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Chapter 61
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Da Vinci Code, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Conspiracies and Secrets
Art and Symbolism
Faith vs. Knowledge
Sacred Femininity and Revisionist History
Power and Manipulation
Summary
Analysis
Rémy has told Teabing that Langdon and Sophie are fugitives. Langdon says he’s being framed, but Teabing is still angry they put him at risk. He demands they leave. Langdon reveals they know where the Priory keystone is. Tempted, Teabing lets them stay. Outside the study, Silas watches this scene, certain the keystone is in the house. Inside, Langdon tells Teabing that Saunière was the Priory Grand Master and Sophie’s grandfather. He also mentions the three sénéchaux who were killed. Teabing can’t fathom how the murderer discovered all four men’s identities. Sophie references a DCPJ technique in which officers patiently watch criminal groups for months before striking all at once. She speculates this is what the murderer did.
Like Langdon, Teabing’s intellectual curiosity is too intense to turn his guests away without hearing what they’ve discovered about the keystone. Silas’s close proximity amps up the suspense, as the reader knows how violent he can be. Astonishing as it is that the murderer discovered the Grand Master and sénéchaux’s identities, Sophie postulates that, with enough patience and willpower, it’s possible to infiltrate and manipulate any secretive group.
Active
Themes
Teabing realizes, with the sénéchaux and Grand Master dead, the keystone’s location will be lost forever. He can think of only one enemy who could carry out such an attack: the Church, who have wanted to destroy the Grail for centuries. Langdon is skeptical the current Church would murder people to destroy information they deem false testimony. But Teabing argues that, while the clergy will remain faithful, they likely fear the Sangreal documents would convince laypeople the Church’s version of events is false and lead to a massive crisis of faith. Sophie can’t see why the Church would attack now. Teabing speculates that the date is approaching when the Priory plan to make the Sangreal documents public.
Teabing is clearly biased against the Church, which he views as the enemy of the Grail and knowledge in general. Langdon is more hesitant to jump to such a hasty conclusion, which characterizes him as more grounded and reasonable than the knight. But Teabing insists that, while Church leaders will never accept the Grail documents as fact, they fear even exposing their congregations to the possibility of Mary and Jesus’s relationship will destroy their parishioners’ faith.
Active
Themes
Teabing believes, if the Church knew the identities of the Priory’s upper echelon, they could have accessed the date they planned to carry out their final duty: revealing the truth about Jesus’s life to the world. Many Grail historians believe this historical period (known as the End of Days) is ripe for the Priory to reveal the secret. The Church may have preemptively attacked their ranks. This threat to the Grail overwhelms Teabing. Sophie shows Teabing Saunière’s key. Teabing doesn’t believe the keystone was hidden in a bank until Langdon confirms they have taken it from its hiding place. Outside, Silas watches his quarry move to another room before entering through the study’s unlocked door.
Active
Themes
