The Name of the Rose

The dangers of faith and fear, and the only truth we should seek.

Faith and fear can be dangerous weapons. Few books illustrate this more clearly than Umberto Eco’s masterpiece, The Name of the Rose. It takes William of Baskerville, a 14thcentury version of Sherlock Holmes, and his apprentice, Adso (the narrator), seven days at an Abbey to unearth deadly secrets that ultimately lead to the demise of almost everyone involved. Through semiotics (the study of sign process), biblical analysis, and a myriad of other literary theoretical tools, Eco takes the reader on a murder mystery journey that will bring them inevitably face-to-face with the Antichrist.

William was directed initially by the Abbot to have faith in him and avoid the Abbey library during the course of his investigation into the deaths. Access to the library was restricted to the Librarian and Assistant Librarian. There was nothing to see inside, according to the Abbot, despite the fact it was known to hold all of the secrets of the Abbey and literary world. Had William and Adso not broken this rule, they likely would not have unraveled the plot that had plagued the Abbey for years.

The murders that transpired over the seven days in question were driven by fear. Namely, the fear that one monk had over the laughter described in Aristotle’s Second Poetics…