Angels and Demons short comparative essay “Angels and Demons” and “The Da Vinci Code” are two thriller novels written by Dan Brown. In "Angels and Demons" the main protagonist, Harvard symbolologist, Robert Langton, is called for help after CERN's leading scientist, Leonardo Vetra, is brutally murdered and is found with the name of an ancient brotherhood, the " Illuminati", branded on the chest. After discovering that the assassin has stolen highly dangerous antimatter, Langdon and Victoria, Vetra's daughter, travel to Vatican City to chase the assassin and recover the weapon. “The Da Vinci Code” follows a similar structure, Robert Langton is enlisted by the French judicial police at the Louvre museum to help understand the murder of curator Jaques Saunière. Unbeknownst to him, he is a suspect and upon learning this he runs away with Saunière's niece Sophie on a quest to uncover Saunière's clues. Both novels belong to the thriller genre and evoke the moods characteristic of this genre by using similar ideas, techniques and features. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In terms of plot, “Angels and Demons” and “Da Vinci Code” follow a very similar plot. In both cases Robert Langdon is awakened at night because his expertise in symbology helps him on inconceivable crime scenes. The two novels seem parallel in this aspect, in “Angels and Demons” Langdon is taken to CERN to make sense of Leonardo Vetra's corpse: “The deceased Leonardo Vetra lay on his back, naked, with bluish-gray skin. His neck bones were protruding from where they had been broken and his head was turned completely backwards, facing the wrong direction.” The body is in horrible condition, Brown's initial description tells the reader that this was no ordinary murder. Vetra fell victim to an extremely violent act, his killer was powerful and skilled, as indicated by his twisted neck. The reader's interest is heightened by the branding on Vetra's chest: "The raised and roasted flesh was perfectly delineated... the symbol impeccably formed... Illuminati" Brown undoubtedly grabs the reader's attention, not because of the physical branding itself but for the word 'illuminati' and Vetra's chest branding. weight it carries. In this detail, he sets the plot of his novel in motion and establishes the theme of conspiracy. Langdon's introduction to Jaques Saunière's body in “The Da Vinci Code” is also significant. Saunière is also found naked, but by his own action, positioned in a bizarre and unnatural way as he himself did in his last moments: "His arms and legs were stretched outwards in a wide, gaping eagle, like those of a child making a snow angel..." He also appears to have drawn a symbol on his navel using his own blood as ink: "Saunière had drawn a simple symbol on his flesh: five straight lines intersecting to form a star five-pointed. The Pentacle." This chapter of the novel similarly serves as a "hook." Brown very quickly complicates the crime, the fact that Saunière did it all alone makes the novel completely unpredictable for the reader at this point. The Symbol of the Pentacle introduces the theme of religion. In both novels Brown really 'begins' his plots, introduces themes and above all stimulates the reader's curiosity and surprise linked to the thriller genre through the description of both corpses. Furthermore, the similar structure of “Angels & Demons” and “The Da Sharing the “Vinci Code” is what makes them thrillers.