Philip Pullman’s book, The golden compass is a fascinating novel published for both young readers and adults. The story revolves around Lyra Belacqua; an 11-year-old girl brought up in Jordan College. In Lyra’s universe, everyone has a daemon, a soul that takes the form of an animal depending on one’s character. A child’s daemon kept changing until puberty when the assumed animal became permanent. At the start of the book, Lyra’s daemon is a moth named pantalaimon. Lyra knows that her parents are long dead but has an uncle who is a researcher named Lord Asriel. The Golden Compass intricately fuses fantasy, fairy tales, and coming-of-age elements to bring a scintillating narration that transcends age limitation.
Children are being stolen by Gobblers and taken to the far North. Roger, her friend, and only everyday companion is stolen, and Lyra is determined to save him from the Gobblers. She leaves for Mr. Coulter’s house, a woman who happens to be her birth mother after discovering that she was part of the children’s kidnappers (Pullman, 1996, pp. 75). Before she joins, Coulter, the master of Jordan College, gives her an alethiometer, which ideally is a truth meter. Lyra later escapes from Mrs. Coulter’s house for the North, where he receives assistance from gyptians and friendly witches. She manages to save Roger after risking her life in many instances. She also learns that Lord Asriel was her biological father. Upon saving Roger, Lyra sets on a journey in search of his father together with his newfound friend. She later regrets why she took Roger with her as Lord Asriel uses him for his dust experiments. Unknown to Lyra, she had unknowingly led Roger to his death, thinking he was saving him from the oblation board controlled by her mother.
The Golden Compass has fairy tale elements that introduce readers to an imaginary world beyond the normal earth real humans inhabit. Firstly, the author introduces the concept of demons that are directly linked to humans. The daemons live outside the human body, and their actions and thoughts sync with those of the humans they represent. Separating the person from their daemons was a risky affair that always led to death. The daemon is an equivalent of the human soul, with the difference being that the daemons in Lyra’s world are visible as they are external and take a form of an animal. This is a fairy tale that is detached from the real world of humans. The second illustration of the fairy is Lord Asriel’s parallel world that he manages to uncover by severing Roger’s daemon in his quest to know the origin of dust. The world is unique in that people survive without daemons. This world resembles earth but viewed from Lyra’s universe of birth remains a fairy tale. Asriel talks tell Lyra about dust representing the original sin and connecting it to the parallel universe.
The golden compass also brings out the coming of age through Lyra, the main protagonist. The author introduces Lyra as a six-month baby born from a secret affair between Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel. It is her birth that Edward Coulter, the legitimate husband to Mrs. Marisa Coulter, meets his death through murder from Asriel. The author then narrates Lyra’s upbringing under the care of the master of Jordan College. Lyra is presented as an innocent and aggressive girl in the early stages and later as a deceitful character who lies for convenience. She is also proven to be an intelligent girl interested in specific subjects. The author also speaks of Lyra’s spying abilities when she saved his father, Lord Asriel, from poisoned wine (Pullman, 1996, pp. 8). Her innocence makes her admire Mrs. Coulter, and when the master suggests that she moves into her flat, Lyra is more than willing. However, she later discovers that Mrs. Coulter is not the good person she thought and decides. This loss of trust opens her eyes to the deceits of life, and she believes there are more truths to find out in the North. This chronological growth and development give the novel an element of coming of age.
The Golden Compass is essentially a fantasy novel that gives the power of speech to non-human characters in the book. The book mentions armored polar bears that could talk like humans. Lorek Byrnison, a renegade bear, talks with Lyra throughout her adventures (Pullman, 1996, pp. 172). Lorek tells Lyra that he would take her to Bolvangar easily, but only if the Egyptian leader approves. The book also introduces Lofur Raknison, the leader of the bears, who fights Lorek toward the end of the story. Lyra engineered the fight to get back Lorek to power after being alienated for killing a fellow bear. Pullman invites the reader to a conversation between Lyra and Lofur. Through the conversation, the reader knows that bears do not have daemons like humans, as Lyra tells Lofur he cannot get baptized since he did not have a daemon (Pullman, 1996, pp. 342). Other than speech capability, bears have been given the powers to wage wars, perceive danger waged by humans, and respond. Lorek can react to Mrs. Coulter’s rain of arrows through fire as he and Lyra pursue Lord Asriel trying to save Roger.
In addition to the talking bears, Lyra’s world is full of good and evil witches. Most witches have bird daemons that allow them to fly almost everywhere. Serafina Pekkala proves to be a worthy witch who saves Lyra from the onslaught of Mrs. Coulter on several occasions (Ullmann, 1996, pp. 182). The witches reduce the time and space between characters by waging wars. The malevolent witches, for instance, work with Mrs. Coulter, while the good ones work in favor of Lyra. This happens through the magic that does not hold in the world of science. Another instance of fantasy is the wardrobe through literary symbolism. At the start of the book, the author introduces a wardrobe that helps Lyra unravel the truth about dust. The wardrobe is magical because it helps the girl connect her to her destiny. By hiding in the wardrobe, Lyra discovered dust which happens coincidentally because her presence was not planned but helps the reader in the later stages to reconcile the scene to the ending and understand the power behind the wardrobe.
In conclusion, The Golden Compass is a multi-genre novel that brings out the elements of fantasy, fairy tales, and coming of age. The witches and their magical powers open up a world detached from reality where certain people wield the power to destroy or protect others. The bears in the story also have the power to talk and think of complex issues such as wars. Lorek and Lofur are two examples of bears that conversed with Lyra in her travels north. Fairy tales are also used by the author, stretching the reader’s imagination beyond their universe. The Northern lights, the parallel world, and the daemon are three examples of fairy tales in the novel that are far from reality in the real world. Finally, Lyra’s growth in age and knowledge represents the element of coming of age. Therefore, The Golden Compass is a fusion of the three elements of fantasy, fairy tales, and coming of age.
Reference
Pullman, P. (1996). The golden compass. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.