At the top of the American mystery-thriller genre is The Da Vinci Code. This movie hit theatres on May 19, 2006, and is an adaptation of the novel by Dan Brown. The movie is both popular and controversial because of how it portrays religion, specifically, the plot of the movie focuses on the possibility of Jesus having a bloodline. This view of Jesus sparks a lot of controversy throughout many religions. The mystery-thriller revolves around a theory that challenges widely held religious beliefs and the conspiracy by two groups to suppress what they believe to be the truth. The movie begins when the Paris police find The Louvre curator dead and the name of symbolist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) written on a piece of paper near the victim. Langdon is thrown into the hunt for answers not only to the murder of the curator, but to mysteries much older and more significant. The murder scene shows certain symbols that spark Mr. Langdon's interest. Langdon studies ancient symbols and how ancient people communicate. He uses his knowledge to begin piecing together the puzzle. At the murder scene Langdon meets cryptologist Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), and she informs him that the police are tampering with the murder scene. The two embark on a hunt to find the answers to the murder, but Sophie has some mysteries of her own. Throughout the hunt Langdon and Neveu uncover information about two secret ancient groups, Opus Dei and The Priory of Sion. Both groups play a main role in the mystery and Langdon struggles to determine the role each plays. Clues come quickly but not easily, testing the skills of both Langdon and Neveu. Some of the clues they find revolve around Leonardo Da Vinci's painting of The Last Supper while others involve secrets... ... middle of paper ... ...vie they also believe that the Catholic Church wants to destroy the descendants of Jesus and Mary and swear to protect them by any means necessary. Opus Dei is a society that was put together in 1928 by Saint Josemaria Escriva, however it has ancient roots. It teaches that all men and women are called to holiness and that ordinary life is the path to God (reference). The police detective that is tampering with the murder scene before Langdon arrives is a member of Opus Dei. Throughout the movie he takes orders from high ranking Catholic Church officials who will stop at nothing to ensure that the idea that Jesus may have a bloodline remains a secret. The Church fears that the revelation of such a secret would cause Christian’s to lose their faith. The negative portrayal of the Catholic Church comes about because they try to cover up the truth about Jesus’ bloodline
“Monty Python and the Holy Grail” is a satiric comedy about the quest of King Arthur. The movie starts out with Arthur, King of the Britons, looking for knights to sit with him at Camelot. He finds many knights including Sir Galahad the pure, Sir Lancelot the brave, the quiet Sir Bedevere, and Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir Lancelot. Through satire and parody of certain events in history (witch trials, the black plague) they find Camelot, but after literally a quick song and dance they decide that they do not want to go there. While walking away, God (who seems to be grumpy) come to them from a cloud and tells them to find the Holy Grail. They agree and begin their search. While they search for the Grail, scenes of the knight's tales appear and the reasons behind their names. Throughout their search, they meet interesting people and knights along the way. Most of the characters die; some through a killer rabbit (which they defeat with the holy hand grenade), others from not answering a question right from the bridge of Death, or die some other ridiculous way. In the end, King Arthur and Sir Bedevere are left and find the Castle Arrrghhh where the Holy Grail is. They are met by some French soldiers who taunted them earlier in the film and were not able to get into the castle. The movie ends with both King Arthur and Sir Bedevere being arrested for killing a real-life man who was a historian.
	The Count of Monte Cristo, written by Alexandre Dumas, tells the story of a man, Edmond Dantes, a sailor who goes through being betrayed by his enemies and thrown in to a dark prison cell to planning revenge on his enemies. His behavior and personality changes after spending 14 years in jail for a crime that he didn’t commit. Edmond Dantes was thrown in jail ,after being framed by his enemies, accused of committing treason and being a bonapartist. The story takes place during the Napoleonic Era while the usurper, Napoleon has escaped to his place of exile, the Isle of Elba, located in the Mediterranean Sea.
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne has introduced a character that has been judged harshly. Because, she has been misinformed of her husband’s death; therefore, she was greave and had sought comfort resulting in a baby from the lover whom gave her comfort. When her secret had been discovered she was isolated for committing a treacherous crime of adultery, as one of her punishments she was forced to wear an A on her chest. The novel presents a structure of a society, using symbolism and diction to give underline meaning to the themes, portraying religious tendencies ruled by the philosophy of good and evil.
Letter while discovering that a hidden lie left to fester causes more grief and pain than he
The movie started with a night-time scene where we saw a hysterical Jesus, afraid of his life, roaming around in the woods. His apostles couldn't understand what was wrong with him. A figure of Satan was tempting Jesus not to go through with it, while at the same time an army of Roman Soldiers was marching towards the woods to capture him. The film is filled with suspense from start to finish, leaving you not wanting to miss a second.... ... middle of paper ...
In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is set in Puritan New England during the 17th century. The scene in which the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale joins Hester and Pearl on the platform to showcase his sin is one which exemplifies Dimmesdale’s acceptance of his actions. Up until this point in the novel, Dimmesdale had hidden the fact that he had engaged in a sexual affair with Hester, a married woman. During the scene, Dimmesdale, distraught with guilt after seven years of living in secret shame, joins Hester in public to show his actions publicly. He then, being riddled with sickness, dies in contentment. Having finally accepted his actions, Dimmesdale can die without the torturous guilt of living a lie. Dimmesdale’s confession and ensuing downfall show that accepting the consequences of one’s own actions is the only way to truly achieve fulfillment and satisfaction in life, where as hiding one’s actions results in inner torture.
The aspect of Nature in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter seems to have been characterized to readers with having a mixed blessing. Rather than illustrating Nature in the typical Puritanical manner of the 1600’s, that Nature is downright evil, tying Nature to the “Black Man,” Hawthorne uses a different approach. Instead, Nature is fairly two-sided in that it portrays destructive as well as somewhat therapeutic powers. The text reveals the positive attributes of Nature that the Puritans overlook or fear. Conversely, the text shows that aspects of Nature that help mankind also harm him. The duality of Nature mirrors the complex inner feelings and dual nature of the novel’s characters. Nature represents the paradoxical juxtaposition of both good and evil in man, by showing both good and evil attributes in itself. Ultimately, Nature reveals man's inherent inability to be pure.
The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a cult classic. And with good reason. Anyone who simply believes that the title of this book just signifies that the protagonist wears a scarlet “A” on her dress in punishment of her adultery is ignorant. Obviously this paper would not be required if such were true. Instead, The Scarlet Letter is extremely ambiguous. One can argue that the scarlet letter is a character itself. I intend to flesh this out in literary, historic, and symbolic terms.
this way because they had no control over the Forrest and were thus threatened by
It is likely for one to assume that a classic piece of literature set in a fantasy oriented stage will have no merits to the youths of today. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, however, with its crafty of usage symbolism, displays its relevance to issues that often trouble teens. As the story progresses from a children’s tale to an epic, the main character Bilbo undergoes a series of development, his experiences often overlapping with ordinary people. Reading the Hobbit will provide teens with opportunities of exploring the importance of several common but serious topics. People may encounter many of the themes presented in the book elsewhere repeatedly, but it’s possible that they never appreciated the applications it might have on themselves. When teens read the Hobbit, they perceive it as a simple fiction of adventure. Under proper guiding, they will be able to recognize and utilize the lessons of the Hobbit, and improve their attitudes and ideas about life.
At first, the Scarlet Letter placed on Hester's dress was meant to show shame or dishonor. But now, represents the outcome of Hester and Dimmesdale's sin. The judgment caused by the Scarlet Letter results in how she looks at society and how society looks at Hester. Pearl is not an ordinary character, she is an intriguing symbol. A symbol is something that stands for, or represents something else. In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester gives her daughter the name Pearl because she is worth a lot to her, a great price, as she hopes for the good to come out of her committed adultery. To Hester she is all that matters in her life; to everyone else she is the unsolved mystery that is keeping the criminal in Hester alive. Pearl becomes the answer to the question Hawthorne poses through Hester. Peal bridges the gap between society and nature.
In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne analyzes Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. In the story, Hester is the main character of the story and was called Mistress Prynne (Hawthorne 70). Dimmesdale, in the story was referred to as Reverend Dimmesdale (Hawthorne 90). Chillingworth was originally named, Roger Prynne but later in the story he changed his name to Roger Chillingworth. In the story, Hester committed adultery with Dimmesdale against Chillingworth and in the beginning she got punished and sent to prison and later she got to get out of prison but with the exception of having to wear the letter A on her breast every time she went out in to town.
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was written in 1849. This novel won him much fame and a good reputation as a writer. In writing The Scarlet Letter, Hawethorne was creating a form of fiction he called the psychological romance. A psychological romance is a story that contains all of the conventional trappings of a typical romance, but deeply portrays humans in conflict with themselves. The Scarlet Letter won Hawthorne great critical acclaim, and even today the book remains on the best seller list. The Scarlet Letter is so popular maybe because generations of readers can interpret it and see subtle meanings that somewhat reflect their own lives. Each of us, has goodness like Hester Prynne, cowardice like Dimmesdale, and even a little evil like Chillingworth. My favorite character in this book was Hester Prynne because even tough she has done wrong, she remains happy, solid, and sane. In the following essay I plan to critically analyze the novel’s protagonist, Hester Prynne.
Symbolism is the practice of representing things by symbols. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a book of much symbolism. Set in 16th century New England, the book starts with the public punishment of Hester Prynne, a convicted adulterer. One of the most complex and misunderstood symbols in the book is Hester’s illegitimate daughter, Pearl. Throughout the story, she develops into a dynamic symbol - one that is always changing. Pearl represents her mother’s punishment, a rose, and the scarlet letter.
Through his magnificent work da Vinci is able to make The Last Supper come to life. The Last Supper is a visual description during the evening before Christ was betrayed by one of his disciples. Corresponding to Christian belief it is the final meal that Jesus shared with his Apostles in Jerusalem before his arrest and crucifixion. As they are eating and drinking Christ announces the betrayal of him by one of his twelve apostles which reacts in horror, shock, and anger. Christ gave precise commands on how to eat and drink in remembrance of him in which is now known as communion.