The author of numerous books for young readers, including the
popular Sally Lockhart trilogy, Philip Pullman lives in Oxford,
England. A graduate of Oxford University and former teacher at
Westminster College, he has also written a number of plays, novels
and picture books.
1. The author tells us that The Golden Compass
takes place "in a universe like ours, but different in many ways."
How do you think Lyra''s universe relates to ours?
2. What is a dæmon? How do they make humans different from other
creatures? Why do you think servants'' dæmons are always dogs? What
sort of dæmons might your friends, relatives, classmates, or
coworkers have? Describe your own dæmon.
3. The world of The Golden Compass is ruled by
the Church. However, the nature of its power is unclear. What power
do you think the Church holds over its people?
4. On pages 89-90, the General Oblation Board is explained in
reference to the historical sacrifice of children to cloistered
life. "Oblation" refers to the act of making a religious offering.
What offering does the General Oblation Board make and to whom?
5. Human knowledge and experience are made physical in Dust.
What other psychological, intellectual, or spiritual activities
does the author physicalize?
6. What is the relationship between "severing" and death? Is the
author using this fantasy to explore the notion of psychic or moral
death?
7. Why do you think the author stresses that Lyra is not an
imaginative child? Why would "imagination" be dangerous to her? How
would it affect her understanding of the alethiometer? Is Lyra a
truth-seeker? Who is Lyra Belacqua and/or what does she
symbolize?
8. In what ways is gender a significant or stratifying element
in the novel? Why do you think all witches are female? Why are
dæmons usually the opposite gender of their human counterparts? Is
the fact that Lyra is a girl-child relevant to the themes of the
story?
9. Alongside human society in The Golden
Compass, there exists the community of the armored bears,
who have their own hierarchical structure and moral code. In one
way Svalbard seems little more than an interesting foil to the
human condition, yet the bear kingdom is also a final destination,
the site of the story''s climactic conclusion. What do you think is
the author''s purpose in inventing - and exploring - the world of
the armored bear?
10. The author has filled this novel with binary imagery:
person-dæmon; mother-father; Iorek-Iofur; Lyra''s universe-the
universe in the Aurora. What other binarisms can you find in the
structure, landscape imagery, and vocabulary of this fantasy? How
do these dualistic elements affect the novel''s larger themes?
11. Discuss Lyra''s "betrayal" of Roger in relation to other
betrayals that occur in the novel. Has reading The Golden
Compass altered your understanding of the act of
betrayal?
12. Are Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter in collusion or are they
fighting each other? How and in what way?
13. Curiously absent from The Golden Compass
are four words that are prevalent in most fantasy adventures:
right, wrong, good, and evil. Can these terms be applied to this
story? How and why, or why not?
14. On the last page of the book, Lyra and Pantalaimon recognize
that they are still "one being; both of us are one." The expression
resonates with a phrase from marriage ceremonies. Contrast this
moment in the story with the preceding interplay between Lyra''s
parents.
15. The Golden Compass is the first book in the
trilogy His Dark Materials, which gets its name
from a passage in John Milton''s Paradise Lost,
quoted at the beginning of the novel. Philip Pullman has said,
"Milton''s angels are not seriously meant to be believed - beings
with wings and halos and white robes. They are psychological
qualities, conceived and pictured as personalities. With them,
Milton tells one of the central tales of our world: the story of
the temptation and fall of humankind." Discuss the passage from
Paradise Lost and this statement from the author
in relation to The Golden Compass.
16. When Lyra walks "into the sky" at the end of Book One, we
can presume that she is walking into the world of Book Two of
His Dark Materials - "the universe that we know."
What do you think will happen to her and Pantalaimon when they
cross the bridge?