50 Pages Later.

Continuing The Story

To say a lot has happened in pages 50 to 100 would be an understatement . The amount of information, story lines, and themes that have been introduced in The Lost Symbol is astronomical.  As a reader we are reading three related stories of three different characters separated by chapter. For this post I will only talk about the protagonists' points of view. I will begin by analyzing our famous hero, Robert Langdon's story. The following takes place at the U.S Capitol building.

Robert Langdon
Robert Langdon has finally arrived at the National Statuary Hall and was surprised to see that no one was there waiting for him to give his speech. Not even Peter Solomon, the man who asked him to be there. Langdon asked the docent if there was a Smithsonian event being held there tonight, and then docent looked as if he had no idea what Langdon was talking about. Langdon was confused, wondering if Peter had played a prank on him. Langdon called Solomon's office using the phone number he had been contacted with and spoke with "Anthony", the "assistant" who "arranged" Langdon's speech. If you are wondering why there are quotation marks around Anthony, assistant, and arranged, it is because there was no assistant named Anthony and he did not arrange anything. The man Langdon had been in contact with was, in fact, Mal'akh. As we now from the first few chapters, Mal'akh had entered the U.S Capitol Building just minutes earlier than Langdon and had been in disguise. Langdon spoke to Anthony to try and get some answer and Mal'akh responded:


 "Consider this . . . You received a fax asking you to call a number, which you did. You spoke to a total stranger who said he was Peter Solomon's assistant. Then you willingly boarded a private plane to Washington and climbed into a waiting car. Is that right?" (Brown 45).


Now that Langdon realized that he was dealing with a psychopath he insisted to know who the hell he was talking to. Mal'akh would give no such answer, and revealed his plan to trick Langdon in to arriving at the National Statuary Hall. Langdon would have no part in such game if Mal'akh hadn't brought his friend, Peter Solomon in to this. Mal'akh told Langdon that he "summoned" him and needs his help in unlocking some ancient portal. Mal'akh told Langdon that his friend peter was in The Araf, a type of purgatory of judgement between heaven and hell. He later contradicts himself by saying Peter is still alive. Mal'akh said, "Peter will point the way" (Brown 49) and hung up. 

The National Statuary Building where Robert Langdon was
"supposed" supposed to give his speech. 

Langdon in complete awe, heard screaming coming from the Capitol Rotunda building and quickly ran over. This was only to see Peter's hand tattooed and point upwards. Langdon had recognized these combinations of symbols before. On famous paintings in the Vatican, paintings of a hand with these symbols represented an invitation. Langdon had never seen a real hand used before. The security chief, Trent Anderson hurried over along with the police officers and sealed off the building in hopes of catching the culprit who put it there. The officers forced Langdon away from the hand and kept everyone there for questioning. Anderson then recieved a call from Inoue Sato, the head of SATO (inside investigations of the secret service). She requested to talk to Langdon in person. She informed him that she had been told he would be of help in this case and needed him.

The Capitol Rotunda Building where Peter Solomon's hand is discovered

Katherine Solomon

Just by seeing Katherine's last name it is evident that she will play a vital role in this novel. Katherine is Peter Solomon's brother. In chapters 11 and 15 in The Lost Symbol, Katherine was waiting for Peter at their laboratory at the Smithsonian Museum Support Center (SMSC). 


"For three years, Peter Solomon had always been the first to arrive for their weekly seven P.M. Sunday-night meetings. It was their private family ritual, a way to remain connected before the start of a new week, and for Peter to stay up-to-date on Katherine's work at the lab." (Brown 51)


Most of Katherine's story was her research on Noetic Science, the theory that our feelings give off energy and can influence matter. One of her experiments was Distant Thoughts Affecting Water Crystals, an experiment that actually happened in real life. I would recommend checking it out, I read the whole thing. One of the most fascinating experiments I have ever seen. Peter had helped Katherine every step of the way in her discoveries showing her what books could help her with her studies and providing her with the funding and space she needed. Peter was very helpful considering the vast amount of education he had in theology, philosophy and history.


http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_22_4_radin.pdf

An image from the experiment after feelings such as love
were amplified on to the water bottle.

Earlier in that day, Mal'akh had contacted Katherine saying, "That which your brother believes is hidden in D.C....it can be found. Sometimes a legend that endures for centuries...endures for a reason." (Brown 74).


Peter had told Katherine of this ancient portal that Mal'akh is driven to discover, and she never believed it to be true. While working Katherine heard a noise and ran in excitement, assuming it was Peter. She was however, mistaken for it was Trish Dunne, the lab's Metasystems analyst and the only other person entrusted with the information of the secret lab. At the end of the chapter Katherine requested that Trish made a program that could search the web on any information regarding what Mal'akh had said to her. She wrote down key words that were to be researched. Unfortunately, as readers, we were not privileged to read what they were. 


Work Cited
Brown, Dan. The Lost Symbol. New York: 2010. 634.