BOUNDARIES OF FACT AND FICTION IN THE WORLD OF DAN BROWN'S THE DA VINCI CODE

This study seeks to solve the controversy concerning The Da Vinci Code. Many years ago, this novel was banned because it discusses a delicate religious issue concerning Christianity in general and Jesus Christ in particular. The whole dilemma did not only start when Brown suggested that Jesus Christ has an offspring, but it was aggravated when Brown declared that these claims are facts and therefore the novel is far away from being fictious. This assertion was frankly mentioned in the prologue of the book under the title the "FACT" page. Such an assertion shifts the novel to another level of critical analysis that is to consider every character, event and organization in the novel as a real one. Whereas, the functionality of this novel is limited only to color some real events in order to attract readers to complete reading. This caused the novel to face the heat of a counter campaign by the Church and its supporters that described the novel as a complete failure. A third part in this dilemma is the reading audience who liked the novel so much to the extent that it came on the top of the charts of bestselling books for many months. Thus, the question that needs to be studied focuses on the reason for the huge success of the novel. Is it for the "facts" that it narrates? Is it for Brown's narrative techniques? Or is it for another reason that will be found by a thorough study of the novel?