Good & Evil

"Rome. . . the caput mundi, where Caesar once ruled, where St. Peter was crucified. The cradle of modern civilization. And at its core. . . a ticking bomb" (Brown, 99).


The time is limited for Robert and newly introduced Vittoria Vetra. (Vittoria is the daughter of the scientist that was recently murdered by the so called "Illuminati"). They have to stop a terrorist attack in Rome. What happened was that Vittoria and her father were the first people to create the science fiction-like material called Antimatter. Antimatter is the opposite material of matter and is very powerful. It is said that one gram can be used to power a city like New York for over two days. The problem is that if in the wrong hands, antimatter can destroy a whole city, such as Rome.

In the book, Robert and Vittoria have to save all of Rome by tracking down the terrorists and return the antimatter back to the science laboratory in northern Europe.

The author Dan Brown shows the ideas of good and evil in the book. He describes the different sides throughout the book through the different characters. Robert and Vittoria are depicted as the good and light side of things. They try to save the day from terrorist and also have kinder attitudes. They are friendly to people and often do good deeds throughout the book. The "Good Guys" do what is right for the world by stopping the terrorists from destroying everything in Rome. These are good qualities in a person and they are doing the right thing, so they are considered the Good.
The evil in Angels & Demons is portrayed as the terrorist Illuminati members. They go out and kill people for their own satisfaction. They stole the antimatter from the laboratory and also killed Dr. Vetra who did not deserve such a gruesome death. They have bad attitudes toward other people and have a mysterious way of life. The Illuminati is a very dangerous organization and can be considered mysteriously evil. Being that the group of terrorists stole the antimatter and are planning to destroy Rome, we can see that they are evil.
 The good and evil in Angels and Demons is depicted in the way the characters act and do in the book. The nature of good and evil can reside in all people, it just depends on how they use their minds. The book also describes how evil should always be stopped and good should always be within society.

Do you think that there is true evil within people in our world today? Are there people that could do such terrible things?

Characters of Angels & Demons

Robert Langdon is the main character in the book Angels & Demons. In the book he is called by a scientist in Switzerland who has discovered a dead body with the fearful word "Illuminati" banded onto his chest. This word is interesting for it can be read upside down and right side up.
The scientist is named Miximilian Kohler. In the text, the two do not have an even relationship. The men often tell each other that they are wrong and disagree on some issues. Kolher would be described as a rude man. Intellectual but not a very friendly man. Being some what of a grouch, Dr. Kohler stays to himself in the lab. I believe he has some secrets in his mind that Robert does not know about.

Robert is a simple man who is very educated in history. He is a very level headed man with a good sense of serenity through out the book and the last book, The Da Vinci Code. One thing I have noticed from this book to the last was that in the Da Vinci Code, Robert is very naive and unaware of danger, and he gets himself into trouble easily as the book went on. In the new book, Angels & Demons, Langdon is notibally not as out going. He takes careful precausions and makes sure that all the details were safe.

The conversations between Langdon and Kohler are very tense. The two have not a very easy going relationship. According to the text,
"THIS COLUMN IS IONIC...Langdon mused, eyeing the column and chucling to himslef. 'I'm relieved to see that even billiant physicist make mistakes'
Kohler looked over. 'What do you mean?'
'Whoever wrote that note made a mistaske. That column isn't Ionic. Ionic columns are uniformed in width. That one's tapered. It's Doric-the Greek counterpart. A common mistake.'
Kohler did not smile. 'The author meant it as a joke, Mr. Langdon. Ionic means containing ions-electrically charged particles. Most objects contain them.'
Langdon looked back at the column and groaned" (Brown, 23).

Based on this conversation between the two men, you can sense a bit of uneasiness and a bit of rivalry between them. They are very tense and this strange interaction between them may get better though out the book, or actually cause a great conflict.

Do you think that Kohler is apart of the murder at all? Could Kohler contribute to the problems in the story that are soon to come?