Name: - Thakar Aneri R

Roll no: - 01

P.G registration number:- 12101001

Paper no: - 15 Mass Communication and Media Studies

Topic: - T.V. Genres

Submitted to: - S.M.T.  S.B.Gardi Department of English

                            M.K. Bhavnagar University.

    Note on T.V. Genre

What is T.V. genre: -

                             TV genre refers to the type of TV show being broadcast. It                           can be news, quiz shows, comedy shows, series TV or documentaries. There are special programs which entertain, inform and educate viewers.

    Genre  means “Kind” or “Sort”

                 Genre is a term for any category of Literature or other form of Art and Culture, e.g. Music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audio or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by convention that changes over time as new genres are invented and the uses of old ones are discontinued. Often, works fit into multiple genres by way of borrowing and recombining these conventions.

    List of T.V. Genre:-

    TV News

    TV Documentaries

    Talk shows

    Children’s Programmes

    ‘Talent Hunt’ shows

    Reality TV

    Religious programmes

    Soap Operas

    Tele Novella

    Other Genre.

    TV News: -   A television news cast, can’t match the wide coverage and in depth report of radio news. It is however the idea medium for presenting ceremonial events likes coronations. Swearing- in ceremony, arrivals and departures of VIP, signing of treaties, Parades inaugurations and sports. The other benefit is that most often the news that are telecast  are ‘Live’ they can be categorise as news bulletins, general news, Panel Discussion, major networks in India are Durdarshan NDTV, TV today , TV 18, under channel like NDTV, Aajtak,  NDTV India  DD News, Zee news Aajtak, Head line’s today. India TV, Times    now and CNBC.

                                

    TV Documentaries: -  TV documentaries like enema documentaries. Can feature any subject of interest to a number of viewers, Such as the state of pollution, poverty, cultural events etc... The aims of documentaries are...

    1 To enlighten

    2 To arouse

    3 To motivate

                           And sometimes it can be simply to entertain viewers.

It is based on truth and reality. No Hero and Heroine, but original Picture of life. The stress is on portraying real people the real situation and on activity rather than on talk. In a document the story that Dectates the film is exploited as a tool to document reality one can say that the Documentary is an essence the social construction of the ‘Reality’

                             The format of the TV Documentaries take the ‘Direct presentation’ of the sub stance of the problems or an experience or a situation TV channels Dedicated to the production and Screening of the Documentaries are Discovery, History, National geography, Animals Planets.

    Talk Shows:-

                      Talk shows are of a various types Interviews, Discussion, Panel Discussion. Sometimes they can have a live Audience in the Studio. For example: - Coffee with Karan, Aapki Adalat, and Satyamev Jayate

    Children’s Programmes:-

                                        The Programmes which are designed, for children’s entertainments and to educate them, where the Children are primary Audience for Example Cartoon, Quiz Programmes and Educational Programme. Channels like carton network, Pogo, Diseny TV.

    ‘Talent Hunt’ shows:-  The standard format of these programmes an elaborate introduction by the Anchor in Hindi or in English of the performer followed by ‘a live’ or ‘Recital’ or performance of various items. Which intern is following by the comments from the panel of judges and sometimes by audiences also generally Talent Hunt Shows are played out in lavish stage sets and they include different types of quize programme, song and dance programme, and acting competition and get National audience.

                             For Example DID (Dance India dance), Indian Ideal, Master Shaff.

    Reality TV: -  The format of reality TV has a candid or hidden microphone and or cameras. A vital element in reality TV is audience participation through voting via text message or phone calls, the sub categeries of reality  TV genre include documentary style shows, game shows self improvement shows, talk shows, and make over shows

    Examples of reality TV:-  Big Boss, Fear factor, and Khatro ke Khiladi  

                  

    Religious TV: - The Christian evangelical channel of U.S such as God TV, Miracle T.V. and T.B.N (Trinity Broadcasting Network) set the trend for other religious denomation. The major elements that make up religious programmes are discourses. Readings from Scriptures, rituals and services. Singing of Bhajans. Some religious channel have introduce programme of Ayurveda, Yoga, Vastu and Astrological fore cast. Examples like Skanskar, Aashtha, zee, Jain TV Power vision. Sometimes the channels do not produce their own programme but they sell television time to religious leader and sect that can afford to pay up front for time slots.

    Soap Operas:-  Domestically produced Indian language television Serial. Started at the mid eighties. For almost a decade since 1976. When the first commercials were allowed to be aid Indian TV was dominated by Hindi features films. And film based programme.

                                  The Sitcom (Situational comedy) comer in soap Operas. detective or other TV genre telecast were British, US, or german  television  Example “Ascent of Man” Civilization, Star track ‘the Fox’ german detective series Indian programme that proved to be popular were quize shows like ‘What’s the good word?

Examples of Sit com: - Tarak Mehta ka ulta Chasma, Hum Paanch and Lapata ganj.

Example of soap operas: - Hum Log, Kasm se, Geet, etc....

    Tele Novella: - Indian TV soap operas were directly inspired by the success of the maxicoas Televisa. A private commercial network. The Mexicans Telenovella was inspired by Peruvian Tele novella. “Simplimente Maria. It told a story of a migrant girl who gets rich because of her skills in sewing with a singer machine at that it was reported that the cells of sewing machines want up in Latin America.  

    Sports TV: - TV genre refers to the type of TV show being broadcast. It can be news, quiz shows, comedy shows, series TV or documentaries. There are special programs which entertain, inform and educate viewers.

Critical Analysis of three poem Refugee mother and child, New York, and Once upon a time.

Name: - Thakar Aneri R

Roll no: - 01

PG registration number: - 12101001

Paper no: - 14 African Literature

Topic: - Critical Analysis of three poem Refugee mother and child, New York, and Once upon a time.

Submitted to: - S.M.T S.B.Gardi Department of English

                             M.K. Bhavnagar University.

    Critical Analysis of Refugee mother by Chinua Achebe.

                                      

                

Introduction:-  Chinua Achebe  born Albert Chinualumogu Achebe; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic. He was best known for his first novel and magnum opus, Things Fall Apart (1958), which is the most widely read book in modern African literature.

Raised by his parents in the Igbo town of Ogidi in south-eastern Nigeria, Achebe excelled at school and won a scholarship for undergraduate studies. He became fascinated with world religions and traditional African cultures, and began writing stories as a university student. After graduation, he worked for the Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NBS) and soon moved to the metropolis of Lagos. He gained worldwide attention forThings Fall Apart in the late 1950s; his later novels include No Longer at Ease (1960), Arrow of God (1964), A Man of the People (1966), and Anthills (1987). Achebe wrote his novels in English and defended the use of English, a "language of colonisers", in African literature.

    Analysis of the poem:-

                                            The title of the poem gives off the initial impression that the poem may focus on refugees: one who flees to seek refuge, the lives of refugee children, their parents, their feelings, their emotions and their pain. 'For a son she soon would have to forget'. This foreshadows the idea that her son is dying, and she would have to forget him to adapt to her tragic loss. 2 The metaphor in the first stanza, 'No Madonna and Child could touch that picture...', relates to the idea of Mary and her child, Jesus. The picture perfect image - the ideal image of motherhood. The picture of a beautiful, serene mother with her holy new born child. Realistically the scene would have been far from that idea of bliss. The idea of the first stanza is that the tenderness that the character, the mother, expresses towards her child in the poem surpasses the ideal image of Mary and Jesus.

                                        

                                               The two situations do not even compare to the depth of love and tenderness of the Refugee Mother and Child. 3 The poet uses the repetition and the contrasting ideas of the word 'washed' in describing the emaciated state of the refugee children. 'Unwashed...' - the hygienic state, 'and 'washed-out...' the physical state of the children due to the lack of food. 4 'Blown empty bellies', the physical appearance of the children's stomachs because of the limited food supply of only carbohydrates. From this unhealthy diet the combination of acids and gases blow out the stomach of the children. This vivid description could also possibly be a pun to the blowflies in Africa. 5 'A ghost smile', this metaphor could possibly be two ideas: The mother is happy because she is with her son, you can tell she is happy but her smile is faint, hard to notice. Her happiness can't easily be seen, her smile is not shown in a physical appearance, it holds happiness that gives off its emotion in a feeling which can't quite be explained, but can be felt by others. This metaphor shows how the mother keeps a fake, or 'ghost' smile on her lips for her child's sake - so her son doesn't have any fears or worries because he feels content because his mother is content. 6 In her eyes you can see her pride in her son. It is inconspicuous and faded like the figure of a ghost. This line of the poem conveys the mother's pride towards her son, the poem describes this by being able to faintly see her pride towards her son in her eyes. 7 The use of the word 'skull' is a common symbol for death and foreshadows or represents the death of her son. 8 Singing is commonly known as a happy experience, 'singing in her eyes' could possibly be how the Mother expresses her pride, content and happiness in her son, and how this is passed. Somewhat like the idea of the ghost smile, you can't see or hear the Mother singing it is seen in her eyes. 9 This simile compares the two ideas of a normal over looked action in another life and a tender and cautious action in their world, the world of the Refugee Mother and Child. In this gentle action, due to her sons dying condition, she takes care while she carefully parts his hair - her way of gently expressing love to her son. This little act being one of the few things she can do for her son and one of the few ways she can express her love to him. This action is being compared to putting flowers on a tiny grave of a dead child because it is a gentle and careful action - something you would do very cautiously. And 'tiny grave' because of her sons little size due to his young age. If the child is already passed on when his Mother is parting his hair, this idea of death links to the distinct previous use of the word 'skull', by the poet. With this evidence, the poem could also be after the child has died and the mother is still holding and caressing her child, gently, carefully and cautiously yet - he is no longer alive. This action is explained in a simile and compares her parting his thinning hair to laying flowers on a tiny grave - another link to the possible idea that the son is already dead. The mother is gently parting her son's hair as a way to say goodbye, since he has passed on - just like another form of saying good bye, placing flowers on a grave starting closure and acceptance.

    Analysis of  New York:-

    Introduction:-  Léopold Sédar Senghor (9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese poet, politician, and cultural theorist who for two decades served as the first president of Senegal (1960–1980). Senghor was the first African elected as a member of the Academic française Before independence, he founded the political party called the Senegalese Democratic Bloc. He is regarded by many as one of the most important African intellectuals of the 20th century.

    Analysis of the poem New York:-

                                      Leopold Sédar Senghor believes that every African shares certain distinctive and innate characteristics, values and aesthetics. In the poem ‘New York’, Senghor argues that the black community of Harlem should ‘Listen to the far beating of your nocturnal heart, rhythm/ and blood of the drum’ and ‘let the black blood flow into/ your blood’. The word nocturnal is interesting because it refers to the image of night. By using the imagery of night, Senghor is asserting that one’s African heritage (one’s Blackness) is both inescapable and natural (like night-time). Negritude is the active rooting of a Black identity in this inescapable and natural African essence. The major premise of Negritude is therefore that one’s biological make-up (race) defines one’s outer (skin colour) as well as inner (spirit/essence) traits. Negritude is a concept which holds that there is a ‘shared culture and subjectivity and spiritual essence’ among members of the same racial group. As Irele explains, there is a ‘parallel between this conception and the racial doctrines propounded in Europe, presenting the Negro as an inherently inferior being to the white man, and which provided the ultimate ideological rationale for Western imperialism’. Instead of rejecting the (colonialist) theory that race defines one’s being; Negritude rejects the assumption that the African is inherently inferior to the “white man”. To Senghor, this makes Negritude a weapon against colonialism and an ‘instrument of liberation’.

To Senghor, the African essence is externalized in a distinctive culture and philosophy.( This claim is supported by Senghor’s assertion that Negritude – the rooting of identity in one’s natural essence – is ‘diametrically opposed to the traditional philosophy of Europe’ (the colonizer). To Senghor, European philosophy is ‘essentially static, objective… It is founded on separation and opposition: on analysis and conflict’. In contrast, African philosophy is based on ‘unity’, ‘balance’ negotiation and an appreciation of ‘movement and rhythm’. As Loomia notes, Senghor describes African culture ‘in terms of precisely those supposed markers of African life that had been for so long reviled in colonialist thought – sensuality, rhythm, earthiness and a primeval past’. The traditional stereotypes of African culture are not directly challenged by Negritude – Africans areessentially spiritual according to Senghor – they are modified. Negritude is a process of negotiation which proposes a counter-myth or counter-reading of those traditional stereotypes with the aim of valorizing and celebrating the African personality.

Senghor’s conception of Negritude holds that one’s inner and outer essence is informed, defined by one’s race. This position – that race is biological and informs one’s character – has encountered criticism because it relies on an incorrect conception of race. Senghor’s conception of race asserts that a person from Ghana, Senegal and Liberia are all biologically African – and therefore share the same African essence. However, as Michael Jones notes ‘there is no biological or genetic foundation for the grouping of individual humans into a racial group’. There is no such thing as a race biologically speaking; race is a social construction. If there is no biological foundation for Senghor’s assertion that the African race shares certain essential features then the concept of Negritude appears to be invalidated. It therefore appears that rooting Black identity in an inescapable and natural African essence becomes problematic.

A possible response to this criticism is to adopt a more sophisticated understanding of race. Although Senghor’s Negritude relies on a biologically constructed concept of race, the sophisticated-Negritude critic could cite racial constructivism. Racial constructivism is the position that holds that as society labels individuals as belonging to certain racial groups (regardless if they are justified to) and that belonging to racial groups entails ‘differences in resources, opportunities, and well-being, the concept of race must be conserved, in order to facilitate race-based social movements or policies, such as affirmative action, that compensate for socially constructed but socially relevant race differences’, There is no biological foundation for race but the concept can be used to enable a common identity. A shared history (of slavery, colonialism) and shared experiences (of being African, the interaction between white Europe and black Africa, institutional racism) allow for the rooting of identity in Africa. The sophisticated-Negritude critic is able to cite racial constructivism as the foundation for a shared African identity and escape the criticism against Senghor’s biological conception of race.

Negritude is a process of negotiation which attempts to alter the value of those labels attached to Africa. This negotiation with the coloniser has been criticised. Frantz Fanon explains ‘the efforts of the native to rehabilitate him and to escape from the claws of colonialism are logically inscribed from the same point of view as that of colonialism’. The attempt to produce an African personality ensures the “native” uses the same logic of the coloniser. As Ran Green stein notes ‘no pre-colonial discourses of Africa are known and it is highly doubtful those indigenous conceptualizations of African… ever existed’. “Africa” is a colonial concept that reduces a multitude of cultures, tribes, sects, religions and peoples into a simply defined and generic “essence” which is easily controlled and understood by the coloniser. Negritude doesn't appear to challenge colonisation.

A possible reply may be that it is permissible for the colonised to utilize the tools of the coloniser if used to the fight against marginalization and cultural domination. A strategic move can be made to accept the “essentialism” of the coloniser (as Negritude does in asserting that race defines one’s being) with the aim of liberation. However, the strategic-essentialist Negritude remains unsatisfactory because it mirrors identically the way colonialism works and therefore offers no meaningful opposition to the coloniser. The main problem arises because strategic essentialism is itself the logic of colonialism. Strategic essentialism holds that for political and practical purposes it is advantageous to adopt the position that all people of a certain grouping share the same “essence”. In the colonisation of Africa, this is exactly the process the coloniser took in regards to the inherent value of those peoples it encountered. Colonisation holds that all Africans are the same because it is advantageous politically as well as financially. Therefore strategic essentialism, being itself the logic of colonisation, will ultimately commit the same crimes of marginalization (between classes, sexes and religions) and cultural domination (from more powerful tribes over lesser ones). Naturalized and apparently organic in nature – because it proclaims being African as a positive thing – Negritude becomes a tool in furthering the process of colonisation in the minds of the colonised. Although Senghor saw Negritude as a way of combating colonialism, Negritude is implicit with the process of colonial domination. The counter-reading of racial stereotypes which Negritude proposes fails to challenge the cultural domination of colonialism at its root.

    Critical analysis of the poem once upon a time by Gabriel Okara:-

     Introduction: - 'Once Upon a Time', was written by Gabriel Okara, who is a Nigerian poet. He often explains what happens when a traditional African culture meets the forces of the Western way of life. I think the poem was written to outline the fake personalities of many people and to try and get them to return to a natural and innocent state

    Analysis of the poem:-

                                        The poem tells of the conversation between what seems to be a father and son, where the father wants to learn from his son how to go back to normality and no longer be fake. The poem 'Once Upon A Time' starts by the father telling his son how the people, or 'they', 'used to laugh with their hearts'. I think that the word 'they' refers to western people who are white. Also this description in the poem gives the impression of genuine emotion given off by the people. 

He then moves on to say that now they only, 'laugh with their teeth, while their ice-block cold eyes search behind his shadow'. This gives off very negative, fake and false feelings and it is a very cold description. This affects the tone of the poem that now becomes sinister and bitter.

Stanza two of the Gabriel Okara poem then reveals more of the past when it is said that, 'they used to shake hands with their hearts', again this image reveals true and genuine emotion. But just as in the first Stanza the present reality is then discussed when it is said that, 'that has gone, now they only shake hands without hearts while their left hands search his empty pockets'. This shows that, again the people are fake and seem to be using the man to see what they can get.

'Once Upon A Time' Poem, Stanza Four, Presents the Adaptations and Solutions.

Stanza three of poem 'Once Upon A Time' then goes to explain more about the changes he has noticed in these false people. Again the Stanza starts positive with the phrases, 'feel at home', 'come again', but then goes on to say that he will come again, 'once, twice' but there will 'be no more thrice' for then 'I find doors shut on me'. This shows that the people lie when they say the positive phrases and after a few visits they have all that they want from the man; their falseness is reflected in the language they use.

The first three Stanzas of the poem 'Once Upon A Time' have the same structure. They start by telling the past and explaining how things used to be, but then they tell the negative reality. I think this is used to compare the times and introduce the reader to the situation. 

Stanza four presents the adaptations and solutions that the man has found to counter the problems. It starts by saying that the man has, 'learned many things', already suggesting that he has changed to fit in.

He then explains the things he has learnt. He tells of the false personalities or of his 'many faces'. He tells that he has learnt to 'wear' these faces, suggesting that he wears faces for different situations. For example, he says he has an, 'office-face, street-face, and host-face, proving that he acts differently under different circumstances. He then adds that they have, 'conforming smiles, like a fixed portrait'. This suggests even more falseness and changes.

Poem Stanza Five: Learned to Laugh With Only His Teeth.

Stanza five of the poem tells of the fake attributes to go along with the fake looks. It also repeats some of the acts that were mentioned earlier in the poem. Repetition seems to be a key technique in this poem. He says that he has also, 'learned to laugh with only his teeth' and 'shakes hands without his heart'. This suggests that he has copied the western ways as this is what they did earlier in the poem. He then goes even further by saying he has learned to say, 'Goodbye' when he means, 'Good-riddance' and 'Glad to meet you, without being glad'. I think that the man is ashamed of him and is confessing to his son how far the fake attitudes have developed; he seems to hate what he has done. Stanza six and seven then show the man showing his regret as he says, "I want to be what I used to be when I was like you", showing that he wants to be honest and truthful again.

My Laugh in the Mirror Shows Only My Teeth, Like a Snake's Bare Fangs'.

He then calls his new personality muting which suggests he thinks they are boring and have no expression. It is as though he can no longer find his own voice to express what he really thinks and feels. He then says he wants to, 'relearn how to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror shows only my teeth, like a snake's bare fangs'. This gives off negative feelings as a snake is seen to be poisonous and not to be trusted; a symbol of deceitfulness and treachery from the bible. I think this is a very good description as it really makes the reader realise that the man loathes himself. The final Stanza, number seven, shows the man asking his son, 'how to laugh. Show me how I used to laugh and smile, once upon a time, when I was like you'. This shows the man's true regret and he realises his fakeness and problems. An ironic and hopeful ending as he wants to learn from his son how to be what he used to be. 

Major themes in Da Vinci Code

Name: - Thakar Aneri R

Roll no: - 01

Paper no 13 New Literatures

Topic: - Major themes in Da Vinci Code

Submitted to: - S.M.T S.B Gardi Department of English

                            M.K. Bhavnagar University

      Introduction: - The Da Vinci Code is a 2003 mystery-detective novel written by Dan Brown. It follows symbologist Robert Langdon and cryptologist Sophie Neveu as they investigate a murder in Paris's Louvre Museum and discover a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus having been married to Mary Magdalene. The title of the novel refers to, among other things, the fact that the murder victim is found in the Grand Gallery of the Louvre, naked and posed like Leonardo da Vincis famous drawing, the Vitruvian Man, with a cryptic message written beside his body and apentagra drawn on his chest in his own blood.

                                                          The book has provoked a popular interest in speculation concerning the Holy Grail legend and Magdalene's role in the history of Christianity. The book has been extensively denounced by many Christian denominations as an attack on the Roman Catholic Church. It has also been consistently criticized for its historical and scientific inaccuracies. The novel nonetheless became a worldwide bestseller ^[1] that sold 80 million copies as of 2009^[2]and has been translated into 44 languages. Combining the detective, thriller and conspiracy fiction genres

      Major themes of the novel :-

      Good Intentions Win over Greed.

      The Search for truth is Timeless.

      Christianity V/s Paganism.

      Power of the Roman Catholic Church.

      Sacrifice.

      Quest.

      Christianity.

      The false conflict between Faith and Knowledge.

      The Subjectivity of History.

      The Intelligence of women.

      Good Intention Wins over Greed: - The Da Vinci Code is written as a classic thriller in which, throughout the book, good and evil take turns having the upper hand. However by the end of the book, the age old truth is proven again, that good triumphs over evil. In this book, evil was more accurately described as greed. Sir Teabing’s misguided intentions to reveal the truth about the Holy Grail were result of his greed for knowledge of the truth and power to lord over the Vatican. Meanwhile, the intention of Sophie Neveu and Robert Langdon were more pure. For Sophie, her greatest interest was in finding the truth about her family and discovering why her grandfather was murdered.

                                       For Robert Langdon, his intention started out being to help Sophie find why her grandfather was murdered. Once the Holy Grail and the key stone entered into the picture, Robert becomes motivated by discovering where the Holy Grail was located. The search for the grail and the truth about whether Christ and Mary Magdalene were married was a pursuit of Langdon’s for his entire academic career. Because Sophie and Langdon’s motives were pure, their quest triumphed over the quest for power motivated by greed. In the word of Leigh teabing, “You do not find the Grail, the Grail finds you.” 

      Search for truth is timeless.

                                             The question of whether Christ and Mary Magdalene were married is about as old as the Christian church. The search of the truth is about this subject is timeless and has permeated lore for thousands of years. As the success of Dan brown’s book proves, it is still a great question. The millions of readers are interested in the quest for the truth on this subject as well as the characters of the book. Robert Langdon and Sir Teabing, two of the main characters, have devoted their lives to the quest for the truth about the Holy Grail. Although their motives become very different, the two men have made the search for the Holy Grail a central point of their lives and careers.

                       Throughout the course of the book, the reader learns, through Langdon and teabing about the historic quest for truth throughout the ages. They discuss the Church’s suppression of the truth and the formation of the Priory of Sion to protect the truth and quietly pass it down to generation to generation. In the end, Langdon and Neveu’s quest for the truth rewarded when Langdon learns the location and truth about the Holy Grail and Sophie learns the truth about her family and heritage. However, Teabing’s and Aringarosa’s quest goes UN requited.

      Christianity V/s Paganism.

                                                                 A central theme to the Da Vinci Code is the similarities and differences and its influences upon each other of Christianity and paganism. Throughout the book, the author provides a history of the influences that paganism had on the early Christian church and how those influences have prevailed throughout history. The book also discusses the power that paganism had over the early Christian church and the eventual power that the Christian Church gained over paganism to force the suppression of many of the pagan practices, including goddess worship and nature worship.

         

      Power of the Roman Catholic church

                                                      

                                                        Another  underlying  theme throughout the book is the power of the Vatican and the Roman Catholic church on the world wide stage .through their research, Robert Langdon and Sir teabing  have learned, and discuss numerous times throughout the book, how the church has suppressed the truth about the Mary Magdalene. They discuss how the church, throughout history, has suppressed the truth through edicts and even violence. This theme is one that underlies the Teacher’s motive for finding the grail. He believes that the church had pressured Sauniere and the leadership of the priory of Sion to continue hiding the truth about Jesus and Mary Magdalene so he takes it upon himself to seek to un earth the Holy Grail himself. The power of the church is proven when the Vatican leaders are able to pay the bishop 20 Million in Vatican bonds to keep him quite. The power and influence of catholic organizations, such as Opus Dei, also shows case the power of the church.

         Sacrifice:- 

                      The Da Vinci Code opens with dramatic personal sacrifice-------Sauniere’s death to protect the secret of the Priory of Sion-------but theme of sacrifice appears repeatedly throughout the novel. It does not always require a death, however, a sacrifice can beauty type of loss, from loss of integrity or freedom to the loss of a physical item. A Sacrifice entails the giving up of something in exchange for something else. It is a circumstance that does not allow for two competing needs to exist together. For example, Sauniere makes the ultimate sacrifice--- death--- that hundreds in the priory throughout history, according to Brown, have been willing to make. Likewise, Sister Sandrine Bieil sacrifices her life to warn the Priory when Silas attempts to unearth the keystone in the church of Saint-Sulpice. Sophie’s grandmother and brother, whom she had long thought dead, sacrifice their freedom---and time with their family to go in to hiding in order to protect her grandfather’s identity. Leigh Teabing, the long time scholar of the Sacred Feminine, sacrifices his integrity and conscience in exchange for the possibility of gain; he is willing to stop at nothing in order to procure the Holy Grail. But perhaps the greatest sacrifice in the novel is not made by one of the characters, but by, according to Teabing and Langdon, the Catholic Church. They believe that in order to keep the knowledge of Christ’s earthly wife and child a secret, the Catholic Church, in essence, sacrificed Mary Magdalene. Teabing and Langdon’s theory is that the church designated her prostitute to discredit any rumour of Christ’s involvement with her, in fear that knowledge of a marriage with Mary would affect Christ’s divine status.

      Quest:-

               At the heart of Brown’s novel is the quest, not only as a long adventurous journey in search of something, but also as one of the most archetypal elements in literature, the pursuit of the Holy Grail. Several characters are on quests in the novel for different reasons. Silas looks for the keystone that will lead to the Holy Grail for his saviour, Bishop Aringarosa. Detective Fache searches for the murder of Sauniere. Langdon explores the meaning behind Leonardo da Vinci’s symbol to greater understand the subject to which he has devoted his studies. Sophie seeks answer to truths about her family. In the novel, or the these fictional pursuits merge with the quintessential quest for the Holy Grail, a tale represented in Christian tradition literary as the search for the goblet that Christ drank from during the Last Supper and that Joseph of Arimathea used to catch Christ’s blood as he hung from the cross, and figuratively as the search for Christ within one’s soul. The tale of the quest actually surfaced in the twelfth century as a poem by Chretien de Troyes, and the legend took different forms as others re wrote it.

                                                       The most famous of those to invoke the legend in their art are thirteen—century German epic poet Wolfram von Eschenbach, fifteenth—century English writer Sir Thomas Marlory, English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and composer Richard Wagnerian the nineteenth century. Brown’s novel changes the quest considerably in proposing that the grail is not a chalice at all, but rather Mary Magdalene herself and the texts that tell the secret of her marriage to Jesus.

      Christianity:-

                   Though The Da Vinci Code appears to implicate Catholic institution in a conspiracy to wipe out alternative Christian histories, its suggestions that Jesus was not divine, that Mary Magdalene had children by him, that she, rather than the apostle Peter, was intended to be the first leader of Christianity, and Constantine the Great suppressed all of this and assembled the Bible at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., all relate to Christians of any denomination. Of course, history, which the narrative declares is written by those who are victorious, does not support any of these suggestions. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John repeatedly refer to the divinity of Christ, and there is no evidence that Mary Magdalene was married to Jesus. The major texts of Gnoticism---the belief in the gnosis of the human soul, surfaced in the second and third centuries, well after early Christians and deemed the four gospels authoritative, though they are said in the novel to be suppressed by Constantine. Christianity, moreover, is portrayed in the novel as a patriarchal religion built on authored by those who want to suppress information. Nevertheless, Brown carefully phrases his page of facts to state simply that the Priory of Sion exists. That Opus Dei has built an elaborate and expensive headquarters in new York and has been the subject of controversy, and that description of art architecture, rituals, and documents are accurate. Most of the claims about an alternative Christian history, furthermore, are spoken authoritatively by the novel’s villain, Leigh Teabing.

      The False Conflict between Faith and Knowledge:-

Dan Brown refuses to accept the idea that faith in God is rooted in ignorance of the truth. The ignorance that the Church has sometimes advocated is embodied in the character of Bishop Aringarosa, who does not think the Church should be involved in scientific investigation. According to The Da Vinci Code, the Church has also enforced ignorance about the existence of the descendents of Jesus. Although at one point in the novel Langdon says that perhaps the secrets of the Grail should be preserved in order to allow people to keep their faith, he also thinks that people who truly believe in God will be able to accept the idea that the Bible is full of metaphors, not literal transcripts of the truth. People’s faith, in other words, can withstand the truth.

      The Subjectivity of History:-

                                                                  The Da Vinci Code raises the question of whether history books necessarily tell the only truth. The novel is full of reinterpretations of commonly told stories, such as those of Jesus’ life, the pentacle, and the Da Vinci fresco The Last Supper. Brown provides his own explanation of how the Bible was compiled and of the missing gospels. Langdon even interprets the Disney movie The Little Mermaid, recasting it as an attempt by Disney to show the divine femininity that has been lost. All of these retellings are presented as at least partly true.

The Intelligence of Women:-

Characters in The Da Vinci Code ignore the power of women at their peril. Throughout the novel, Sophie is underestimated. She is able to sneak into the Louvre and give Langdon a secret message, saving him from arrest, because Fache does not believe her to be capable of doing her job. Fache specifically calls Sophie a “female cryptologist” when he is expressing his doubts about Sophie and Langdon’s ability to evade Interpol. When interpreting one of the clues hidden in the rose box, Langdon and Teabing leave Sophie out, completely patronizing her. When she is finally allowed to see the clue, she immediately understands how to interpret it. Sophie saves Langdon from arrest countless times.

Other women are similarly underestimated. Sister Sandrine, in the Church of Saint-Sluice, is a sentry for the Brotherhood, but Silas, indoctrinated in the hyper masculine ways of Opus Dei, does not consider her a threat. And Marie Chauvel, Sophie’s grandmother, manages to live without incident near Rosslyn Chapel for years, preserving her bloodline through Sophie’s brother.