The story opens, with renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon has been asked to give a talk at the United States Capitol, courtesy of his tutor, a 33rd-degree Mason named Peter Solomon, who is the head of the Smithsonian Institution. Solomon has also instructed him to bring a small, sealed parcel that he had entrusted to Langdon years ago. When Langdon arrives at the Capitol, he discovers that the invitation he received was from Solomon’s kidnapper, Mal’akh posing as Solomon’s assistant, who has left Solomon’s severed right hand in the middle of the Capitol Rotunda in a recreation of the Hand of Mysteries. Mal’akh then approaches Langdon, tasked with finding both the Mason’s Pyramid, which the Masons believe is concealed somewhere in Washington, D.C., as well as the Lost Word, or Solomon will be killed.

Inoue Sato, the director of the CIA’s Office of Security, is introduced to Langdon. Sato insists that Peter’s safe return is less of a priority than the apprehension of Mal’akh because of the threat he poses to U.S. national security. By examining Solomon’s hand, they are eventually led to a room in the Capitol’s basement, where they find a small pyramid without a capstone with an inscription carved into it; this is Solomon’s Masonic altar.

The security x-ray of Langdon’s bag taken when he entered the Capitol is then presented to Sato, who finds a small pyramid in his bag brought in response to the kidnapper acting as Solomon’s assistant’s request. Langdon argues that he was unaware of its contents, but Sato refuses to accept him and attempts to arrest him. However, before she can arrest him, Warren Bellamy, the Architect of the Capitol and a Freemason, assaults her and Capitol Police Chief Trent Anderson, who then flees with Langdon in the confusion. Later, he tells Langdon that he, too, has been in touch with Mal’akh and that he needs Langdon’s help to rescue Peter.

Mal’akh is revealed to be a Freemason whose body is almost entirely covered in tattoos. To obtain an ancient source of power,  which he believes Langdon can access for him in exchange for Peter Solomon’s life, he infiltrated the organization. Several chapters also explore Mal’akh’s history with Peter Solomon: many years prior, Peter bequeathed a large sum of inheritance money to his rebellious son Zachary, who then fled the Solomon household and led a reckless life in Europe until he was arrested and imprisoned in Turkey for smuggling drugs. To teach Zachary a lesson, Peter flew to Turkey but decided to delay Zachary’s extradition instead of releasing him immediately. Zachary was presumably murdered by his cellmate, who stole his fortune and fled to the Greek island of Syros under the alias Andros Dareios to live a lavish lifestyle. Dareios, who was Zachary himself in disguise, however, quickly grew weary of life. One day he broke into Peter Solomon’s home to locate the pyramid, but accidentally killed Isabel, Peter’s mother, while he was escaping, he was shot by Peter Solomon and fell into a frozen river. Dareios nursed himself back to health, covered his scars and eventually his entire body with tattoos, and adopted the name Mal’akh before embarking on a mission to infiltrate the Freemasons and obtain access to their secrets.

Mal’akh destroys the Smithsonian-funded laboratory of Dr. Katherine Solomon, Peter’s younger sister, where she conducted experiments in Noetic Science, ambushing and nearly killing Katherine in the process, but she manages to escape and meet up with Langdon and Bellamy. When confronted by the authorities, Bellamy is forced to surrender, while Langdon and Katherine flee. Sato’s team later apprehends both. Sato enables Langdon and Katherine to rush to Mal’akh’s estate to confront him after receiving information about his prior identity as Peter Solomon’s psychiatrist, Dr. Christopher Abaddon, but Mal’akh ambushes them and murders their CIA escort. While Bellamy is being questioned by Sato, he says that he thinks Sato is working with Mal’akh. Sato tells Bellamy that she is also after Mal’akh for the sake of national security and shows Bellamy proof that shocks him.

Mal’akh places Langdon in an airtight sensory deprivation tank, then progressively fills the tank with liquid while questioning Langdon. He is successful in persuading Langdon to crack the code at the foot of the pyramid, but he keeps adding water to the tank until Langdon drowns and appears to have passed away. Mal’akh then binds Katherine to a chair, places an open-ended transfusion needle into her arm, and leaves her to bleed to death before fleeing to the Temple Room of the Scottish Rite’s House of the Temple with a weakened Peter Solomon. He further coerces Peter’s compliance by threatening to not call an ambulance for Katherine. After Langdon and Katherine’s escort fails to arrive, Sato leads a group of agents to the mansion where they can save Katherine’s life. Langdon is shown to have survived a near-death experience because the “water” in the tank was actually breathable oxygenated liquid and the tank was a tool for meditation. Mal’akh, who threatened to leak a carefully manipulated film showing government officials engaging in covert Masonic rituals (the same video that Sato showed Bellamy). Sato and Langdon run to the House of the Temple, where Mal’akh threatens to release a heavily edited video of government leaders performing secret Masonic rituals. This is the same video that Sato showed to Bellamy, which looks very disturbing out of context.

Mal’akh makes Peter say the Word, which he can’t say and tattoos it on Peter’s head, which is the last place on his body without a mark. Mal’akh then tells Peter to kill him because he thinks it is his fate to turn into a demon and lead the forces of evil. When Peter says he will do it without hesitation to get revenge for his son and mother, Mal’akh shocks him by telling him that he is actually Zachary Solomon and that he and the prison warden worked together to fake his death by making another inmate’s body unrecognizable.

At the same time, Katherine and Bellamy find photos of Zachary in Greece after he was supposed to have died that show how he gradually changed into Mal’akh. Peter gets ready to stab Zachary with tears in his eyes, but he can’t do it. He drops the knife just as Langdon comes up behind him and tackles him. When Director Sato comes to the Temple in a helicopter, it crashes into the Temple’s skylight, which breaks into pieces that pierce Zachary’s heart and kill him.

Fortunately, the CIA was able to prevent Zachary from transmitting the video to multiple media channels by disabling a cell tower in the network path leading from Zachary’s laptop computer using an electromagnetic pulse. Katherine arrives, and she and Langdon share a tearful reunion with Peter and express their sorrow over Zachary’s demise. Zachary is only able to momentarily lament his mutilated body before passing away.

Later, Peter tells Langdon that the tattooed circumpunct on his head by Zachary is not the Word. He also tells Katherine that he saved all of her noetic study data on his own computer as a back-up, so she can keep working on her research. Peter decides to show Langdon the real secret behind the Word, so he takes him to a room at the top of the Washington Monument and informs him that the Word—a standard Christian Bible, the Word of God—is buried beneath the staircase of the monument in the cornerstone. Langdon discovers that Laus Deo, which is Latin for “Praise God,” is written on the aluminum capstone (Masonic pyramid) at the base of the Monument.

Peter explains to Langdon that according to the Masons, the Bible is an esoteric allegory written by humanity that, like most religious texts worldwide, contains veiled instructions for enhancing humanity’s inherent God-like qualities (similar to Katherine’s noetic research) and is not to be interpreted as the directives of an all-powerful deity. Due to centuries of fundamentalist fervor and scientific skepticism, this view has been lost. To ensure its eventual rediscovery will usher in a new period of human knowledge, the Masons have (metaphorically) buried it.

CONCLUSION:

In the ending of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, Robert Langdon and Peter Solomon uncover the truth about the Masonic Pyramid and the Ancient Mysteries. The “Lost Word” or “Lost Symbol” is revealed to be not a physical object, but a metaphorical reference to the Bible, symbolizing divine wisdom and knowledge that has been hidden in plain sight.

Mal’akh, the antagonist, who is actually Peter Solomon’s son, Zachary, believes that by revealing these secrets, he will achieve god-like power. However, his plans are thwarted when Peter Solomon reveals the truth, and Mal’akh’s ritual to achieve apotheosis fails. The story concludes with a message emphasizing the importance of spiritual enlightenment and the power of the mind.

Langdon reflects on the potential of humanity if it embraces the knowledge encoded in ancient symbols and texts, suggesting that true enlightenment comes from within.

INTRODUCTION THEMES AND MOTIFS CURIOSITY & SUSPENSE

CRITICAL OVERVIEW IMPORTANT CHARACTERS STRESSFUL MOMENTS & CLIFFHANGERS

DESCRIPTIONS OF OBJECTS, PLACES, ORGANIZATIONS & PROCESSES TV SERIES ADAPTATION