The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

I read The Golden Compass (or Northern Lights) by Philip Pullman. I enjoyed the book since fantasy/adventure is one of the genres I like when it comes to novels. I think the story started off slow, so it took me a while to get into the book to where I couldn't stop reading. Once I got to that point, however, I really could not stop reading. I liked the character development of the main character, Lyra. At the start of the book, Lyra was just an innocent girl. As the story goes on, she begins to be more independent and able to make decisions on her own rather than her mentors do it for her. I also like her relationship with Iorek, the armored bear. In this world, bears are isolated for the most part and only bond with other bears. Iorek has been banished from the bear kingdom and has lost his armor, which is basically his soul. Lyra gets his armor back and develops a rare connection between a human and a bear. Everything leading up to the end was great. It was a lot to take in, but it seemed to make sense. Then, the author tried to tie it all together and I just felt confused. It seemed like he started too many plot lines to be able to make it make sense for the average reader. That is about the only aspect I disliked about the book. Overall, the plot was exciting and kept me coming for more. If the ending was a little more clear, I would definitely give The Golden Compass a perfect score.




In what ways do the events in the books reveal evidence of the author's world view?



Basically, the main storyline of this novel is the characters want to find a portal to a parallel universe. In this parallel universe, there is a way to erase the original sin of man. The original sin of man, as explained in the book, is the Adam and Eve story where they eat of the forbidden fruit, disobeying the divine presence. This original sin is what gives man the ability to commit evil actions. If this original sin was erased, it would, in theory, make mankind "good" again. This plot line reveals Pullman's humanistic views of the world. In Christian religion, it is believed that man is inherently bad because of the original sin. The humanistic world view is that man is inherently good. By using this plot line, Pullman is saying there is a way that man is good from birth, a humanistic viewpoint.



What was unique about the setting of the book and how did it enhance or take away from the story?

I thought the setting was perfect for this book. What made it unique was that it combined fantasy and real-world aspects to make its setting. Colleges and big cities are real-world things that appear in this book. Some of the fantasy aspects are bear kingdoms and witch societies. One of the prominent fantasy aspects is the daemon concept. Every human has a daemon, a shape-shifting manifestation of their soul. The daemon can be basically any animal it wants to be. If they are seperated from it or cut off from it, the human will have serious trouble living as will the daemon. The bear kingdom was the best fantasy part about this setting. Imagining all these enormous polar bears with gold armor in a palace made of pure marble is quite a picture. Overall, the setting did a good job giving the book a realistic sense and yet, keeping it in the fantasy genre.

Word Count: 570