Analysis of Perspective in "The Da Vinci Code"

As we read, it is vital to pay close attention to perspective. In Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code,” perspective plays an essential role in uncovering the mysteries of the text. In this book, the reader uncovers a mystery along with the characters, and you can find many clues if you pay close attention to perspective. Three main aspects of perspective that one may be interested in, are whose perspective is missing, the author’s purpose in excluding this perspective, and the possibility of one perspective overshadowing another. Perspective is very important in “The Da Vinci Code.”

First of all, in “The Da Vinci Code,” the point-of-view of the Teacher is excluded. All, we know about the infamous Teacher is that s/he sent Silas to find the Brotherhood’s hidden treasure, and that they don’t seem like the friendliest of people. It’s interesting that the author excluded the Teacher because many of the main events so far have more-or-less revolved around this Opus Dei V.I.P.  What does Opus Dei have against the brotherhood? I definitely hope to find this out and more about the mysterious Teacher in the future.

Second of all, it is obvious that Dan Brown excluded the Teacher’s perspective for a reason. By omitting this point-of-view, the author creates an overall suspicious and dark aura to the text. Brown always wants to keep us on the edge of our seats. Personally, I find it very disorienting to have the main villain of this mystery novel remain voiceless. Who knows what they might do next? By creating a suspicious aura, Dan Brown makes us want to keep on reading, and influences us to constantly stay vigilant.

The present point-of-views would definitely be overshadowed if the Teacher’s perspective was present. The Teacher is most likely one of the leaders of Opus Dei, and therefore probably has a somewhat religious perspective (like that of Silas and others). This book is split between the religious side and the historical side, and if one of the main religious leaders was given a voice, we would naturally focus more on Opus Dei rather than the Langdon/Neveu side. At the moment, we’re more or less at a balance between sides. We’re still in the fog about what goes on in Opus Dei, and I think Dan Brown wants to keep it that way…

Overall, it is clear that perspective plays a large role in uncovering the mysteries of “The Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown. There are many different aspects of perspective, and they’re important for discovering different things. Maybe if we payed more attention to some of the overshadowed point-of-views in our world, we could unravel some real-life mysteries.