The Lost Symbol

Katherine Solomon is Peter Solomon’s sister. Katherine finds herself a target of Mal’akh, and this situation allows her to be a motivation in Langdon’s deciphering of the Masonic pyramid. Katherine is also a Noetic scientist, and her field of research allows Brown to discuss this unusual field of study and discuss the idea that human thought could potentially have the ability to impact the world around it. Katherine’s work supports the ideas of early scholars that with the right knowledge, humankind could potentially be capable of god-like transformation.

Katherine is an older woman who never married, instead devoting her life to her career. Many years ago, her mother was murdered and her nephew, Zachary, supposedly died, so she believes that Peter is the only family she has left. Although in many of Brown’s novels, Langdon often appears to develop a romantic connection with the women who share his adventures, there is no romance between Langdon and Katherine. They are good friends but nothing more. However, there exists a great deal of respect between them, and this dynamic allows them to work well together. Katherine is just as intelligent as Langdon and finds solutions to problems several times in the novel before Langdon sees them.

Katherine therefore plays an important role in this novel, not only as Langdon’s motivation and partner in solving the mystery of the pyramid’s map, but also as the Noetic scientist who is able to explain to Langdon the potential of the human mind in relation to the theories of early scholars. By explaining how thought, when combined with many minds, can create change in the world, Katherine helps Langdon to better understand what truths the Bible is thought to hide and how humans could use that knowledge to transform themselves into gods.

Mal’akh is the antagonist of the novel. He is a heavily tattooed man who has kidnapped Langdon’s mentor, Peter Solomon, and wants Langdon to decipher a code that carved into the sides of a stone pyramid and its capstone. Mal’akh believes that the pyramid will lead to the Lost Word, a word Mal’akh believes is ancient and has the power to help a man transform into a god. Mal’akh has prepared for The Process of Transformation by altering his body with tattoos and by becoming a eunuch, in accordance with his belief that gods are meant to be sexless. Mal’akh bases his beliefs on the writings of mystics and on John Milton’s Paradise Lost.

Mal’akh is not the first transformation for this character. The character’s first identity is Zachary Solomon, the spoiled son of Peter Solomon. Zachary is immature and reckless when he inherits his family fortune and uses the money to party his way around the world. After he is arrested in Turkey and overhears his father refusing to pay a bribe, Zachary becomes convinced that his father has abandoned him, believing that his father doesn’t care about him at all. Zachary’s lack of maturity, combined his privileged upbringing, bring him to this faulty conclusion. Consequently, Zachary decides to abandon his family and fake his own death, inflicting a measure of grief and pain upon his father that he paradoxically is not mature enough to feel himself. From there, Zachary returns to his playboy lifestyle by reinventing himself as Andros, living on a Greek island, and spending his days wasting money and womanizing. However, this lifestyle becomes boring as Andros matures.

Thus, Mal’akh is born out of Andros’ boredom. When Andros sees a television story about the Freemasons, he recalls his father’s offer to become a Mason and assume responsibility for the protection of the Masonic pyramid. Andros decides to take what he believes belongs to him and confronts his father as Andros, a meeting that results in disaster: the death of Peter’s mother. Because Andros doesn’t take into account that during this encounter, his father not only didn’t know who he was, but also thought he was Zachary’s killer, Andros carries a newly intensified anger toward his father. He dedicates himself to learning about mysticism and follows a path similar to what his father had originally wanted for him. However, he pursues this path in such a way that he deliberately hurts his father as much as possible. Rather than growing in maturity, Zachary/Andros grows angrier, and this anger focuses his interests on the darker side of spirituality. As Mal’akh, he never overcomes his anger or finds a way to empathize with his father. In fact, Mal’akh is so removed from emotion that at the very end of his life, his own emotional response to Peter stroking his head surprises and confuses him, resulting in his sudden uncertainty in the final moments of his life.

Director Inoue Sato is the director of the Office of Security of the CIA. Sato is another antagonist in the novel, but a minor one. The revelation of her motivations reveals that she is actually attempting to be helpful, even though her actions sometimes imply otherwise. Director Sato proves herself to be a strong, independent woman because she has excels in a field that is overwhelmingly male-dominated. Not only this, but Director Sato survived throat cancer, and it is rumored she didn’t take off much time from work during treatment, a feat that has garnered her respect among her peers.

Throughout the novel, Director Sato continuously interferes with Langdon’s attempts to decipher the pyramid, repeatedly telling him that her interest is a matter of national security. Director Sato fails to get her message across in an apparent show of control. Sato shows the video to Warren Bellamy to get him to help her, but she fails to show it to Katherine and doesn’t show Langdon until it’s almost too late. Director Sato’s choice to keep crucial information to herself can be interpreted as a power trip, but it can also be viewed as an honest attempt to contain the situation and keep the video from being seen by too many people. Either way, Director Sato does reveal herself to have the best interests of the country at heart even if her personal beliefs cause her to be acerbic and obstructive.