Robert Langdon, #2
The Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown
Contents
CHAPTER 39
Overview
Silas returns to the Opus Dei residence devastated by the realization that the Priory leaders misled him and that the keystone remains hidden. His impulsive murder of Sister Sandrine threatens to expose both him and Bishop Aringarosa, raising the cost of the failed mission.
The chapter deepens Silas’s dependence on Aringarosa by revealing how the bishop transformed Silas’s shame into religious purpose. Silas’s guilt and fear drive him back to prayer and physical mortification.
Summary
In a sparse room in the Opus Dei residence on Rue La Bruyère, Silas is overwhelmed by anguish because he believes he has been deceived. The four brothers he murdered chose death rather than reveal the true location of the keystone, leaving Silas with nothing but the false clue from Saint-Sulpice.
Silas cannot bring himself to call the Teacher. The killing of Sister Sandrine, which Silas views as an impulsive act against someone opposing his holy mission, has made the situation far more dangerous. Although Silas returned Sister Sandrine to her bed and tried to repair the broken floor tiles, the evidence of intrusion and violence remains obvious.
Silas worries that Bishop Aringarosa will be implicated because Aringarosa arranged the call that allowed Silas into Saint-Sulpice. Silas had imagined completing the mission and disappearing safely inside Opus Dei’s New York headquarters, but now he fears he has endangered the bishop, the man who gave Silas purpose and salvation.
Silas remembers Aringarosa in Spain telling Silas that his albinism made him special and comparing Silas to Noah. Aringarosa’s words helped Silas reinterpret his whiteness as purity and divine calling, but in the present Silas is haunted instead by his father’s old condemnation.
Crushed by failure and guilt, Silas kneels on the wooden floor to pray for forgiveness. He then removes his robe and reaches for the Discipline, turning again to self-punishment as penance.
Who Appears
- SilasDevastated Opus Dei monk who realizes he was deceived and seeks penance.
- Bishop AringarosaSilas’s spiritual protector, remembered as the man who gave him purpose.
- Sister SandrineMurdered Saint-Sulpice nun whose death now threatens to expose Silas.
- The TeacherUnseen mission handler whom Silas fears calling after the failed search.