The Name of the Rose

Character mistake: When William finds the footprints on the ground after the body is found in the blood vat, he tells Adso that they were twice as deep as they should've been because the person who made them was weighed down by the weight of a body. Adso points out that the footprints were going away from the vats, to which William rebukes him and says that the man who made the prints was possibly dragging the body. If that was so, the footprints would not have been so deep, as the person moving the body would not have been weighed down nearly as much by dragging one along the ground. William is a learned investigator who shouldn't have made such an obvious mistake.

Purple_Girl

Revealing mistake: When the dead monk is first pulled out of the blood vat, the others dump water on his face to see who it is, and the body's closed eyes flinch upon contact with the water.

Purple_Girl

More mistakes in The Name of the Rose

Voice of Adso as an Old Man: Who was she? Who was this creature that rose like the dawn, as bewitching as the moon, radiant as the sun, terrible as an army poised for battle?

More quotes from The Name of the Rose

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.