Knowledge is power. In the movie ÃÂÃÂThe Name of The roseÃÂÃÂ the Abbot of the Monastery and his chief librarian decline the contents that are being rediscovered in ancient books to be read therefore they hide them away and are willing to kill in order to keep the book unread. The solution to the central murder mystery hinges on the contents of Aristotle's book on Comedy. Laughter being a sign of the devil, books that go against faith, and keeping people ignorant were all reasons why the Abbott strived so hard to hide away the ancient books.
First of all, The Abbot of the Monastery was very strict about laughter and enjoyment. ÃÂÃÂLaughter kills fear, and fear kills the Devil. Without the Devil then there is no need of God.ÃÂÃÂ Since the book was a book of comedy the Abbot aimed to hide it away because at the time the church was in power of justice and politics.
The Abbot did not want the book to set the mood of the Monastery to a lighter tone because a Monastery is a very strict and a place of demonology. He was afraid that by laughing the world would relapse into chaos because God would be angered at their impersonations of the Devil.
Secondly, William refuses to accept the diagnosis of simple demonic possession despite demonology being the traditional monastic explanation. Despite the abbey being under the misapprehension that they are experiencing the last days before the second coming of Christ (a topic closely examined in the book), William, through his empirical mindset, manages to show that the murders are, in fact, committed by a more corporeal instrument. The Abbott did not want the knowledge of these books escaping due to the contents that they contained about Christ and was worried that...