The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Pullman, Philip. 1995. The golden compass. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0679879242

PLOT SUMMARY:
Eleven year old, Lyra Belacqua is an orphan child living on an Oxford College in a fantasy Victorian England. She and other humans of her world have an emotional connection to life long companions called dæmons who change and shift into different animal forms. When children start disappearing, Lyra fears that they and her now missing best friend may be intended for the rumored scientific experiments involving children in the Arctic regions. Thus begins her journey to save her best friends life. Aided by witches, armored bears, a gypsy-like clan, her dæmon and a golden compass to guide her along her way, Lyra finds herself in danger and on a quest to save children from evil scientists.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
Mr. Pullman’s modern fantasy world is akin to England and the cold Arctic regions of Earth. With scholars, masters, lords and servants this story begins in Victorian Era England at Jordan College, which has “no rival, either in Europe or in New France, as a center of experimental theology.” This high fantasy novel includes: a good versus evil theme, a heroine, special magical animal characters called dæmons and a supernatural object in the form of a golden compass. With four clock like “hands” and thirty-six symbols, it is meant to resemble the old-world style mechanical objects. Good versus evil is the main theme in this story. Good and evil are personified in humans, their dæmons and the other creatures (armored bears, witches) of Lyra’s world.

The main characters include Lyra, her mysterious Uncle Lord Asriel, her best friend and kitchen servant, Roger, the equally mysterious and dangerous Mrs. Coulter and their personal dæmons, shape-shifting, talking animal “alter egos”. The characters are revealed through the shape and emotional state of their dæmons. When the humans reach adulthood, “their dæmons [lose] the power to change and [assume] one shape, keeping it permanently.” These fantasy creatures are connected magically and emotionally to their human counterparts and add to the fantasy world that is not quite real.

This story is told from the heroines point of view. The writing is at times stratightforward and at other times figurative. The dialogue is natural and suited to the differing characters and their roles. The overall mood of the story mirrors the main character. Lyra, the orphan protagonist, is a willful child of eleven wise beyond her years, due to lack of proper supervision by her guardians, the college scholars. She is deemed a “barbarian” and “a coarse and greedy savage” by the narrator of the novel. With past times of skipping lessons, stealing apples, and waging “deadly war” on other children, on the college grounds and in the adjacent town, the heroine has gained the experience and fortitude needed for her quest to rescue her abducted best friend from the evil experiments in the Arctic regions. The original plot builds to a suspenseful climax and contains unforeseen twists and turns. This first installment of a triology series ends with an introduction to an unknown new world and a new mystery and adventure for the young heroine.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Review from SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “A novel set in London and in the Arctic regions of a world that is somewhat like our own. Lyra, apparently an orphan, lives among the scholars at Jordan College, Oxford. She becomes aware of a nefarious plot to steal children and transport them to the far north. As Lyra is drawn deeper and deeper into this mystery, she finds that the children are being made to suffer terribly. What she does not and must not know is that she is the keystone in an ancient prophecy...”

Review from PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: “Young Lyra Belacqua and her daemon companion Pantalaimon leave their sheltered life among the scholars and caretakers at Oxford University to find Lyra's best friend, Roger, who has been kidnapped. Lyra's quest leads her to the Far North where she encounters battle-ready witches, talking polar bears and a team of evil scientists who plan to perform a hideous experiment on Roger and the other children they have captured.”

Review from KIRKUS REVIEWS: “This first fantastic installment of the His Dark Materials trilogy propels readers along with horror and high adventure, a shattering tale that begins with a promise and delivers an entire universe.”

AWARDS
Carnegie Medal 1995
Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year 1996

CONNECTIONS
The other Dark Materials Trilogy books - by Philip Pullman:
Pullman, Philip. 2007. The Subtle Knife. ISBN 0375946721
Pullman, Philip. 2007. The Amber Spyglass. ISBN 037594673X

Other books by Philip Pullman:
1996. The Tin Princess. ISBN 0606099794
2003. The Ruby in the Smoke. ISBN 0375825452

Activities:
*Science/History connection: Have students create a time line of scientific tools and compare them to those used in the story.
*Discuss the themes of courage, fear, love, betrayal and good versus evil.
*Have students create a venn diagram comparing and contrasting themselves with a chosen character from the story.
*Encourage students to learn more about author's and their works, by visiting Mr. Pullman's website at http://www.philip-pullman.com/index.asp