The Name of the Rose

In the year 1327, two men named William of Baskerville and Adso of Melk were asked to investigate. Many monks go into the abbey where towards the end a library is located. A few monks die after leaving the library and the inquisitor thinks they are being possessed by the devil Satan. William and Adso, his apprentice; go to the abbey and look at the monks who died and other clues in the library. There is a black stain on the fingers and tongue of the people. This is from a book in the library.

Aristotle, a Greek philosopher wrote a book about comedy, which is very unusual. The chief monk disapproved of this and hid his book in the library since not many people went in that one. He didn’t want people retelling the story so he added poison to the edges of the pages. The people who read the books had a habit of licking their fingers before they turned the page, so in conclusion they died from consumption of poison.

Meanwhile, Adso meets a woman while hiding and they fall in love. Although he never finds out her name he refers to her as a rose. William enters the library to talk to the chief monk about why he hid the book. He throws the book making the library catch on fire. The inquisitor then orders the flames to be lit for the execution. He puts a monk and “the rose” on the steak to die. William escapes the building without being burnt. The peasants attack the inquisitor while he is trying to escape the spreading fir. They push him and his carriage over the cliff where he lands on spikes and dies. William and Adso leave to get away from the fire and peasants, but on their way see the peasant girl whom Adso loves. He doesn’t stay with her