Introduction

Notion of Conspiracy and Context of Inferno

This project entitled “A struggle against conspiracy in Brown's Inferno” attempts to

explore the struggle of Robert Langdon to save humanity which is going to be

destroyed by the virus created by Bertrand Zobrist, a mad scientist who wants to cure

overpopulation by infecting 1/3 world population into sterile virus. There’s a man-

made super-virus hidden somewhere, and only by solving a series of clues left in

classic works of art can Langdon track it down before the virus wipes out half the

planet.

The novel Inferno describes the journey of Robert Langdon with Dr. Sienna

Brooks and Elizabeth Sinskey in finding the hidden plague created by Bertrand

Zobrist. A man whom people believe to be mad jumps to his death to keep from

showing those who are hunting him the place where he believes a gift to mankind is

hidden. Just before he jumps he sees a person whom he loves standing in the crowd.

He jumps even though he knows that person is watching.

Robert Langdon sees a woman with long silver hair wearing an amulet around

her neck. The amulet is decorated with the likeness of a single snake coiled around a

staff. The woman asked Langdon to seek and find and told him that his help was

needed. Bodies of people who were killed in terrible ways were at her feet. When the

woman lifted her veil, Langdon sensed he knew her and trusted her, even though he

could not bring.

Langdon wandered into what appeared to be a study in Sienna’s apartment. He

looked out the window and wondered why he was in Florence. Although he loved

Florence and visited often, he could not think of a trip he had planned to the city. He

wondered what he had done that had caused Dr. Marconi to be killed. He turned on
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Sienna’s computer and searched his own name on the Internet looking for clues. He

also checked his email at Harvard. Neither the Internet search nor his email gave him

any idea why he might have made the trip. The only thing he was able to find was an

article about a city official who had died of a heart attack in the city.

Harvard professor Robert Langdon is hired by the World Health Organization

(WHO) to help find a lethal pathogen in Dan Brown's novel Inferno. Bertrand Zobrist,

a Transhumanist who claimed the planet was in danger of collapsing due to

overpopulation, is thought to have developed the virus. Zobrist had misled WHO

Director Elizabeth Sinskey into believing he had invented a plagiarized vaccine.

Zobrist had fooled WHO Director Elizabeth Sinskey into thinking he had created a

virus to wipe out the population. Sinskey hoped to track down and contain the virus

before it spread too far. Sinskey's plan for Langdon to assist in the hunt for the

pathogen was rapidly thwarted when he was apprehended by the provost, a man who

had provided Zobrist with a safe haven. They told him he was suffering from

retrograde amnesia as a result of a gunshot wound to the head, and they gave him an

alternate universe in which they persuaded Langdon.

They persuaded Langdon that the people sent by Sinskey to find him were

trying to kill him, and they told him he had retrograde amnesia caused by a bullet

wound to his scalp. Langdon and his new friend Sienna Brooks tracked the virus to

Istanbul using cryptic clues left by Dante enthusiast Zobrist. Langdon and Sienna

were separated until they could fly to that city when Langdon was kidnapped by

Sinskey's men. After the provost showed Sinskey a chilling video Zobrist had

demanded to be released to the media, Sinskey and the provost persuaded Langdon

that no one was trying to kill him and that they were all on the same side.
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The protagonist of the story is Robert Langdon, a professor of religious

iconology and symbology at Harvard University. At the beginning of the novel,

Langdon wakes up wounded with no previous memories in what seems to be a

hospital in Florence, but after an attempt on his life, he quickly has to make an escape

with the help of doctor Sienna Brooks. Little by little, and with constant references to

Dante's life and works – with his portrayal of hell – as well as to Malthus's ideas on

population, Langdon and Brooks discover that they must save the world from a plague

created by Bertrand Zobrist. While struggling to find out the virus, he activated the

projector and described to Sienna how the levels of hell had been shuffled around.

When they were in the correct order the letters spelled out the words “cerca trova”

(127). These words mean seek and you shall find, the same words Langdon heard the

silver-haired woman in his visions say to him.

In inferno, different chapters focus on Robert and Brook's escape across

Florence and Venice, while other chapters allow readers to explore Zobrist's mind and

the reason why he has created his plague. Zobrist’s threat is directed towards Elisabeth

Sinskey, head of the World Health Organization. Zobrist blames the W.H.O for

looking the other way by denying the massive acceleration of the human population.

After WHO was contacted, they found his safe house and discovered he had “created

some kind of highly contagious pathogen and hidden it somewhere else”

(433). Langdon must follow clues related to 14th Century Italian poet Dante and his

epic creation Divine Comedy. According to Dante Alighieri’s epic poem The Divine

Comedy, Inferno is the underworld as described which portrays hell as an elaborately

structured realm populated by entities known as ‘shades’—bodiless souls trapped

between life and death.”

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The hero and the heroine are being chased at a frantic pace and are, at the

same time trying to solve a riddle using Dante Alighieri's literary work 'Inferno' and a

modified version of the “painting” by Botticelli known as the 'Map of Hell' which is

hidden in a cylinder with a biohazard symbol. Humanity is heading for disaster,

because of population growth.

When Sienna eventually came to a halt in her search of Langdon, she told him

that the bag had already burst when she arrived. She knew what kind of virus Zobrist

had created and had hoped to prevent it from being published. Langdon convinced

Sienna to cooperate with Sinskey and the WHO to help them understand and cope

with the effects of the virus Zobrist had developed.

We know for sure that new viruses will be introduced into humans at regular

intervals. Just look at HIV which came from the chimpanzees and SARS which

perhaps came from bats and then disappeared not to be seen in the last 10 years. The

new Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) is the latest example of a new virus

previously unknown to humans suddenly appearing. This new virus has animal

reservoirs and bats and camels may be implicated but the situation is still uncertain.

These stories are still unfolding and are as exciting as “Inferno”

Conspiracy theory defines an outbreak of any actions that affects the general

public to be politically driven or where an international actors or bodies might have a

hand in it and the objective of which is usually concealed. A conspiracy is a secret

plan to achieve some goal. Its members are known as conspirators like the member of

The Consortium. Moreover, it is a theory that explains an event as being the result of

a plot by a covert group or organization. Since several debates regarding conspiracy

theories begin with disagreements about what constitutes a conspiracy theory and

what does not, it is important to define some key words first. To begin, we describe a
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"conspiracy" as a hidden plot involving two or more powerful actors. With profound

insight into the theory of conspiracy criticism, the researcher displays the act of

hidden organization to find the virus creating the masterplan as Sianna Brooks plays

the role of fake doctor in the novel Inferno. This novel is attempted to analyse through

the theory of Mike Adams and Joseph Uscinski.

According to Joseph Uscinski, "an explanation of past, ongoing, or future

events or circumstances that cites as a main causal factor a small group of powerful

persons acting in secret for their own benefit and against the common good." (48)

Another conspiracy theory of 'COVID was Created as a Biological Weapon' believes

that the viruses are created intentionally as a biowarfare weapon. It further says,

"nearly three-in-10 Americans believe that COVID-19 was made in a lab" either

intentionally or accidentally. COVID-19 can also be related with the virus, inferno,

created by Zobrist.

And those who question official histories have recently received vindication,

though not in the areas they hoped. While no truth has ever been proved in the

favourite fantasies of conspiracy theorists – that, for example, the Apollo moon

landings were faked, Princess Diana was murdered or President Obama is not an

American – numerous grave conspiracies have been exposed. Brown brilliantly

anticipated and understood the mindset of the 21st century, in which citizens would

come to suspect that every stone had something hidden under it and would be justified

in their suspicion by progressive revelations. The human predicament is driven by

overpopulation, overconsumption of natural resources and the use of unnecessarily

environmentally damaging technologies.’ The authors assume an increase in

population to 9.5 billion by 2050 which will ultimately result global collapse. Dan

Brown’s Zobrist has a neat solution to demographic catastrophe through the release of
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a clever virus, Inferno, which would humanely reduce the global population by

making one in three people sterile. And the scary thing about it is that Brown’s head

of the World Health Organization thinks he might be on the right lines.

Though Brown has brought many historical references in the novel but in

Inferno, there is no historical conspiracy. Instead, Langdon has to stop a new plague

being unleashed by scientific genius Bertrand Zobrist, who believes the only way to

save the world from the consequences of rampant overpopulation is to finish a large

proportion of the human race.

"I want to stress that this is not an activist book," Brown says. "But

overpopulation is something that I'm concerned about.

Most of the scientists are deeply concerned that overpopulation is the issue to

which all of our other environmental issues are tied such as ozone. Where we get our

clean water, starvation, deforestation are considerable problems. But they're really

symptoms of overpopulation. So, overpopulation seems like the big issue."

In the story, Langdon and Zobrist both believe they are saving the world in a way.

‘The Consortium’ is a private organization with offices in seven countries. Its

name has been changed for considerations of security and privacy. The shadowy

Consortium and its key member 'The Provost' are invisible as iconic as some of

Brown’s villains. There’s a veiled Stieg Larsson reference with Vayentha, a spiky

haired gun-wielding female motorcyclist as dodgy government forces initially chase

our amnesiac hero, Robert Langdon.

After its publication in 2013, Inferno received very favorably by both readers

and critics thereby enriching and broadening its literary opulence. It is described

differently by different people in different context. Hub Zwart analyzes the novel
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through the insight of Lacanian perspective to highlight its cultural relevance. Zwart

freely makes the following observation:

This German scholar is intrigued by the image of a young woman

displayed on an ancient relief. He dreams about her, and decides to go and

look for her in Pompeii. In one of his dreams he witnesses how, during the

fatal 79 A.D. eruption, her living body is covered with ashes and gradually

transformed into marble. What he finds particularly fascinating about her is

the way she strides and moves her feet, and he decides to call her Gradiva.

(380)

Samrat Laskar interprets it from the overpopulation apocalypse and

anthropocentric bioterrorism in Dan Brown's Inferno. In his research, he lays

emphasis on the collapse of the world due to overpopulation. Zobrist, a transhumanist,

releases a preventive vector virus which would enforce random sterility on one-third

of the world population. The paper probes into the reason behind Zobrist's

bioterrorism and the ethicality, or the lack of it, entailed in his entire approach. It also

shows that unlike the advocates of Deep Ecology, Zobrist's concern is ultimately

anthropocentric as he cannot think beyond human concern while engaging in the act

of bioterrorism. Laskar makes the following observation:

At the end of the thriller, the vector virus is released despite the

combined efforts of WHO, a secret society called Consortium, Robert

Langdon and his mysterious accomplish Sienna Brooks. The virus infects all

the humans of the world and it is estimated that one-third of the random

human population will become infertile due to this infection. (6)

Though well-intentioned, this release of vector virus which forces changes in

the human genes must be seen as an act of bioterrorism. Langdon was appalled by this
 Panthi 8

act of genetic terrorism which attempts to change the basic nature of human species

itself without the consent of the concerned individuals.

Irene Sanz Alonso, in his article, Inferno Unleashed: Dan Brown's

Uncomfortable Solution to Overpopulation explores controversial issue that is often

forgotten in national policies and international debates despite its relevance for the

world's future: overpopulation. He states:

Population growth in developing countries leads to a host of

environmental problems: soil degradation, deforestation, lack of farm land,

diminishing fish stocks and desertification. All these issues have a direct

impact on the availability of food, and are they are an important part of the

general condition of environmental degradation our world suffers nowadays.

(87)

It analyzes some of the consequences of overpopulation regarding the

environment in many aspects of human life globally.

Muhammad Reza analyzes the life and suicide of Bertrand Zobrist in Dan

Brown’s Inferno through existential perspective. Zobrist creates a virus that will make

1/3 of population infertile. His action to release the virus shows that he is a man of

action. However, by committing suicide before he sees the result of his action, he

contradicts his initial action. In the notions of existentialism, his action to release the

virus shows that he is an existentialist hero. Zobrist’s suicide, moreover, gives a new

perspective to death. Therefore, this thesis focuses on the absurdity of Zobrist’s

suicide after he releases the virus. He writes:

When Zobrist commits suicide, he justifies his action by saying that he

creates the virus for men’s greater good and for God. Zobrist believes that

there is nothing wrong with his decision. He believes that the final goal of his
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mission is to see the creator Himself. However, it is unfair to simply judge a

man like Zobrist as a monster. (8)

Although all the critics have examined the novel Inferno differently, none of

them dwelt upon the issues of conspiracy of The Consortium and the humanity crisis

emerging in the modern state. The issue of searching conspiracy in the novel is

distinct and new topic, which is not hinted by any film critics and reviewers.

Conspiration Perspective and Literary Reading

The idea that many important political events or economic and social trends are the

products of deceptive plots that are largely unknown to the general public

(dictionary.com). Conspiracy is seen in most of the parts of the novel while going

through it. Most of the episodes are guided by conspiracy. The role of secret

organization, Consortium, and its officials, the provost, and its objective clearly

shows that conspiracy is the vital part throughout the novel.

It is first necessary to define some key terms since many arguments about

conspiracy theories originate with disputes over what counts as a conspiracy theory

and what does not. First, we identify a “conspiracy” as secret plot by two or more

powerful actors (1). Conspiracies typically attempt to usurp political or economic

power, violate rights, infringe upon established agreements, withhold vital secrets, or

alter bedrock institutions.

Langdon was now fully awake. Crouched beside Marconi’s body, Dr. Brooks

kept searching for a pulse as tears welled in her eyes. Then, as if a switch had been

flipped inside her, she stood and turned to Langdon, her expression transformed

before his eyes, her young features hardening with all the detached composure of a

seasoned ER doctor dealing with a crisis. ‘Follow me,’ she commanded. Dr. Brooks

grabbed Langdon’s arm and pulled him across the room. The sounds of gunfire and
 Panthi 10

chaos continued in the hallway as Langdon lurched forward on unstable legs. His

mind felt alert but his heavily drugged body was slow to respond. Move! The tile floor

felt cold beneath his feet, and his thin hospital gown was scarcely long enough to

cover his six-foot frame. He could feel blood dripping down his forearm and pooling

in his palm. Bullets continued to slam against the heavy door-knob, and Dr. Brooks

pushed Langdon roughly into a small bathroom. She was about to follow when she

paused, turned around, and ran back toward the counter and grabbed his bloody Harris

Tweed. Forget my damned jacket! (40)

The conspiracy in the novel Inferno begins from here. A woman arrives at the

hospital; she is an agent of a secret organization of the Consortium. She is sent to

finish with Langdon. Agent rushes into the chamber, but Siena has led Langdon out

through the emergency exit. The agent shoots, but Langdon and Sienna have time to

leave by taxi. Dr. Brooks took Langdon's arm in his and dragged him around the

room. As Langdon lurched forward on trembling legs, the sounds of shooting and

confusion continued in the corridor. His mind was sharp, but his drugged body was

slow to respond. Make a move! His thin hospital gown was barely long enough to

cover his six-foot frame, and the tile floor felt cold under his feet. Blood was dripping

down his forearm and collecting in his hand. Dr. Brooks shoved Langdon into a small

bathroom as bullets began to bang against the heavy doorknob. She was about to

follow when she came to a halt, turned around, and dashed back to the counter,

grabbing his bloody Harris Tweed.

The other tortured and genius woman is the head of the World Health

Organisation, Elizabeth Sinskey, who is chasing after Zobrist because the madman

has left clues that he is willing and able - and eager - to reduce the world population

by a significant amount. It sounds more interesting than the way it has been presented
 Panthi 11

in Inferno, and it is presented very badly there. Enough support has been provided for

the argument that the world is reaching a crisis through over-population, but not

enough debate is generated between the characters about sustainable growth on the

basis of equitable resource distribution. But then, Inferno is not a lesson in economics.

Some plot loopholes are to be expected. “Conspiracy theories” are attempts to explain

the ultimate causes of significant social and political events and circumstances with

claims of secret plots by two or more powerful actors. While often thought of as

addressing governments, conspiracy theories could accuse any group perceived as

powerful and malevolent.

In the novel, professor Robert Langdon wakes up in a hospital bed with a

head wound and cannot remember anything. He was at Harvard, but now he realizes

he is in Florence. Sienna Brooks, one of his doctors, says he stumbled into

emergency after being grazed by a bullet, which gave him a concussion. Vayentha,

an assassin who had been following Robert, breaks into the hospital, shooting a

doctor. Sienna grabs Robert, and they run to her apartment. In a hidden pocket in

Robert’s jacket, they find a biohazard container, which holds a small medieval bone

cylinder fitted with a hi-tech projector that shows an altered version of Botticelli’s

Map of Hell. This is curious enough, but soon soldiers break into the apartment

building, and they must flee again.

For example, in a book , Conspiracy Theories, Brotherton and others argues

that some secret organization are secretly working in an invisible way to control the

world politics. Some information are highly hidden since the notion of conspiracy is

always secret. “A lot of important information is deliberately concealed from the

public out of self-interest” where participants rate the likelihood of each statement

being true from 1 to 5.

 Panthi 12

It was when Zobrist rented a safe deposit box for the Faraday pointer that he

was tagged by facial recognition technology despite the disguise that he wore. After

WHO was contacted they found his safe house and discovered he had “created some

kind of highly contagious pathogen and hidden it somewhere else” (433). They tried

to locate him. When they finally got sight of him, he went to the Badia tower and

jumped. Sinskey said Sienna had also been tracking the movements of Robert

Langdon. Brüder and Langdon were both surprised to learn that Sienna had arrived in

Istanbul before them. When they arrived at the Hagia Sophia, the man charged with

leading the tour was mystified when Langdon asked specifically to see Dandolo’s

tomb.

At the church it was Brüder who hurried the tour guide on to the tomb.

Langdon was surprised when the guide told them it was upstairs. When they reached

the tomb, Langdon crossed the barrier and put his ear down to the floor at the tomb.

The guide told Langdon the water he heard under the floor went to the city cistern.

When Brüder told him they were looking for a place with columns, the guide said that

description fit the cistern.

The Spice Bazaar was crowed, but Langdon managed to keep up with Sienna.

When Langdon questioned why he was chasing her, he realized it was because he

wanted answers. She faked a fall, hoping to throw Langdon off her trail. However, he

caught up with her as she made her way to the sea. He spotted her appearing to be

pleading with the owner of a boat. Although the boat owner denied her passage, she

jumped onto his boat just as it was leaving the dock. Sienna managed to toss the

owner overboard and took charge of the boat. Suddenly, Langdon stopped hearing the

motors of the boat. When the boat’s motors did start again, Sienna was maneuvering
 Panthi 13

the craft back to shore. As Langdon looked down at her, she began crying. She told

him she was done running.

Conspiracy theories have strong belief to political attitudes and behaviors. The

prominent theorists, Jolley and Douglas observed that the participants who were

exposed to anti-government conspiracy theories— compared to those who were

presented with refuting information— showed less intention to vote in the next

election. Another negative outcome is decreased political trust. Einstein and Glick

exposed participants to conspiracy claims, or a narrative disputing such claims.

Exposure to the conspiracy theories negatively affected trust in government and

institutions, even when the institutions were not connected to the allegations.

In Inferno Bertrand Zobrist is a top genetic scientist worried by the global

overpopulation. He wants to find a way to keep it in size, and discusses it with the

World Health Organization chief Elizabeth Sinskey. The WHO boss agrees that the

rate of global population growth needs to be checked. But she is not convinced by

Zobrist’s argument that no less than the planet’s fate is on the line. So the billionaire

scientist decides to deploy his own resources to do something about it, and hires a

secretive group, The Consortium, to hide him from the world for a year.

As the suspense builds, Zobrist seems to be developing a deadly airborne virus

that would infect everybody on the planet within a week. By setting the plot in

Florence, the hometown of great medieval poet Dante Alighieri, and drawing on

Divine Comedy’s first chapter, Inferno, Brown expertly leads readers into an

impending gloom. Enter the Black Death and the beaked masks that doctors wore in

the 14th century when a third of Europe died of plague. It is likely that the virus being

developed by the scientist, a death doctor of sorts, will cut world population to four

billion.
 Panthi 14

In a stirring one-on-one with the WHO chief, the green-eyed transhumanist-

scientist talks of the perils of overpopulation: “Those who have never considered

stealing will become thieves to feed their families. Those who have never considered

killing will kill to provide for their young. All of Dante’s deadly sins—greed,

gluttony, treachery, murder, and the rest—will begin percolating … rising up to the

surface of humanity, amplified by our evaporating comforts. We are facing a battle

for the very soul of man.”

People have a strong need to feel positive about the groups they belong to as

well, such as their nationalities, political parties, and religious groups. A conviction

that others conspire against one’s group is more likely to emerge when the group

thinks of itself as undervalued, underprivileged, or under threat.

The other tortured and genius woman is the head of the World Health

Organisation, Elizabeth Sinskey, who is chasing after Zobrist because the madman

has left clues that he is willing and able - and eager - to reduce the world population

by a significant amount. It sounds more interesting than the way it has been presented

in Inferno, and it is presented very badly there. Enough support has been provided for

the argument that the world is reaching a crisis through over-population, but not

enough debate is generated between the characters about sustainable growth on the

basis of equitable resource distribution. But then, Inferno is not a lesson in economics.

Some plot loopholes are to be expected.

Some studies have attempted to chart the social characteristics of those prone

to conspiracy theories. In the United States, Uscinski and Parent found that higher

levels of conspiracy thinking correlate with lower levels of education and lower levels

of income. A recent study analyzing historical survey data found further evidence of

the relationships between demographic factors and conspiracy belief. In this study,
 Panthi 15

conspiracy believers were more likely to be male, unmarried, less educated, have

lower income, be unemployed, be a member of an ethnic minority group, and have

weaker social networks. Similar relationships were found in a large sample of South

African adolescents when surveyed about HIV/AIDS conspiracy theories.

Robert and Sienna head towards the Old City, where they believe they might

find out more about the cylinder and its connection to Dante, but are intercepted by

Venice police and more soldiers. They must sneak carefully through the city. Sienna

and Robert, who spent a significant amount of time in Venice, now are in possession

of Dante’s Death Mask with a mysterious riddle on the inside of it. Bertrand Zobrist

is a billionaire geneticist who previously owned the mask at the Florence Baptistery.

Sienna explains that Zobrist advocated for a halt to humanity’s growth due to the

out-of-control world population. He was rumored to be working on a way to do so

with his genetic expertise, using an engineered disease. Jonathan Ferris shows up,

saying he is from the World Health Organization, and has come to help them escape

the soldiers. He has a severe rash on his face and a large bruise on his chest, but he

hides the latter from Robert and Sienna. The three follow the riddle to Venice, but

Ferris falls unconscious suddenly. Sienna says he is bleeding internally, and Robert

believes Ferris has been infected with Zobrist’s plague.

Uscinski et al. argue that for several reasons, the Internet may not necessarily

be as big a boon to conspiracy theories as many think. First, in Western countries,

websites with the most traffic are not devoted to conspiracy theories, and conspiracy

theory websites are not highly visited. Mainstream sources of news far outpace

conspiracy sources in terms of reach and audience. There are many websites

dedicated to conspiracy theories, but it is likely that the only people seeking out these

websites are those who are already predisposed. Second, in terms of the online
 Panthi 16

information environment, Uscinski and Parent examined news and blog posts over the

course of a year to see how the Internet discusses conspiracy theories. Much of the

content was negative, suggesting that if one were to simply seek out news from the

Internet, one would get a negative vision of conspiracy theories. Third, there is no

evidence that people are more prone to conspiracy thinking now than they were prior

to the invention of the Internet. Thus, it cannot be asserted that there has been an

overall rise in conspiracy theorizing or that the Internet is responsible for such a rise

in a straightforward way.

So, this is what they did. They hired eleven translators, gave them one laptop

each, provided only one computer for Internet use, confiscated their mobile phones,

and let them read and work on Brown’s Inferno all day, every day, seven days a week

for two months. They were allowed go to the bathroom, eat at the common canteen,

take cigarette breaks but everything must be logged in. Should they encounter a

Mondadori employee while dining they were all ready with a cover story to tell.

Needless to say, they were directed not to reveal any information on the plot

whatsoever. The bunker was guarded by armed security personnel and the

manuscripts were locked in a safe when the translators were not working on them.

And there were no windows on the bunker.

Conspiracy Theory, Important Features and Brown’s Inferno

First, conspiracy theories may allow individuals to question or challenge dominance

hierarchies and query the actions of powerful groups. One positive consequence of

these challenges could be that governments are encouraged to be more transparent.

Conspiracy theories can also reveal inconsistencies in government or official versions

of events may open up issues for discussion that would otherwise be closed, and may

even uncover real conspiracies.

 Panthi 17

The most prominent characteristic of conspiracy theorists is that they are often

part of various groups that distrust the government and the way most of us live today.

These individuals tend to believe more easily in conspiracies like immigration, Jewish

dominance, Muslims or the like, and this preference is a little stronger in men.

"If you belong to a group that already believes in doomsday scenarios and a future

saviour, it's probably easier to believe in some of the conspiracy theories.

Conspiracy theorists typically tend to have a little less education. It is more

often live in societies that have less successful democracies, which influences trust in

others and in the authorities. Furthermore, it belongs to groups that feel they should

have more power and influence. It also belongs to special political organizations or

religious groups a little more often. Conspiracy theories see connections more often

than most people do, also where such connections do not exist, and they are more

likely to see intention as the cause of events. They more often obtain their information

through social media.

In the novel Inferno, the protagonist, Robert Langdon is captured by a group

of soldiers, but Sierra escapes. Robert is brought to Elizabeth Sinskey, the director-

general of the WHO. She explains that Zobrist committed suicide a week

previously, but he had been a brilliant geneticist and Dante fanatic. He had

apparently developed a plague that would kill off a large portion of the world.

Elizabeth raided Zobrist’s safety deposit box, finding the cylinder, then flew Robert

to Florence to follow the clues. However, Robert stopped communicating with

WHO shortly after, and they suspected he had changed sides. The soldiers were

actually the WHO’s emergency response team and meant no harm. Zobrist paid a

consultation group called The Consortium to protect the cylinder, but only until a

certain date. He left a disturbed video with Dante imagery, showing a picture of the
 Panthi 18

plague underwater in a slowly dissolving bag. The video claims the whole world

will be changed after the next morning. Elizabeth says they were then obligated to

protect whatever it was the bone cylinder had been pointing to. All events of the

novel to this point have been staged by the WHO; Robert was drugged with

benzodiazepine drugs to erase his short term memory, and then given a fake head

wound to confuse him and motivate him to solve the mystery. Sienna, Vayentha,

and Ferris are actors working in tandem with The Consortium.

Goertzel ties ideology and political commitments to conspiracy theories about

science, including HIV/AIDS conspiracy theories, Genetically Modified Food

conspiracy theories, “anti-vax” conspiracy theories, and climate change conspiracy.

Conspiracy theories have also been linked to political attitudes and behaviors.

Jolley and Douglas found that participants who were exposed to antigovernment

conspiracy theories— compared to those who were presented with refuting

information— showed less intention to vote in the next election. Another negative

outcome is decreased political trust. Einstein and Glick exposed participants to

conspiracy claims, or a narrative disputing such claims. Exposure to the conspiracy

theories negatively affected trust in government and institutions, even when the

institutions were not connected to the allegations. Further, Butler et al. found that

participants who had viewed the conspiracy film JFK showed lower intentions to

engage in the political process by voting or making political contributions. Uscinski

and Parent also showed that people higher in conspiracy thinking were less likely to

register to vote, to actually go out and vote, to donate money to candidate, or to put up

political signs at their homes. In different contexts however, conspiracy theories may

be associated with intentions to engage in political action against elites. Imhoff and

Bruder examined conspiracy thinking and intentions to act in support of a nuclear

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phase-out following the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in 2011, by showing

an intention to engage in protests. Among a sample of German respondents,

conspiracy thinking was significantly and positively associated with the intention to

engage in political actions in support of a nuclear phase-out. Although these findings

are correlational, they suggest that conspiracy theorizing may sometimes trigger

behaviors aimed at challenging the status quo and those in power

Reasons and Effects of Conspiracy Theory

The Consortium realizes that she is a secret supporter and lover of Zobrist. She finds

out where the bag is being kept after Robert solves the riddle, and gets herself a

private jet. She tries to get it before anyone else, but Robert, the WHO, and The

Consortium team together to stop her. They think the location hinted at in Zobrist’s

video is the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, but realises it is actually in the Cistern, where

Sienna is. Robert chases her until she gives up, and soon after, she starts to sob and

tells Robert everything about the plague. Robert persuades her not to run away, so

she can tell Elizabeth everything she knows. Sienna agrees, and does just that.

Elizabeth decides to let Sienna help her answer the many questions that will soon

arise from world leaders everywhere. Robert and Sienna say their goodbyes and kiss

before parting ways.

The political conspiracy that becomes main issue of the novel is reflected well.

It is one of interesting aspects to be studied. In this novel, Brown writes about

conspiracy as background in emerging in the world. This novel tells the existence of

political conspiracy. The problem statement of the study is how political conspiracy is

reflected in Inferno novel written by Dan Brown. Based on the problems above, the

writer formulates the objective of the study in the following. First, to analyze Dan
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Brown’s Inferno novel based on its structural elements of the novel. Second, to

analyze Dan Brown’s Inferno novel based on a sociological approach.

Mostly, Brown criticizes political reality from the existence of high classes’ more

than low classes. However, conspiracy still becomes a major issue in America and

other countries at that time since a mysterious figure behind this case. There still

exists the blurring of public opinion. American government tends to keep quit while

there is a splashy phenomenon in society. Cause of managing NASA needs high-cost

maintenance with high expectation. So, they do anything to keep themselves seen as a

successful organization. Besides, this story also reflects the relation between nation

and citizen. People feel worry if their future is not guaranteed by the elected

President. They do not want to pay high tax, just for unimportant government budget.

Conspiracy theories may be associated with increased radicalized and

extremist behavior. Bartlett and Miller analyzed the content of a broad range of

extremist groups and found that conspiracy theories are not only prevalent throughout,

but that there is a great deal of overlap between the conspiracy theories mentioned,

even across extremist groups at opposite ends of the political spectrum. This evidence

is consistent with van Prooijen et al.’s analysis. For instance, they found that anti-

Jewish capitalist conspiracy theories were features of both right- and left-wing

extremist groups. Bartlett and Miller argued that conspiracy theories play important

social and functional roles for extremist groups. Specifically, they may be a

“radicalizing multiplier” (4) that contributes and reinforces the ideologies and

psychological processes within the group.

Sienna glanced over at him, her face softening. ‘Robert, look, I’m not saying

Zobrist is correct that a plague that kills half the world’s people is the answer to

overpopulation. Nor am I saying we should stop curing the sick. What I am saying is
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that our current pat is a pretty simple formula for destruction. Population growth is an

exponential progression occurring within a system of finite space and limited

resources. The end will arrive very abruptly. Our experience will not be that of slowly

running out of gas. It will be more like driving off a cliff’. (290)

Epidemiologist Elizabeth Sinskey, Director of the World Health Organization,

remembers her encounter with the brilliant scientist-geneticist. He believed that the

planet's overpopulation would lead to humanity's extinction, and that the "human

herd" would be wiped out by a plague outbreak. Sinskey recognizes that mankind will

soon exhaust the planet's wealth, but she disagrees with the strategy. Sinskey accepts

that humans will quickly deplete the planet's wealth, but she disagrees with the

scientist's methods. However, he is assured that birth comes after death, and that in

order to enter Heaven, one must first pass through hell.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the world is facing overpopulation that is going to cause serious

problems in the coming days. The scientists are also worried about the consequences

of the overpopulation. After reading the novel, we can say that some of the secret

organizations might have been working to create such viruses to control the

population. We can conclude that Bertrand created something known as a viral vector.

It’s a virus intentionally designed to install genetic information into the cell it’s

attacking human cell. A vector virus is something rather than killing its host cell, it

inserts a piece of predetermined DNA into that cell, essentially modifying the cell’s

genome (528). Government agencies are the last entities on earth that should have

access to this technology. Throughout all of human history, every groundbreaking

technology ever discovered by science has been weaponized. (532).

The virus created by Zobrist could be used as a bioweapon. Sienna was

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somehow right to seek assistance from the government. In reality, we can believe our

government could be trusted to destroy such a virus, or they would likely weaponize it

instead. ‘The Consortium’ is a private organization with offices in seven countries. Its

name has been changed for considerations of security and privacy. The organizations

like ‘The Consortium’ might be in existence in the real world. Organizations

mentioned in the book include the Consortium, the World Health Organization, the

Council on Foreign Relations, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. They all seem

something doing secret activities for their personal benefits. Through the eye of

investigator, we can closely examine its such depiction in Inferno.

This thesis is worth reading to get the clear view of the involvement of secret

organization in some political activities and human’s day-to-day life.

Most of the features of conspiracy theory have been found in the texts are really

remarkable for the whole world. This is the novel that shows us the hidden reality of

every incidents that have been happened in our life because of the conspiracy theory.