The Proverbial Question: The Name of the Rose

DANGER DANGER WILL ROBINSON SPOILERS AHEAD!

If you only want an overview of the story and response to it, check out Part I. This is a continuation of the talk about The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco.

"Daytime sleep is like the sin of the flesh: the more you have the more you want, and yet you feel unhappy, sated and unsated at the same time." (136) 

I was feeling the winter blues of the Midwest and this quote is so unfortunately true for me. I'm not a morning person so I'm up most of the night and sleep during the day, then wake up feeling guilty for sleeping the morning away. Enough about me and more about  The Name of the Rose. 

A Brief Description

 William of Baskerville and Adso, a monk and his novice respectively, are invited to a grand abbey to investigate a suspicious death (initially suspected as a suicide, but doubt leads them to believe it was murder) of one of the monks, Adelmo. William of Baskerville has acted as an inquisitor during trials of heresy and crimes against religion so it is supposed he will be able to deduce the murder. Over the course of a week, there are FIVE more deaths under increasingly suspicious circumstances. There is also a religious meeting/debate about enforced poverty (I'm not going to bore you with the details because frankly, I found them unimportant to the murder mystery. Curiosity will lead you if you're interested).

At the center of the investigation is the mysterious labyrinth of a library. Only the librarian is supposed to enter to the library, that houses many books, because it is feared that certain books will unleash knowledge that will corrupt the monks. The books are kept because knowledge is of import and books are sacred (this is a point of dissension in the abbey). The very coded scriptures on the walls and and hidden passage ways meant to dissuade monks from entering piqued some of their interest and caused the events to start. That's basic human nature though; tell someone they can't have something, put obstacles in their way, and it makes them want it more. But it is also human nature to share our thoughts to feel a sense of belonging, community, and influence. 

"Because learning does not consist only of knowing what we must or we can do, but also of knowing what we could do and perhaps should not do." (80)

When the second and third death happens, it is speculated that it is the sign that the Antichrist is coming, as the deaths follow a certain pattern. So William and Adso proceed to follow that trail, which proves to be the wrong trail, even though they come to the right conclusion. The conclusion is one that is introduced in the beginning of the investigation: a group of the monks have a heated debate, where one monk named Jorge vehemently disagrees with the others that Jesus laughed and essentially believes that laughter is the root of all evil. A certain book by Aristotle is brought up by one of the other monks that praises and encourages laughter, but the book is supposed to be lost and Jorge argues that if it hasn't been seen in almost a hundred years, then can it really exist? It turns out that the book does exist and Jorge has been discouraging interest in it. Once too many people inquire about it, he sneaks into the library and slathers it with a poison before it is soon after stolen. The pages stick so the reader licks his fingers and therefore the poison and shortly dies. Three of the six deaths are a result. Adelmo did commit suicide. The herbalist, Severinus, is killed by the librarian, Malachi, because of a passionate jealousy (which is another complicated component of the story). Indeed this story is multi-layered.

There is really no great mystery or other worldly or higher power that leads to the deaths. It is the weakness of their human qualities; curiosity and prohibited carnal relations. I loved this about the book because there was much discussion of how religious people should behave and it shows that everyone is human and overt devotion to a religion can be a downfall. 

"The Antichrist can be born from piety itself, from excessive love of God or of the truth…" (471)

Jorge had a most fascinating philosophy. He believed that laughter would remove fear and fear was a healthy gift from God to instill obedience. I never thought of laughter and fear in relation like that, and while I think that premise is exaggerated, it is in part right. Laughter is said to make anything better and relieve stress and take one's mind off of one's problems.

"And what would we be, we sinful creatures, without fear, perhaps the most foresighted, the most loving of the divine gifts?" (455)

Also, there is the argument of logic as the ultimate determination of truth, which is invalidated because William and Adso thought themselves out of the correct conclusion by presenting too many premises and following the wrong leads, forgetting that you can be misled. This is important because William is dismayed because while he came to the correct conclusion in the end, he got there through by the wrong means.

"The order that our mind imagines is like a net, or like a ladder, built to attain something. But afterward you must throw the ladder away, because you discover that, even if it was useful, it was meaningless." (472)

I loved that the abbey goes up in flames and burns to the ground in the end. It felt like the only fitting conclusion because nothing could ever be the same there.

I bought the book from Amazon and if you feel so inclined, the book was turned into a movie starring Sean Connery and Christian Slater and you can view it on Amazon as well. Until next Tuesday, happy reading.