Justification is vital than Justice itself, is not an exaggeration today. Perceptions and the ability to convince that perception is the rule of the day. This research paper aims to bring out the various layers of perceptions that are brought out, based on a culture and its belief system, in the novel Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. The objective of the paper is to study how a culture influences human psyche in two different periods of history and this study is done through the novel's major characters. The novel with its brilliant plot structure explores all the logics and possibilities that can lead to a convincing answer for questions that are believed to be just a part of ancient myth. The protagonist, Robert Langdon, enlightens and explores the myth of illuminati; Vittoria Vetra, represents the relevance of science in human life with its upcoming technologies and Carlo Ventresca, Camerlengo, ventures into the various aspects of the power of faith that rules the heart of mankind. Through all these characters the author perfectly brings in the picture of the human psyche of the contemporary world. The analysis of this representation and its relevance with the Justification Hypothesis as basis is attempted in this research paper.

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DAN BROWN'S "ANGELS AND DEMONS"- A REPRESENTATION OF THE

CONTEMPORARY HUMAN PSYCHE AND CULTURE

ABSTRACT

Justification is vital than Justice itself, is not an exaggeration today. Perceptions and the

ability to convince that perception is the rule of the day. This research paper aims to bring out the

various layers of perceptions that are brought out, based on a culture and its belief system, in the

novel Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. The objective of the paper is to study how a culture

influences human psyche in two different periods of history and this study is done through the

novel's major characters. The novel with its brilliant plot structure explores all the logics and

possibilities that can lead to a convincing answer for questions that are believed to be just a part

of ancient myth. The protagonist, Robert Langdon, enlightens and explores the myth of

illuminati; Vittoria Vetra, represents the relevance of science in human life with its upcoming

technologies and Carlo Ventresca, Camerlengo, ventures into the various aspects of the power of

faith that rules the heart of mankind. Through all these characters the author perfectly brings in

the picture of the human psyche of the contemporary world. The analysis of this representation

and its relevance with the Justification Hypothesis as basis is attempted in this research paper.

KEY WORDS: Culture, science fiction, human psyche, contradictions

Culture is an integral part of the belief system of a particular group of people. Culture is

the outcome of a convinced system of practices that leads its people to betterment. These

convictions sometimes pertain to a longer period in history, while some change, and at times

vanish from history. When one such long forgotten practice and belief system resurfaces, in a

new era, it creates a disturbance in that contemporary practice. This disturbance sometimes adds

up to the existing culture and becomes part of it. It is when this disturbance goes against the

existing norm the culture faces a complexity and by that it becomes a multiple entity. This paper

tries to bring out the complexity that arises out of a resurface of an old culture and its effect on

the people's psyche through the novel Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. It also analysis the

ways in which it affects people's belief system which in turn forms an integral part of culture.

The definition of culture, besides being a conviction of practices and belief systems, it is

the definition of history. Culture makes history just like it makes belief systems. To be precise,

the connection between history, culture and belief systems are interlinked and their function id

multidirectional. They form and change each other over and over again, by themselves. When of

the three undergoes a change, it in turn changes the rest. Thus to define culture beyond history

and belief system, it can be defined by its responsibility. A responsibility that aims betterment

and perfection as Mathew Arnold in his essay,

"Sweetness and Light" states, "Culture is then probably described not as having

as its origin in curiosity, but as having its origin in the love of perfection; it is a

study of perfection. It moves by the force, not merely or primarily of the scientific

passion for pure knowledge, but also of the moral and social passion for doing

good"(12).

Culture, by Arnold's definition, becomes the love of perfection and a love to better life,

besides having scientific inventions and improvement of technologies. Then, the contribution of

culture will be that of knowledge and morality, two different entity existing together. The novel,

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown brings out this contradictory existence in a culture. The

author interweaves the history and cultural practice of the Illuminati, a group of scientific

forerunners who envisioned the betterment of human race through science, along with the moral

belief system of the Catholic church.

Considering the practice of the Illuminati one may question, can the practice and the

conventions of the Illuminati be considered a culture? If it is a culture, then how does it differ

from being a cult? The answer to these questions can be seen in the novel. Robert Langdon, the

art historian and the protagonist of the novel, regards the illuminati as a group of people who

envisioned for the better. The reason behind their secretive existence was to hide from the

church's unreasonable execution, for believing and propagating science more than the practice of

religion. When a practice takes more effort to stand against a popular wave of belief and

influences more people for betterment, one can say that the practice of Illuminati at that point of

history is a culture. Also, it differs from being cult because, the primary motive of the cult is

believing in worshipping a higher power, both good and bad, through unconventional and

inhumane practices. The differences also arises from the way it sis practice. In the novel, when

the antagonist leaves the trails behind as clues, it is in riddles, a form of developed intelligent

practice. Considering, these notions of differences one can say that the Illuminati is more than a

cult.

The novel Angels and Demons by Dan Brown is a science fiction with a thrilling plot

structure and a novel that investigates the power quotient of two different belief system, faith and

reason. The novel being a science fiction, has a plot consisting the fear of end, a catastrophic

destruction of the Catholic Church. The destruction of the catholic church implies the End Time

prophecies, the End of the world, the Apocalypse. The author has constructed the novel

brilliantly revolving the contradiction between the two system of belief without nearing the

premises of apocalypse. The connotative understanding of the novel can be regarded as an

apocalyptic work, besides being a science fiction and a thriller series. As Elana Gomel states,

Apocalypse, the catastrophic end of history to be followed by an eternal and immutable

millennium, is one of the most ubiquitous time shapes in the history of western arsenal and

temporal representation. (120).

The novel, thus becomes a science fiction with an apocalyptic plot challenging the belief

system and thus challenging and changing the contemporary culture. The age old battle of reason

and faith finds an interesting phase in the novel. The Pope, the head of the church, also doesn't

escape from this interesting explanation regarding this contradictory cultural beliefs. As

Camerlengo, the Pope's assistant, in the novel says,

His Holiness once told me that a Pope is a man torn between two worlds….the

real world and the divine. He warned that any church that ignored reality would

not survive to enjoy the divine (192).

The contradiction that arises out of believing in the divine ways and acting accordingly to

the world enhances the cultural system rather creating a disturbance in it. As Mathew Arnold

says, "What distinguishes culture is, that it is possessed by the scientific passion as well as the

passion of doing good; that it demands worthy notions of reason and the will of God, and does

not readily suffer its own crude conceptions to substitute themselves for them"(12).

This notion of culture is seen throughout the novel. Camerlengo, the priest along with

Vittoria Vetra, the scientist brings out the elements of faith and reason through religion and

science. Their aim, though being same, to establish a better system in society by removing the

affected is seen throughout the novel. Camerlengo is the extremist of all the characters. His belief

in the Catholic notion of sin, to violate a promise made to God, affects his psyche. He resolves to

bring down the entire Catholic Church, by using science, the very reason for his anger. He uses

the destructive side of science to demolish the corrupted church. The most breathtaking

revelation in the novel by Camerlengo, "The Pope fathered a child"(592), brings out the reason

behind Camerlengo's actions. When a representative of a mostly trusted section of culture

violates its very norms, by resolving to what is considered the opposite of that norm, the

disturbance in the culture is created. This disturbance becomes the major element of the

apocalyptic plot that is seen in the science fiction as well as in the novel.

The underlying actions of the characters in the novel is to bring out harmony in the

society, by alleviating what each considered to be affected in the system. For Robert Langdon, it

is to make mankind accept history for what it is and for what it could become as each day pass

by; for Vittoria Vetra, it is to establish the ways of science as an equivalent to the ways of faith,

to make both the system of faith and the system of science as a path to enlightenment; for

Camerlengo, to make the uncorrupted Catholicism prevail and to be a pioneer of it. The

characters in the novel bring out the interconnectivity of history and culture through their belief

system. Robert Langdon, Vittoria Vetra and Camerlengo bring the history and the contemporary

offshoot of their belief. This is evident when their belief on the Illuminati changes by fusion of

time periods.

Science fiction with an apocalyptic plot, such as the novel Angels and Demons, bring in

the temporality play to create the effect of the End Times, the ultimate destruction. As Elana

Gomal states, "What is particularly striking about the apocalyptic plot is the way in which it

separates time and space by linking the former to the horror of the Tribulations and the latter to

the perfection and quietude of the millennium"(122). This is made use by the author through the

character Camerlengo in the novel. The priests uses the ancient cultural practices of the

Illuminati to devise the plot against the Catholic Church, which he believes to be corrupted. He

brings out the horror of the Illuminati by taking the advantage of the contemporary belief on

them. For, the Illuminati is considered to be cult, due to the unawareness of history. The author

brings out the original intention of which it was formed. The Catholic church of the past becomes

the propagator of this apocalyptic temporal structure. Whereas the novel follows the apocalyptic

plot structure that Gomel states in her essay.

The temporal separation that is specific to the apocalyptic plot structure is also seen in the

discussion of science in the novel. The perception of science differs in each century. The author

brings out this unique factor through the character, Vittoria Vetra, the scientist. Vittoria's father,

Vetra believes in the unification of science and religion. He works on the anti-matter to bring out

a connecting thread between science and religion. He connects the concepts of matter and anti-

matter. He works to prove that the substance, opposite to the matter, anti-matter is capable of

producing energy, the beginning of creation. Vittoria Vetra also works with her father and she

accomplishes the research successfully. When, Camerlengo opposes science and blames the

cause of destruction on science she justifies the connectivity of both the domains as,

My father was on your quest! A parallel path! ....God is not some omnipotent

authority looking down from above, threatening to throw us into a pit of fire if we

disobey. God is the energy that flows through the synapses of our nervous system

and the chambers of our hearts! God is in all things! (585)

The shift in thinking creates a shift in belief system, thereby a culture on a vast scale. The

effect these shifts that have on human psyche, if juxtaposed, they bring an understanding of

culture in a different perception. Vittoria Vetra, believes in science as a forerunner in creating the

future. Camerlengo believes in religion and the system of uncorrupted Catholic Church, a church

free of politics and purely of faith in God and humanity. Robert Langdon, becomes the person

who ventures through both. All three different persons with different belief system converge to

create a new one, a culture that weighs the chances of all perceptions equally. The negative use

of both convictions, reason and faith, is used by the author to develop the plot as a scientific

fiction and to add to the element of suspense and thrill pertaining to the genre. The author brings

the blend of both perceptions to create a new culture, a culture that aims perfection, beyond the

convictions of the the Illuminati, the Catholic Church and science. As Mathew Arnold states,

"Culture looks beyond machinery, culture hates hatred, and culture has one great passion, the

passion for sweetness and light. It has one even yet greater! – the passion for making them

prevail"(16).

The novel ends with the perfection stated by Arnold, the balanced state where the good

will of machinery executed for good and God's will collide to form a better system, a better

culture. As he states, "The pursuit of perfection, then, is the pursuit of sweetness and light. He

who works for sweetness and light, works to make the reason and the will of God prevail. He

works for machinery, he who works for hatred, works only for confusion"(16). This need of

perfection and prevalence for a culture to exist is also in the plot of the novel, the statement of

Moratti, a chief priest of the church in the novel suits. He says,

I'm not questioning God's power! It is God who gave us reason and

circumspection! It is God we serve by exercising Prudence!(569)

In this regard, Pope's celibacy cannot be questioned but technically it is debatable. It is a

question of a sense of righteousness, whether the use of technology,to beget a child with

intercourse and thereby maintaining the celibacy, is right. Ways of justification is important than

justice itself. Science, Reason , Knowledge are for betterment of mankind with the right

conscience. A right conscience can be attained only with the flawless guidance that can be

obtained only from God through belief and leaps of faith. It is as true as contradictory as it

sounds. The novel ends with Camerlengo's self justification of burning himself before the crowd.

The psyche of the characters in the play suits each group of people on earth. We live

unequal lives and so the justifications abide likely. We filter our feelings, images, wishes from

our self-conscious system (Freud). We pretend these existence and they finally find a way out

when the self-conscious itself is shaken and questioned. These filtered images, feelings and

wishes form our justification system of our actions. Every action is justified according to these

filters because the truth always remains hidden within. Swanson argues, "justifications that

people make to themselves and others- justifications so designed that the defender, not just other

people, can accept them"(1988). Swanson states rightly. Logic and Law are permanent. It is the

possibility of changing those logic and laws give hope for different ideologies. Justifications are

self convictions. The lack of acknowledgement, the patience to wait the storm out, the sudden

exposure to everything possible in access, and the lack of faith in self and in God drives

everyone in the present world insane. Thus having this Justification Hypothesis as basis it

becomes certain that the novel depicts the psyche of contemporary mankind. It is the psyche that

justifies every act regardless of consciousness to moralities and natural laws. Though the

justification seems sensible, it cannot be accepted because the vital purpose of being a human is

to be with humaneness. Thus through the novel, having an apocalyptic plot structure, the author

brings out the culture of the present. A culture that collides with different aspects of history.

WORKS CITED

Arnold, Mathew. "Sweetness and Light", Cultural Theory: An Anthology, Szeman,

Imre, Timothy Kaposy edt. Wiley Blackwell publications, United Kingdom,

2011.

Brown, Dan. Angels and Demons. Corgi Books. May, 2000.

Gomel, Elana. "Everyday Apocalypse: The Ethics and Aesthetics of the End of Time"

Postmodern science Fiction and Temporal imagination, Continuum Books, New

York, 2010.

Henriques, Gregg. "Understanding our Justification systems: Five key concepts that

stem from the Justification Hypothesis" Psychology Today,01 Nov. 2013,

(/2018/02/18), psychologytoday.com

Swanson. Ego Defenses and Legitimization of Behavior, 1988.

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