FF Thursday November 3

Samantha Robinson: Notes for Thursday November 3, 2011 Dust has been one topic we have been discussing throughout the book, in the end we figured out the purpose of dust and how it was used. We said dust was equivalent to knowledge, or the physical manifestation of sin. Pullman represents the church in a negative and political way, and has the church keep people ignorant, and impose beliefs. We contrasted this with C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles Of Narnia, and saw that Lewis portrayed religion in a powerful and good way, and that everyone can be saved, like Edmund being forgiven. In small groups we further compared the two books, saying Lyra and Edmund were both unaware of their consequences until the end. Edmund knew that he was betraying his siblings, but did not know what the White Witch really intended. Lyra had no idea that she was going to end up betraying her best friend Roger. Both characters had a destiny, and although they could not change the outcome, they had to be assertive to get a result. We started off a group discussion with the alethiometer, and how it was interesting that Lyra being a natural liar, could read the truth. We said it was because she could tell lies so well, that she was able to see the truth. Another point brought up was about daemons, and how they represent who the characters really are. They usually are related to their profession, like sailors having dolphins or seagulls as daemons, or servants having dogs. We thought that maybe as they became older their daemons did not change because they had to rely on themselves more than on their daemons, which were able to help them by changing shape when they were younger. The topic of dust was addressed again, and how Mrs. Coulter was trying to prevent dust from settling on children. And thought if she could take away dust, she could take away original sin. Dust is already settled on adults, making it easier for them to be separated from their daemon. An example of how dust affected people was brought up, and how the adults become “ignorant sheep” when separated from their daemon. Another question asked was why Mrs. Coulter pursued Lyra when she did, and it was that Lyra was at the age where she would understand and be able to be molded by Mrs. Coulter, but unfortunately Lyra was smart enough to get away from her. A point was brought up that both Asriel and Mrs. Coulter felt threatened by Lyra because of what she was capable of. We ended the discussion by talking about how the General Oblation Board took children because it was less noticeable, and they are easier to persuade. Lastly we went back to the discussion of destiny, and how Lyra is supposed to fulfill her prophesy in another world, so that everything that happened should have happened no matter what. If Lyra knew her destiny, she would have acted differently, and the prophecy might never be fulfilled.

The Golden Compass: Wiki Notes

Ashley Stephens' Notes, Thursday November 3
Class began with the question, what kind of relationship do Lord Azriel and Mrs.Coulter have with Lyra and with each other at the end of the novel? Which one of these characters would consider the novel’s chief villain and why? We discussed that both Lord Azriel and Mrs.Coulter have a “tough love” for Lyra. Lyra was a subject of their love, though they both argued over who would have to take Lyra. A common relationship that Lord Azriel and Mrs.Coulter share is their interest in dust. Lord Azriel’s interest in dust is more of a physical interest, or personal ambition. Mrs.Coulter has more of a theological interest in dust in that she wants to protect children from original sin. The class also came to the conclusion that Lord Azriel was considered the novel’s chief villain. Lord Azriel had a very dramatic character switch from the beginning to end. At the beginning of the novel he used to be Lyra’s sole provider. At the end of the novel he wanted to experiment on Lyra.

Another question that popped up during class discussion was, what conclusions can we arrive at about Dust and its role in the novel? How is dust connected to daemons and why does the Magesterium want to sever this connection? In the novel, dust was “registered as light on the plate because particles of dust affect this emulsion as photons affect silver nitrate emulsion.” Dust was only an appropriate conversation if it came out of the mouth of an adult. Ust was also the Gateway for Lord Azriel. It was what he was seeking throughout the entire novel, and it’s also the reason why he became a negative character.

At the beginning of the novel, we are informed that Lyra is destined to betray a friend. An interesting question that came up, was how is Lyra’s betrayal of Roger different from that of Edmund in LWW? Is her betrayal of Roger destined or is his death the result of human action and free? Lyra’s betrayal of Roger was totally unintentional. Lyra is tricked into bringing Roger to Lord Azriel and then he kidnaps Roger while Lyra is asleep. He wants to cut away Roger’s daemon and use the power to enter the other universe. This is called intercision, which is like stopping puberty in the act. Edmund’s betrayal was a result of greed. He didn’t want his other siblings to believe his little sister, so he lied about the wardrobe leading to another world. Edmund’s betrayal was all intentional.