January, 2012 issue
Christian’s View “If I die, the truth will be lost forever!”
The Da Vinci Code An Exclusive Interview with Robert Langdon
Find out What Really Happened that Night?
O, Draconian devil! Oh, lame saint!
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“If I die the truth will be lost forever!” Jauques Saunière
Contents featureing
January 2012
Breaking Benjamin Robert Langdon
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Exclusive interview
6 Soundtrack Analysis
January 2012
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An Artistic View
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Editor’s thoughts
Christian’s View
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Robert Langdon An Exclusive Interview Interviewer: Christian Besoiu
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s a Harvard professor and with many famous papers under his name, Robert Langdon is a very accomplished man. Recently he was named one of the top 10 most interesting people on the planet. As a symbologist, he can decipher almost any symbol or code known to man. Last week he received a mysterious phone call from an inspector in France who invited him to the Louvre to investigate a crime scene after a respected curator was murdered. His job is to decipher a code the curator left behind before he died... or so he thought. In fact Inspector Fache was using him for his investigation because he believed that Professor Langdon murdered the curator. However, luckily Sophie Nevu, a cryptologist, informed Langdon about Fache’s plans for the investigation. Today we sit down for an exclusive interview with the world renowned Robert Langdon to talk about how he reacted to the shocking news, his relationship with Fache and how he managed to decipher the code.
Q: What was your first reaction to being invited to the investigation, were you skeptical at all? A: To be Honest I had no idea that Fache was trying to arrest me for the murder until Sophie told me. I thought I was invited because I had written papers in the past about symbols; after all I am a Symbologist.
Q: A police officer came to your door in the
middle of the night telling you about the murder? When you were at the crime scene you acted by impulse and not thinking before you acted. Did you behave this way because you didn’t get enough sleep? A: It’s true that I did not get a lot of winks that week but sleep behaviors don’t normally affect the way I act. When I am fully excited or curious, it sometimes affects the way I act and makes me do things that I probably shouldn’t do.
Q: What was the atmosphere in the building when Fache was showing you the crime scene?
of ways to convince Fache that I didn’t commit the crime. But the man had brought me all the way here and had a placed a tracking chip on me, he must have been dead set on his opinion.
A: Fache was the type of guy who would put you in awkward moment of silences. I felt safe beside a very respected member of the CDPD (Central Directorate Judicial Police). The rooms were gleaming in way that made you feel like you were in a spy movie. It had like a spooky kind of glow to it.
Q: Sophie told you that she and her grandfather were both in danger and her grandfather died. Why would you go with her if you knew she was in danger? Wouldn’t that put you in danger too?
Q: Can you describe your relationship with Inspector Fache? A: In fact before the investigation I haven’t had met him. I had read about him in the paper a couple of times, about his high profile arrests and unique way of bringing criminals to justice. As I spent more and more time with him at the crime scene, I started to grow less fond of him. He always wanted things to go his way, and he was a very persistent man. Then once Sophie told me about his plans, I felt a strong hatred towards the man: for his ignorance and stupidly for blaming me for the crime!
Q: After accepting the invitation to come to France to take part in the investigation, Sophie told you that Fache was accusing you of the murder. What made you believe Sophie’s revelation? A: The tracking chip that was in my pocket made me realize that Sophie was telling the truth. I thought in my head why would they track me if they knew I was innocent?
A: The US embassy was only 2 miles away. Then I would be free. It felt like I was in one of those movies where you break out of prison. I needed a moment of action in my life, considering that my entire life was all around academics. Also I did not want to go to jail and the embassy was a safe heaven and both of us would be safe there. We both wouldn’t have been safe in the museum.
Q: Using your knowledge of symbols you were able to determine that the code was related to the Mona Lisa. What specific clue broke the code that Jacques Sauneire left before he died? A: I had written many papers about Leonardo Da Vinci and the symbols embedded in his work. The sign that the curator wrote was related to Leonardo’s famous drawing: the Vitruvian Man. So I immediately thought if the symbol is from Leonardo’s drawing, the code that he left behind might be too. Also at the time I had believed that the Mona Lisa had a much deeper meaning than just a well-known painting. So in my head I thought that these two might be related.
Q: How did you feel when Sophie told you that Fache was looking to arrest you for the crime? A: When she first told me the news I though that she was playing a joke on me. I had felt so betrayed and fooled. I had never been fooled this badly ever in my life. I also felt very defensive because I did not commit the crime. I was thinking in my mind
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Until the End... By: Breaking Benjimin
So clever, whatever, I’m done with these endeavors Alone I’ll walk the winding way (here I stay) It’s over, no longer, I feel it growing stronger I live to die another day, until I fade away Why give up? Why give in? It’s not enough, it never is So I will go on until the end We’ve become, desolate It’s not enough, it never is But I will go on until the end Surround me, it’s easy, to fall apart completely I feel you creeping up again (In my Head) It’s over, no longer, I feel it growing colder I’ve lost my way But I will go on until the end The final fight I win
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Christian’s View
January 2012
January 2012
Christian’s View
Soundtrack Analysis
The Breaking Benjamin song Until the End can be associated with the prominently known book, The Da Vinci Code. Specifically, both the song and the book are about decisionmaking and peculiar thoughts that could alter the person’s life or the world. This theme is similarly shown in the book in the scene where Leigh Teabing is pointing the gun at Sophie, and Robert has to make the decision to leave Sophie to perish and proceed with Teabing, or for both of them to die. Dan Brown writes, “Robert are you with me, or against me.” Likewise, in the song it says, “Why give up? Why give in?” This must have been what Robert was thinking about when he had to make the decision to go with Sophie. Robert was probably saying to himself, after all that Sophie has done for me; I should just abandon her here? In conclusion, the Da Vinci Code and Breaking Benjamin share the same theme of thinking your way out of tricky situations, and making correct decisions.
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Leigh Teabing
The Rolling Funds
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Christian’s View
January 2012
Da Vinci Code in Grade 8...?
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ccording to theglobeandmail.com, Canadian youth are spending over 40 hours a week by either surfing the web, playing games or watching T.V. This is similar to a fulltime job! The education system needs to step in and make students read in class because reading is a very important part of child’s academic development. But it would be completely pointless to make a teenager read if they do not learn, or take anything from it. “The Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown should be included into the Alberta curriculum. It is a book with insights toward to human condition that they can take and apply to make them a better person or to understand the world better. In order to keep them interested in the book it has relatable characters and suspense to keep them reading.
January 2012
Christian’s View
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Da Vinci Code in Grade 8...?
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n order for a book to be honorable and worth reading it has to have profound insights on the human condition. That’s why “The Da Vinci Code” should be included in the Alberta curriculum. This quote from the book proves my point: “The Bible did not arrive by fax from heaven…The Bible is the product of man, my dear.” It is describing that humans would go to great extent to get their opinion and views seen. Also this one quote is related to the age-old philosophical question “how are we all here?” Students can learn from this that they should analyze everything that they learn or see carefully and read between the lines. “The Da Vinci Code” has a lot to offer and it has insights towards many subjects. “History is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books—books, which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe.” This quotes teaches students about how history is written and how, when learning about history, they should analyze it carefully and view it from both perspectives. “The Da Vinci Code” is filled with perception that can help students comprehend what makes the world go round.
Christian’s View
January 2012
Students need relatable characters, for them to fully engage in the story. “The Da Vinci Code” has its share of interesting relatable characters such as Robert Langdon. “Professor of religious symbology Harvard University Robert Langdon.” Students can relate to him through the “nerd” or smart kid in the class. Robert Langdon can be a “superhero” who’s strength is the power of his intellect. “Leigh Teabing; I schooled just down the road at Oxford. Of course I also applied to Harvard as my safety school.” Students could relate to Leigh Teabing as the rich know it all, which outshines everyone else. Sophie Neveu is another important character that students could relate to. “This woman was healthy with an unembellished beauty and genuineness that radiated a striking personal confidence” From this quote we can tell that Sophie is a very honest, confident, beautiful woman. Students can look up to her as she has endured many years of trauma and loss and still managed to stay strong. With more relatable characters students engage more into the book, and overall understand it better. Also they can relate to characters from movies, past books, and life experiences. Without suspense in a story, it is very hard for the reader to keep on reading the book. “The Da Vinci Code” is jam packed with suspense that makes you don’t want to put the book down. In the beginning of the story Dan Brown does an outstanding job of hooking the readers in. “What you see in the photo is only the beginning of what Sauniere did.” This quote leaves the reader thinking ”what did Sauntiere do” and as a result it hooks the reader in and makes them enjoy the book more. Again, Dan Brown leaves you wanting more ”Smiling, he closed his eyes and settled in to enjoy the rest of the conversation now being taped inside the grand gallery.” Suspense in my opinion is what makes books enjoyable to read. In the end all the pieces of the story that captivated us came together. Overall, “The Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown is a great book, and if it were to be included into the Alberta Grade 8 Curriculum it would prove great benefit towards the students. If students are enthusiastic about good books, they will build a lifetime enjoyment of reading books, and create amazing opportunities for themselves. They can delve deep into the book, and find things in common with the characters. Also, students could learn valuable insights towards the human condition. I firmly believe that “The Da Vinci Code” should be included into the Grade 8 Alberta curriculum.
January 2012
Christian’s View
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Accelerated Beauty