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Chapter 22
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
Sophie enters the room off the Grand Gallery that houses the Mona Lisa. Realizing Saunière would have written any message in invisible ink, she rushes back to the crime scene and retrieves an ultraviolet penlight. Langdon surprises her in the Mona Lisa’s room. He asks if she ever saw the letters “P.S.” on anything belonging to Saunière. Surprised, Sophie recalls the time she went snooping in her grandfather’s room looking for her birthday presents. In one drawer, she found a strange key topped with a flower and the initials P.S. Saunière caught Sophie with the key and lectured her on the importance of respecting other people’s privacy.
Like his initial message, it is likely Saunière wrote any others in invisible ink. Since the Mona Lisa is not near Saunière’s body, it’s unlikely anyone from the police has discovered whatever he left in her room. Langdon’s strange line of questioning suggests he has a theory about Saunière’s death and the letters “P.S.” That Sophie has encountered those letters before in her grandfather’s private belongings suggests Langdon is on the right track.
Themes
The next day, on Sophie’s birthday, Saunière sent her on a scavenger hunt which ultimately led to her gift: a bike. While riding it the next day, Sophie apologized for snooping and asked what the key opens. Saunière claimed it opened a box of secrets, which Sophie hates. He promised to give her the key one day if she never spoke of it to anyone. The flower on the key is a fleur-de-lis (a lily), and the letters represent Sophie’s new moniker: Princesse Sophie.
Based on this passage, it seems likely that Sophie’s resentment of Saunière grew out of the tension between his secret-keeping and her need to know things. This is interesting because Saunière actively encourages Sophie to be curious and solve puzzles, as seen here with the birthday scavenger hunt, almost as if he is training her. Though Saunière claims the initials stand for Sophie’s new pet name, it seems likely they have a deeper meaning as well.
Themes
In the present, Sophie confirms she saw the initials P.S. on something of Saunière’s, but she doesn’t say what. Langdon asks if the object also featured a fleur-de-lis, shocking her. Langdon explains his theory that Saunière was part of a very old secret society called the Priory of Sion, whose coat of arms he just described. Da Vinci himself was a member. Sophie privately recalls the incident which made her stop speaking to her grandfather, which lines up with this theory. Langdon goes on to describe the Priory’s goddess worship and the alleged ancient secret they guarded. Sophie urges Langdon to flee the Louvre, but he is lost in thought. Meanwhile, an enraged Fache discovers Langdon’s decoy tracker.
