CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background Of Analysis
Literature is one of the great creative and universal means of communication.
The basic process of communication begins when a fact or idea is observed by one
person. That person (the sender) may decide to translate the observation into a
message, and then transmit the message through some communication medium to
another person (the receiver). The receiver then must interpret the message and
provide feedback to the sender indicating that the message has been understood and
appropriate action taken. Human beings can’t live alone, human beings need to
interact with others in the world by the way of communication but in the way of
communication, it is needed a media which can express their thoughts and feelings.
Through literature, human beings can communicate with others because literature is
a media of communication.
Literature itself comes from the Latin “Literra” which refers to the written or
printed work. It means that a communication by human beings which interpreted in
literature especially nowadays generally through written media. In literature , the
authors try to express their ideas about what they did through their experiences in
their life and what was happening around them and tried to communicate to people in
the way of written media, it called the process of communications by literature, the
Oral is everyday spoken language meanwhile written is composed of written
words, so combined as to express thoughts. The process of communication is about
giving and receive information through any number of channels, listening and
reading. Listening is a communication that happens by oral communication, a person
talks to another and the other person tries to listen what the person talks. It’s the
process of communication by oral. It’s more effective because a speaker has more
ability to engage the audience psychologically and to use complex forms of
non-verbal communication. Oral communication, while primarily referring to spoken
verbal communication, can also employ visual aids and non-verbal elements to
support the conveyance of meaning. Oral communication includes speeches,
presentations, discussions, and aspects of interpersonal communication. As a type of
face-to-face communication, body language and choice tonality play a significant
role, and may have a greater impact upon the listener than informational content.
This type of communication also garners immediate feedback.
Meanwhile written communication is how a person reads something such like
article or book and gets something of it. The process of the communication happens
when a person reads something from a person who writes some information or ideas
through the written media. Writing is a medium of communication that represents
language through the inscription of signs and symbols. The message of writing can
be carefully prepared and then directed to people. The written messages can be
edited and revised several times before they are sent so that the content can be
shaped to maximum effect. The great effect of written communication in this era is
people can communicate to others each other from across the island by text or
Literature is a product of a language, because language is used to express
ideas, feelings, and opinions to exchange information, to do business, to absorb, to
write a literature or works and keep in touch with others. Language is important way
to transmit culture through language people can learn their cultural identify.
Language can be described as a symbol system in which sounds and meanings are
assigned to each other, allowing humans to communicate what people are thinking
and how they are feeling. Language is a body of words system for the use common to
people who are the same community or nation.
The most general genres in literature is divided into three major genres, they
are drama, prose, and poetry. Drama is a work of literature which is design for
performances by presenting actions or dialogues of a character or a group of
character. Poetry is written forms who express a conversation or interchange and
wide variety of subject. Prose is divided based on its period time. First old prose is
such as myth, fairytale, folk tale, fable, saga and the second part is such as short
story, novel, article and journal.
Novel is part of prose for the discussion of facts and topical reading as it is
often articulated in free form writing style. A novel (lat.novella, new things) is an
extended work of prose fiction, longer than a short story or medium-length fiction,
called anovelette or novella(Whitla : 1934:155).
Novel is the further enlargement of romance. The novel renders reality
closely and in comprehensive detail. It takes a group of people and set them going
about the business of life. Augustan period is featured development of novel itself.”
(Samekto, 1976: 34). Some short essays from the author of the period ( Joseph
In this thesis the writer would like to analyze symbols in Angels and Demons
Novel by Dan Brown. There are many symbols found in the novel that makes them
being mysterious, interesting and unique to be analyzed about symbolism. Symbol is
one of ways in understanding of a literature because symbol is an object which
stands for something else, the way to communicate with others and explain more
about something.
The novel introduces the character Robert Langdon as Symbologist , who is
also the protagonist of Brown's subsequent 2003 novel, The Da Vinci Code, and
2009 novel, The Lost Symbol. He tries to stop the Illuminati, a legendary secret
society, from destroying Vatican City with his partner, a scientist Vittoria Vetra. It
also shares many stylistic literary elements with its sequel, such as conspiracies of
secret societies, a single-day time frame, and the Catholic Church.
Ancient history, architecture, and symbolism are also heavily referenced
throughout the book. Angels and Demons is basically a story about the historical
conflict between religion (the Roman Catholic Church) and science. The Vatican has
throughout history always been against science, repressing great scientific
discoveries. A secret organization, the Illuminati, that tried to reconcile religion and
science, has infiltrated the Vatican and now the Illuminati is longing for revenge.
A symbol creates a direct meaningful between object, action, ideas in life.
Each symbol has its own objective identity, and may function at an ordinary level.
According to Arthur Simon in The Symbolist Movement Literature, “Symbolism is
an attempt to reinvest language with its powers of ambivalence and mystery, to
relieve it of the stulfying burden of representing factitious identity and clear-cut
Symbol is something that is intended to stand for something else other than
itself. The relationship between words and their meanings is (mostly) arbitrary, using
arbitrary sounds in conventional ways with conventional meanings. The system of
signs or symbols are considered in the language. Any set or system of such Symbols
as used in a more or less uniform fashion by a number of people, who are thus
enabled to communicate intelligibly with one another. It can be found as printed or
speaking. Early literature was oral, meant to be memorized and recited and doing that
by communication using language. Later was written down and read. It can conclude
that the literature itself has widely definition
A symbol has a meaning that need to interpret or to explain into a new
language or description which is easy to understand by studying the real meaning of
a symbol and how the symbol has ability to influence society by its mysteries.
Symbolism is not just about enabling a writer to say the same thing more concisely.
It is about allowing them to say something more effectively. Angels and Demons is
The Sequel novel of Dan Brown who tells about some symbols and tries to analyze
each of symbols in the story. The writer wants to analyze how symbolism takes part
in the story and interpret the meaning of every symbol.
Symbols are abstract and it’s not easy to understand the real meaning of a
symbol, a symbol is important in literary work as transferring meaning hidden behind
the words or pictures and to share ideas feelings the authors and also author
indirectly expressed his idea by using symbols. A symbol may to communicate with
one another, something hidden to share our ideas and feelings. A symbol is not
directly explained by someone or something. It can contain of object, figures,
purity, spotness, and innocent. Because it knows based on the descriptions about
symbols.
According to Klarer, there are two kinds of symbol. They are conventional
and private symbol. Conventional symbol is symbols which are made through
consensus, and its meaning has recognized by society. For example: crescent and star
are the symbol of Moslem, meanwhile private symbol is the symbol which is made
by an author in his own literary work. That’s why the writer tries to analyze some
symbols and divides to conventional or private symbols in the novel and trying to
interpret the symbols and its meanings.
Based on all details above, the reason why the writer choose the novel and the
theme because the writer thinks that it’s important to understand the meaning of
signs or symbols in the novel because it can increase our knowledge about the
meanings of symbols and it’s easier to understand symbols which a symbol tries to
express something that can’t be expressed easily in the way of communication in
daily life.
In this novel, it’s so interested how two opposite sides try to explain their
existences by showing their symbols, trying to get some clues about the symbols and
their meanings. Because some symbols that potrayed in the novel are often appear in
the real life. The title itself consists of two opposites, Angels and Demons.
Everything has an opposite. The plot of the book is between good and evil, being the
church (religion) and science (Illuminati), standing side by side. It teaches that one
could not exist without the other. It gives the universe the balance to move and
1.2. Problem of the Study
In the thesis, the writer thinks that it’s important to decide the problems are
going to analyze. The problems of the analysis in this thesis are:
1. How are the symbols portrayed in the novel ?
2. How are the implied meaning of the symbols described in the novel ?
1.3. Objective of Study
The object of writing is important to achieve. The objective of the study in
this analyze are :
1. To find out and indentify something as a symbol which written in words or
portrayed as pictures
2. To interpret context of the meaning of a symbol in the novel
1.4. Scope of the Study
This research is focused on certain symbols that found in the novel. The
scope of the study will be limited by analyzing some certain symbols which are
portrayed in the novel. There many symbols in novel. They are using as picture or as
words. But in this thesis the writer focuses to interprete the symbols by choosing
1.5.The Significance of the Study
Theoretically, this analysis to add the literary study of literature and also
symbolism through the novel.
Practically, this thesis can be lessons especially to know about symbols, about
the writer and to enrich the study of literature especially about symbolism. And also
