Robert Langdon, #2
The Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown
Contents
CHAPTER 10
Overview
Silas arrives at Saint-Sulpice convinced that the brotherhood has hidden the keystone in a church, and his mission is tied to the future power of Opus Dei. The chapter reveals Silas's traumatic past, his escape from prison, and how Aringarosa rescued and renamed him, explaining the depth of Silas's loyalty. Meanwhile, Aringarosa flies toward Rome, trusting the secretive Teacher despite the enormous fee and the risk of the operation.
Summary
Silas waits in a black Audi outside the Church of Saint-Sulpice, where he believes the brotherhood has hidden the keystone. He frames the mission as a righteous recovery of something stolen from the faithful and imagines the power the discovery could bring Opus Dei, while trying to clear his mind despite the pain of recent corporal mortification.
The sight of Saint-Sulpice pulls Silas into memories of his life before Opus Dei. As a child, Silas was abused by a drunken father who blamed his mother for Silas's albinism; after Silas's mother died during one violent fight, Silas stabbed his father to death and fled into the streets of Marseilles. Rejected and feared because of his appearance, Silas grew into a violent drifter, eventually killing a sailor who beat him and being sent to prison in Andorra.
In prison, Silas was mocked as a ghost and endured twelve years of degradation. An earthquake shattered the prison wall, letting Silas escape into the mountains; after wandering, hiding in a freight car, and collapsing near a village, Silas awoke in the care of a young priest in Oviedo. When Silas defended the priest from a thief, the priest revealed himself as Manuel Aringarosa, a missionary building a church for Opus Dei.
Aringarosa understood from a newspaper clipping that Silas was one of the escaped prisoners, but instead of turning Silas in, Aringarosa gave Silas a French Bible opened to the story of the biblical Silas, whose prison doors opened during an earthquake. Because Silas remembered no birth name, Aringarosa named him Silas and gave him purpose by inviting him to help build the church.
The chapter then shifts to Bishop Aringarosa aboard Alitalia flight 1618 over the Mediterranean. Aringarosa wants news from Paris but obeys the Teacher's rule that Aringarosa and Silas must not communicate, because intercepted messages could expose them. Aringarosa reflects that the Teacher has already proven his value by obtaining the names of the brotherhood's four top members, and Aringarosa trusts that the promised prize is worth the twenty-million-euro fee.
Who Appears
- SilasOpus Dei devotee awaiting his mission at Saint-Sulpice while recalling his traumatic past.
- Bishop Manuel AringarosaSilas's rescuer and spiritual patron, now trusting the Teacher's plan from an airplane.
- The TeacherSecretive planner directing Silas and Aringarosa while demanding silence and a large fee.
- Silas's fatherAbusive dockworker whose violence toward Silas and Silas's mother leads Silas to kill him.
- Silas's motherVictim of domestic abuse whose death triggers Silas's flight from home.