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Chapter 6
Themes
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
Sister Sandrine Bieil wakes in her modest suite in the Church of Saint-Sulpice to her phone ringing. It is her boss, the abbé, calling for a favor: Bishop Manuel Aringarosa needs her to let a visiting numerary into the church, despite the late hour. Sandrine knows of Aringarosa and Opus Dei. She finds their rise to power suspicious, especially after the pope elevated them to a “personal prelature,” thereby sanctioning all their practices, after they bailed the Vatican out of bankruptcy. Sandrine also dislikes Opus Dei’s poor treatment of women. Still, she agrees to let the visitor into the church around one a.m. Rising from her bed, Sister Sandrine feels a surge of intuitive apprehension.
Sister Sandrine’s knowledge of Aringarosa speaks to his widespread influence. Her unfavorable opinions on Opus Dei, however, show that not all Catholics are enraptured by the organization’s success. Indeed, Sandrine’s thoughts reveal her suspicions that Opus Dei gained the Vatican’s approval through bribery and manipulation. That female members are treated poorly indicates that this fictionalized version of Opus Dei subscribes to the kind of ultra-gendered Christianity Langdon was referencing in his discussion of the church’s demonization of femininity.
Themes
