leigh Teabing’s claimed that Leonardo Da Vinci had created the Holy Grail in his painting “The Last Supper.” He said that Holy Grail was not a Cup, but referred to a person, a woman precisely. This woman who carried with her a powerful secret and it could threaten to devastate the very foundation of Christianity if it was revealed to the world. According to the legend, the original symbol of female was a chalice. It was shaped like the woman’s womb and was represented to the woman’s femininity, womanhood, and fertility.
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3. Climax
The highest point of this story was when Sir Leigh Teabing forced Sophie Neveu and Robert Langdon to open the cryptex for his ambition.
Robert, are you with me, or against me? The Royal Historian's words echoed in the silence of Langdon's mind. There was no viable response, Langdon knew. Answer yes, and he would be selling out Sophie. Answer no, and Teabing would have no choice but to kill them both. (Brown, 2003:546)
By aiming his gun at Sophie Neveu, Sir Leigh Teabing controlled the situation. As a result, Robert Langdon grasped the cryptex and stepped backward. He walked towards the towering windows and searched any inspiration in their stained-glass mosaics, and tried to figure out what the password of it was. What orb should be in Sir Isaac Newton’s tomb.
The conflict may reach a climax or turn point and fall down to the end.
Kenney (1966:19) stated that we may now see that the beginning takes us from exposition to the initial statement of conflict; the middle, from conflict through complication to climax; and then, from climax to denouement.
The Holy Grail 'neath ancient Roslin waits. The blade and chalice guarding o'er Her gates. Adorned in masters' loving art, She lies. She rests at last beneath the starry skies. (Brown, 2003:589)
The statement (Brown, 2003:589) shows that the poem verse guided
Robert Langdon to the Rose Line. The Holy Grail was placed in the right place. She was guarding by the Grand Master herself, Jacques Sauniere. The blade and chalice were guarding on Her gates. She rested beneath the starry skies.
There are three kinds governing laws of plot which are aimed at understanding whether the literary work is good or not. Therefore, most authors follow these three basic principles to observe their great predecessors.
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5.2.1 Plausibility
A story is plausible when it presents the truth. The plausibility in this study could be seen when Brown presented the true organization in the 11th century.
There, intricately embossed on the center of the cross, was a stylized fleur-de-lis with the initials P. S. !" Sophie," he said," this is the seal I told you about! The official device of the Priory of Sion." (Brown, 2003:196)
The Priory of Sion was a European secret society founded in 1099. It was a real organization. In 1975 Paris’s Bibliotheque Nationale discovered parchments Secrets, which identified numerous members of the priory of Sion, including Sir Isaac Newton, Sandro Botticelli, Victor Hugo and Leonardo Da Vinci. This organization was acceptable in that era because it really existed in the 11th century and existed to preserve and protect the original precepts of Christianity, and acted as the guardian to Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene’s sacred bloodline.
In this study, the author’s novel made the readers surprised in end of the story. The killer of Jacques Sauniere was revealed. It could be seen in the data below.
There is so much I have to tell you both... so much you do not yet understand. "Please believe," Teabing said, "I never had any intention of your being involved. You came to my home. You came searching for me."(Brown, 2003:530)
The statement (Brown, 2003:530) informed to the readers that the identity of the killer of Jacques Sauniere’s murder was revealed.
The suspense involves some awareness of the possibilities and ideally, some concern about or clues. Foreshadowing is the hint to introduce that details of the direction of the story are going to be taken.
The pentacle. The bloody star, centered on Sauniere's navel, gave his corpse a distinctly ghoulish aura. The photo Langdon had seen was chilling enough, but now, witnessing the scene in person, Langdon felt a deepening uneasiness. (Brown, 2003:55)
According to the statement (Brown, 2003:55), the author gave the readers a hint in the beginning of the story. The word “pentacle” was a clue. It was the one of the oldest symbols used by pagan; they used over thousand years before Christ. The pentacle was a pre-Christian symbol which was related to Nature Worship with two halves – masculine and feminine, and was the representative of the female half of all things - a concept religious historian called the 'sacred feminine' or the 'divine goddess. In the specific interpretation, the pentacle symbolizes Venus (the goddess of female sexual love and beauty).
Based on the data analysis above, it can be concluded that plot revealed events to the readers and also made the readers aware of events, not merely an element in temporal series but also as an intricate pattern of cause and effect.
The plot structure used in the novel “The Da Vinci Code” was divided into three parts. First, the beginning or exposition which consists of the introductory of characters, potential conflict and setting; second, the middle which consists of conflict, complication and climax; and the ending or denouement was the resolution of the story. Besides, there was some information found in each structure; the beginning or exposition, the main character of this story was Robert Langdon, the potential conflict of this story was when the French police found a pallid corpse of Jacques Sauniere, and the settings were in Paris and London,; in the middle, the main conflict of this story was when Sophie Neveu and Robert Langdon tried to figure out what exactly Jacques Sauniere tried to say by transferring the mysterious message left beside his corpse to his granddaughter; After that, the conflict became complication when they got a cryptex from Jacques Sauniere’s depository box, but then they did not know how to access it, because it required a password, the conflict reached up to the climax when Sir Leigh Teabing revealed himself as the murder of Jacques Sauniere and at once he enforced Sophie Neveu to open a cryptex by aimed his gun at her; and ending or denouement part of this story was when the British police placed Sir Leigh Teabing in handcuffs, then, Sophie Neveu realized that she was the last lineage
from Merovingian - direct descendants of Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ, and Robert Langdon realized where exactly the location of the Holy Grail was: She lay beneath the starry skies, where the grand master herself watched Her, in the save place, Musee du Louvre.
In the novel “The Da Vinci Code” the author followed the certain laws the governing of plot. The first governing was plausibility. The second governing was being surprised given to the readers as the answer why the author built a conflict. The third governing was suspense which involved some awareness of the possibilities and ideally, some concern or clues.
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Kenney, William. (1966). How to Analyze Fiction. Simons and Schulter Division of Gulf and Western Corporation, New York.
Pennel, Wayne A. (1768). Encyclopedia Britannica. William Benton Publisher, Chicago.
Wellek, Rene, Austin Warren. (1956). Theory of Literature. Harcourt, Brace and
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