77 pages • 2 hours read
Dan BrownThe Lost Symbol
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2009A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Pyramid and Capstone
Langdon spends much of the novel attempting to decipher the symbols on the sides and bottom of a stone pyramid and its gold capstone. This pyramid and capstone become a symbol not only of the map it is rumored to hide, but also of Katherine’s determination to save her brother, for she is the one who opens the capstone’s package after it was sealed for a century. Katherine believes that the only way to save Peter from his captor is to give Mal’akh what he wants, so she pushes Langdon into solving the cryptic message carved into the pyramid’s surfaces.
The pyramid and capstone are also symbolic of the secret the Masons have been hiding since July 4, 1848. Hidden on this pyramid and capstone is a map that leads to the cornerstone of the Washington Monument, where a copy of the Bible is hidden. This map’s secret is surrounded in myth, creating a mystery that allows Mal’akh to believe that the secret hidden at the map’s end will transform him into a god and allow for his ascension to a divine state of existence. While the truth does illuminate the theme of The Process of Transformation, it is not the great truth or the Lost Word that Mal’akh imagined it to be.
The pyramid and capstone also symbolize the heart of the Freemason organization. Masons believe in a higher power, in morality, and in knowledge, all things that don’t necessarily have to be focused on one religion or one specific set of beliefs. Langdon defends the Masons multiple times in the novel when certain people, including Director Sato of the Office of Security at the CIA, accuse them of engaging in secretive, cult-like behavior. Langdon points out that Masonic symbols are everywhere and are easy to decipher. Langdon also points out that the Masons are very public about their beliefs even if they do not reveal their specific rituals. Thus, he compares their approach to that of a beverage company that openly sells a product without revealing the recipe. The pyramid and capstone thus embody this complicated truth about the Masons, for they exist as physical items but conceal a map in the symbols carved on their surfaces, some of which are hidden beneath wax mixed with stone dust.
Tattoos
Mal’akh covers his body in tattoos as he seeks to transform himself. Transformation is a major theme of the novel, and Mal’akh plays a big part of this. Mal’akh has already transformed himself twice before, first changing from Zachary into Andros, and then transforming from Andros into Mal’akh. Each transformation begins as a result of a confrontation with Peter Solomon; therefore, this last transformation takes on aspects of Zachary’s relationship with Peter, including Peter’s beliefs in Freemasonry. The tattoos represent Mal’akh’s transformation, therefore becoming a motif of the theme of transformation, and they are also symbolic of Zachary’s relationship with his father. The staircase that spans Mal’akh’s back is a key element of the story of the Ancient Mysteries that are said to be revealed by the pyramid that Peter once offered Zachary as a part of his family inheritance.
The tattoos on Mal’akh’s body are sacred to him, but for other characters in the novel, they symbolize different concepts entirely. For Katherine, the sight of the tattoos peeking through the makeup that Mal’akh has used to hide them creates fear. For the drug dealer who gave Andros the idea of hiding his scars with tattoos, the body art symbolizes secrecy and concealment. Similarly, the tattoos on Peter Solomon’s severed hand are truly ritualistic. These tattoos transform Peter’s hand into the Hand of the Mysteries, a “call to action” (62) based in historical references. Mal’akh uses these tattoos on Peter’s hand to alert Langdon to the importance of the hand and the message in the tattoo on Peter’s palm. In this instance, the tattoos symbolize not only the danger that Peter is in, but also the mystery that Mal’akh will force Langdon to solve.
Cornerstones
Cornerstones are the first stone set in the foundation of a building. These stones are the most important stone in the foundation because they determine the position of all the other stones that come after. In the novel, Peter reveals that some of these cornerstones were hollow to create a vault in which the builder would place something of meaning. The Lost Word that Mal’akh spends the novel searching for is hidden in one of these cornerstones, but rather than being a single, ancient word that will allow for ascension into godliness, this word turns out to be a copy of the Bible: the proverbial “word of God.”
Cornerstones are a motif in this novel helping to develop the theme of The Significance of Social and Physical Architecture. Not only does Dan Brown use the physical architecture in Washington to tell his story, but he uses the idea of architecture as a way to show how societies—and the organizations within those societies—are built. Each building or society has a cornerstone on which it is built. If this cornerstone is strong, the building will stand for hundreds of years. If the cornerstone is weak, the building will fall. In this novel, an actual cornerstone of the Washington Monument holds up an obelisk that honors the first president of the country. In this cornerstone is a Bible that, in the view of the men who were Washington’s contemporaries, represents the concept of the Ancient Mysteries. Within the world of the novel, the Masons have protected the secret of this Bible’s existence since its placement, keeping alive the beliefs of some of the founding fathers that great wisdom is hidden in the words of the Bible. In this way, not only does this particular cornerstone represent the theme of architecture, but it also symbolizes the cornerstone upon which the society of the United States has been built, as well as the fraternity of the Masons.
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