Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass is about a young girl’s journey to find truth. Lyra, guided by her daemon, Pataliamon, is on a mission to find her father, Lord Asriel. Her goal is to return to him an all-knowing dial called an alethiometer. Driven by her curiosity about Dust, a sparkling particle found only in adults, Lyra and her daemon move into the home of a family acquaintance named Mrs. Coulter. While living with her, Lyra and her daemon learn that Mrs. Coulter runs a powerful Board that performs experiments on children and their daemons. Alarmed by this discovery, Lyra questions Mrs. Coulter’s intentions with her and decides to flee. Heading North, Lyra learns some troubling information about the parents she never knew. Thus begins her quest to uncover the mystery of their identities. By masking the truth about Dust’s purpose, the adults in Lyra’s life thwart her efforts to learn to more. Due to her suspicion about her Mrs. Coulter’s knowledge of …show more content…
Dust, Lyra infers that Dust must have some greater purpose. At this point in the story, all Lyra knows is that Dust is a particle from space that does not affect children. Lyra is clueless about her Mrs. Coulter’s role in the General Oblation Board, yet she inquires about her knowledge of Dust. While living with Mrs. Coulter in London Lyra has series of lessons to sharpen her basic knowledge. During one lesson, Mrs. Coulter is refreshing Lyra on electrons and Lyra relates them to Dust. Immediately, Mrs. Coulter tenses up and questions how Lyra knows about Dust. Avoiding answering, Lyra asks whether or not she is correct about her connection. Afraid of revealing too much, Mrs. Coulter responds with a lie, “Well I don’t know. I’m sure you know a lot more about Dust than I do” (Pullman 74). By contradicting her fib with strange body language, Lyra and her daemon are sure that Mrs. Coulter is not telling them something. Confused, Lyra wonders why Mrs. Coulter would try to lie about Dust. Lyra’s curiosity drives her to question Dust’s purpose in her life. Because of Mrs. Coulter’s suspicious behavior, Lyra suspects that Dust has a greater meaning than what she has been told. While living with Mrs. Coulter, adventure seeking, Lyra wants nothing more than to journey to the North. Lyra wants to venture North, because she believes that this journey will teach her more about Dust. Lyra's chance to go with her mother is diminished when she runs away when she learns about Mrs. Coulter’s role in the General Oblation Board. While on the run, Lyra finds the Costa family who take her in on their ship. Lyra has known the Costas since she was a young girl and they know about her family and its secrets. While living on the ship, Lyra learns that Mrs. Coulter is her mother and Lord Asriel is her father. Troubled by the news, Lyra feels as though she has been betrayed. Lyra pushes this information aside in attempt to focus on her journey. Along with the Costas, Lyra meets John Faa, Lord of the Western Gyptains, and hopes that by staying with them she will receive another opportunity to travel to the North. While living on the ship, Lyra studies the alethiometer that was given to her by the master at Jordan College. Lyra learns that the dial spins landing on different symbols which reveal the truth about a question. As the ship is coming towards the end of its journey, Lyra is determined to travel to the North with Lord Faa. Lyra is warned about the danger of the travel, yet she deems herself worthy with her truth reader. John Faa on the other hand knows that bringing Lyra will put her in potential danger and cannot risk hurting her. Lyra tries to persuade Lord Faa that she will be fine in the North when he tells her, "No, I know your heart is set on going north, but it is my belief that not even Mrs. Coulter was going to take you" (124). This causes Lyra to again question Mrs. Coulter’s true intentions about bringing Lyra to live with her in London. Lyra fears that Mrs. Coulter only wanted Lyra to live with her so that she could be used in an experiment. Though she is now afraid, Lyra dismisses all danger associated with going North because it means she will find her father and complete her quest of returning the alethiometer. Mrs. Coulter is not being forthcoming about Dust’s purpose in separating a child from their daemon because she is afraid Lyra will do something to affect the experiment. Lyra is in Bolvangar where she learns more about the separation between a child and their daemon. Before Lyra came to Bolvangar she met a young boy, Tony Makarios, who was separated from his daemon. Tony was depressed and confused without his daemon by his side. Lyra cannot fathom the amount of pain Tony is experiencing and she is positive that this separation will create issues in society. Lyra’s feelings about daemon separation are strengthened when she experiences something scary with Pantalaimon. At Bolvangar Lyra experiences the most pain she has ever felt in her life, her daemon being touched. Mrs. Coulter tries to comfort Lyra in her pain and Lyra furiously questions her mother about the motivations anyone would ever have to hurt children in this way. Mrs. Coulter tries to justify to Lyra that these experiments are for the better, though she is aware of the pain she puts children in. She says, “All that happens is a little cut, and then everything is peaceful” (248). Though she is trying to calm Lyra down, this only frustrates her more because Lyra has figured out what her mother is trying to do. Lyra believes that her mother, Mrs. Coulter is afraid that Lyra will tell the other children about the painful effects of separation. In protection of herself, Mrs. Coulter deviously tries to convince Lyra that the separation process will help children. Lyra becomes less susceptible to her mother’s lies, preventing her from being lured into believing Mrs. Coulter. Lyra has lost all trust in her mother and feels as though her quest has been meaningless. As Lyra comes the end of her journey, she is exhausted and merely longs to find her father in order to complete her travels. Lyra thinks that by giving her father the alethiometer, she will finally be praised for her resilience in finding him. However, when Lyra finally reaches her father, his confusing reaction confirms Lyra’s feeling that finding him was pointless. Lyra is furious. While her mission comes to a disappointing end, she realizes that all her life was based on a lie. She says to her father, "You shouldn't keep things from people... What difference would it make if I knew?" (323). Now that Lyra has discovered the truth of who her family is she feels betrayed. She does not understand how she could live with Lord Asriel all her life and not realize that he was lying about his identity. Lyra realizes that all of the lies about Dust and her family were created to prevent her from yearning to learn more. Lyra will never be able to live with her parents after this great betrayal and will never trust her parents again. By keeping secrets from Lyra, the adults in her life, mainly her parents, try to counteract Lyra’s attempts to learn about Dust.
From the day she was born, Lyra’s parents have been trying to protect her from Dust and its influence in the society they live in. Both of the scholars believe that Dust causes lasting detrimental effects on children which account for the settling of a Daemon. Mrs. Coulter thinks that by removing daemon completely, the effects of maturing will prevent children from collecting Dust which symbolizes sin. After completing her journey and learning about Dust on her own terms, Lyra disagrees with her parent’s ideas and thinks that by taking away a natural cause, the effects will reverse, leaving children in danger of never becoming their own person. After completing their true journey about discovering the truth, Lyra is forming her own beliefs that counter her parents. Lyra has overcome her parent’s attempt to thwart her learning, showing that she has successfully completed her
journey.
Richard Gunderman asks the question, "Isn 't there something inherently wrong with lying, and “in his article” Is Lying Bad for Us?" Similarly, Stephanie Ericsson states, "Sure I lie, but it doesn 't hurt anything. Or does it?" in her essay, "The Ways We Lie.” Both Gunderman and Ericsson hold strong opinions in regards to lying and they appeal to their audience by incorporating personal experiences as well as references to answer the questions that so many long to confirm.
They gossip about her return bring darkness to the town. The townspeople began interpreting her birthmark as “not a stemmed rose, or a snake, it was Hannah's ashes marking her from the very beginning” (114). Sula’s mother, Hannah, ashes represent her violent death of being burned alive. The representation of Hannah’s ashes highlights the legacy of sleeping around with men she supposedly left for Sula to fulfill. Therefore, in the community’s eyes, Sula is like her mother. Also, the townspeople believe the random accidents that occur in the presence of Sula are her fault. Sula disregards their bitterness and continues to live by her own rules. Not letting their hatred impose her independence, she continues living by her terms; so ironically labeling Sula as evil changed their behaviors. They united “once their personal misfortune was identified, they had leave to protect and love one another” (117). The townspeople commences a world of upright, moral, and sober lives once they saw Sula as malicious. In fact, they were the ones' neglecting and being reckless with their lives before demeaning Sula's birthmark. The townspeople unity in their personal beliefs leads them to demean
absence of parental guidance in the novel and in which she explores the individual’s search for
Recommended for particularly teenagers, but adults as well, this book introduces a new world of magic where everything is unsuspected and will leave the reader guessing at all times. This book mainly focuses on the issue between the good and the evil (known as the dark elders). Firstly, we are introduced to Sophie and Josh Newman, who both have part-time jobs and are ordinary teenagers. Sophie works at a coffee shop and Josh works at a bookstore. Little do they know, Josh’s boss, Nicholas Flamel, was originally supposed to die in 1418 according to the records. Although, he’s still alive because he holds the most powerful book (known as the codex) of all time, which holds the secret of eternal life. In fact, it has enough power to even destroy the world if in the wrong hands. Once the twins discover the secret about Nicholas and how part of the book has been stolen by an evil magician named Dr. John Dee, they also discover their goal is to retrieve the codex as they are part of a prophecy which states that they can be the most powerful human beings if their powers are awakened by a
Becca then sets off on a journey to Europe to discover her grandmother's true identity. I felt this book was more for adults than for young adults. It was complicated and probably difficult for a young teen to follow. It had language that may not suitable for a young adult. Such as a line like, "Stan expertly braked and simultaneously turned the wheel slightly to the right.
...a was raised, she was learning life lessons. She learned of violence from inside The Little Store. She never considered Mr. Sessions and the woman in the store to have any kind of relationship because Eudora never saw them sit down together at the table. Then tragedy struck, and this was how she learned of violence. She never knew exactly what had happened, but knew it was not good. The family just disappeared. Every time she came home from the store, she was carrying with her a little of what she had learned along the way. She learned a lot about, ?pride and disgrace, and rumors and early news of people coming to hurt one another, while others practiced for joy?storing up a portion for [her]self of the human mystery? (82).
In Lois Lowry’s, The Giver, Jonas comes to find who he is through struggles he faces with his family, friends, and the Giver. This novel is complex and surprising (Lord). Zaidman states,” In The Giver, Lowry explores new territory. This fantasy's seemingly perfect society (without pain, disorder, or overpopulation) is actually a frightening dystopia (without love, colors, or sense of the past). (Zaidman)” This novel is fighting a struggle of being on a school reading ban list. The Giver is often challenged because of the adult subject matter (Lord).
The book intrigued me from beginning to end. Allowing me to go through the adventure of two heralds’ lives. This included a mine orphan Mags, who trained under the previous king’s own to become a spy and his fiance, Amily, who is king’s own or advisor.
There are several themes to this story, some of which I did not contemplate or realize for years. This book can be seen as unselfish and selfish love between a child and his parent. It is a book about self sacrifice that is taken for granted by a child to his parent. The book is happy, sad, and ultimately about love. The most important lesson of the book I feel is that always taking and not giving is not the best route in life. Those who take always are not as happy as those that give to others. The old adage
Norton, D. E., & Norton. S. (2011). Through The Eyes Of a Child. An Introduction To Children’s Literature. Boston, MA, 02116: Eight-Edition Pearson Education
As the main character, Rose is magnetic. Sweet and real, naive to the ways of the world that does not touch the remote Canadian wilderness she spends her early life in. Brought up as a dividend of the investment of missionaries to far, wild country, the modern world is not accustomed to the way Rose touches the lives of the people she meets as she follows the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The Goose and the Golden Egg in the style of Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake
Whether the intentions were good or not, the thought of erasing a living creature from this earth is not easy. The question arises: How do you live each day and move forward? The Ghost Child is harder to put out of the mother’s mind because she’s filled with visions of what will never be! “The singers and workers that never handled the air” (4), because the child was not born, the mother doesn’t know if the ghost child would’ve been a singer, movie star or a CEO of a corporation! What kind of mother would she have been? All because she snatched away their breath before the child could experience being! While she physically erased the child, the consequence was a spiritual birth of a ghost child that torments and haunts her memory, leaving her remorseful and full of grief. Who would Ghost Child look like? Every child that crosses her path is a constant reminder of what could have
Along with Pearl, Dimmesdale is another representation of truthfulness due to the transformation in his cowardly behaviors to someone who takes responsibility for his actions. This idea is strongly proven when Dimmesdale confesses his sin to the town. He says, “Ye, that have loved me! -ye, that have deemed me holy!...I stand up the spot where, seven years since, I should have stood, here, with this woman...” (Hawthorne 172). Dimmesdale’s confession demonstrates that he is true to himself, and his character is truly holy because of his choice to confess after hiding his secret for years. This happens as a result of his realization that one cannot hide from the truth. This point supports the fact that truthfulness is an impactful theme in The
The epic tale of Gulliver’s travels written by Jonathan swift is one of most intriguing and entertaining novel ever written. It is indeed a fact that this beautiful piece of literature is still enjoyed all around the world by all ages. As the rise of ideas and technology, this story has been portrayed through many different mediums such as musicals, movies etc. although never portrayed as an exact copy of the original text, this story has been altered in many ways to grab the attention of the targeted audience. Despite the amends done to this great satire, it still remains one of the most memorable story’s ever in English literature.