The Da Vinci Code: Chapter 57

 
Summary: Fache’s agent at the Louvre calls Collet to tell him that that the police have located Langdon and Sophie. Collet eagerly heads for Sir Teabing’s estate, forgetting, in his excitement, to ask who provided this breakthrough tip to the authorities. Virtually simultaneously, Silas arrives at the estate in a black Audi, having been sent by the Teacher. Climbing over the fence, Silas moves toward the house, gun in hand.
 
Analysis: This brief chapter balances Collet’s departure for Sir Teabing’s house with Silas’ arrival at it, yet both men share the same purpose—to intercept and deal with those they regard as their adversaries and enemies—albeit, of course, for quite different motivations. Silas is motivated not only by faith but also by a desire to avoid failing Opus Dei and the Teacher again. Collet is motivated by pride—“He was about to make the most high-profile arrest of his career” (p. 260). Yet even he, like Silas, is also motivated by a desire for redemption: he feels he has been “blessed with a chance to redeem his skepticism and earlier blunders” (p. 260). Two very different men, then, but also two very similar ones.