The Golden Compass: An Analysis

In the novel The Golden Compass, it is proven that persistence is a great personality trait. This is proven first by the fact that Lyra wants to go to the north but is constantly being told no. She tries again and again until she is finally allowed to go. Secondly Lyra wants to learn about the alethiometer but there are over a thousand meanings. Later on in the book Lyra figures out these meanings because she never gave up. In the novel The Golden Compass there are a lot of powerful meanings and one that is clear is that never giving up builds confidence because people with confidence know they can overcome whatever challenges they may face.
Firstly, Lyra gets told she can not go to the North but after some dangerous events and her nagging

she gets to go. In the past Lyra had always been curious about what her uncle was doing in the north and Lyra wanted to find out herself. This is demonstrated when Lyra has no luck of going to the north until a fellow passenger has been killed. After this occurred, John Faa tells Lyra “I’m putting you under Farder Coram’s wing for the expedition” (Pullman 141). This quote shows that Lyra worked hard and now she is going to go on the expedition. Even though Lyra gets to go, she can not help but feel sick about why she is going. Lyra is now starting to develop more confidence because she has just overcome a challenge that she was faced with. By doing so, Lyra proves that never giving up is a sign of confidence because she constantly tried to get up to the north and failed only to succeed later.
Secondly, Lyra works very hard to learn the symbols of the alethiometer. Lyra constantly works on learning the symbols which shows she is willing to take as much time as she needs to learn these symbols. Lyra with the desire to learn these symbols never gives up even when Fader Coram says “there might be a thousand meanings or more” (Pullman 126). Despite these discouraging words, Lyra takes it in and learns these symbols because she is driven to help the cause of good. For this example Lyra is told it would be very hard but in fact Lyra just wants to learn these symbols even more because of that. In this, Lyra teaches people that no matter how tough things get, if you work hard nothing can stop them.
Thirdly, Lyra has no way of ever finding her best friend Roger again but she still looks anyway. For Lyra and many other people if a best friend goes missing they will go to the ends of the earth to find that friend. Even with Roger being kidnapped and no one knowing where he went Lyra never gave up. She felt “guilty for never thinking of him once she met Mrs Coulter”(Pullman 74). Although Roger slips her mind she still remembers and goes back to looking for him because she has the confidence to find him. Lyra represents the act of courage and demonstrates a lot of confidence by always overcoming challenges, even the toughest like this one.
In summary, most people can only take so much when constantly being told no. This paints Lyra as a well rounded person to take the criticism of others and use it as fuel. Lyra first proves her confidence when she wants to go to the north but is being told no, and after a while she can eventually go to the north. Secondly, Lyra wants to learn about the symbols on the alethiometer but there are many meanings. Later on she can read it because she worked at it.
Lastly, Lyra wants to find Roger but she has no idea where he is and there are no clues but she still tries and succeeds. In the Novel The Golden Compass, the main theme is that never giving up builds confidence because people with confidence know they can overcome whatever challenges they face.