LETTER TO IRISH TIMES

www.ireland.com

3rd Novemeber 2004

Interpreting 'The Da Vinci Code'

Madam, - Breda O'Brien has misunderstood the Da Vinci Code (Oct 30th). Dan Brown regards the Holy Grail and all it may symbolise as a hoax. Marie Saunière is Dan Brown's mouthpiece (see DVC, page 581, Corgi). More importantly, through her too, he expresses his real concerns for the world we live in, 'The pendulum is swinging. We are starting to sense the dangers of our history. and of our destructive paths. We are beginning to sense the need to restore the sacred feminine'(p581, Corgi).

As I argue in my article on Dan Brown's book on my website, if Marie had substituted the word 'include' for 'restore', she would have expressed my views on the need to include feminine perspectives and values, to a much greater extent, as we seek to transform our turbulent, violent, aggressive, male-oriented world and construct in its place a world where the emphasis is on non-violent ways to address and resolve our conflicts.

Yours, etc.,

Andrew Furlong