Truth and Lies, A look at trust and betrayal. |
 Mar 13 2008, 11:53 PM
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Exclusive distributor of The Dungbomb Protection Kit  Posts: 2,632 Joined: 10:52pm March 5, 2007    |
"No, no, that's the saddest thing: she will be the betrayer, and the experience will be terrible." These haunting words are found at the beginning of The Golden Compass; not only do they foreshadow an experience for Lyra, but they illustrate betrayal as a central theme to the series. Our instinct as readers is to label the "good guys" and the "bad guys", but I found that to be a very difficult thing with Compass, as my impression of those who had Lyra's best interests at heart was constantly and gradually shifting. True betrayal is when someone you trust has lied to you, and it involves powerful emotions like anger, hate, guilt...and sometimes, love. As a child, Lyra is dependent upon the adults around her to protect her. She seems to trust her father, and despise her mother; and is ambiguous towards the Master and Scholars that raised her. Did the way she was raised influence the fact that she trusted her father and not her mother? Did her father deserve that trust? How important is trust for Lyra? Is she so independent that she doesn't need to rely on any one person's guidance? Which characters in this book are trustworthy, and why? Did that change as you read further into the book? What examples of betrayal do you find in The Golden Compass, and what are the motivations? What effect did the act of betrayal have on both the betrayer and the betrayed? This post has been edited by Pyxis: Mar 19 2008, 09:30 PM |
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