The Golden Compass Identity Quotes Page 3
(Chapter.Paragraph)
| Quote #7 She felt angry and miserable. His badger claws dug into the earth and he walked forward. It was such a strange tormenting feeling when your daemon was pulling at the link between you; part physical pain deep in the chest, part intense sadness and love. And she knew it was the same for him. Everyone tested it when they were growing up: seeing how far they could pull apart, coming back with intense relief. (11.116) |
Part of growing up is testing boundaries. Lyra and Pan pull apart here but soon realize that they are one and the same.
| Quote #8 "My armor is made of sky iron, made for me. A bear's armor is his soul, just as your daemon is your soul. You might as well take him away" – indicating Pantalaimon – "and replace him with a doll full of sawdust. That is the difference. Now where is my armor?" (11.136) |
Though bears don't have daemons, they do have armor. Iorek's armor is part of his core identity; without it he feels incomplete.
| Quote #9 So as he loped along, his great legs swinging tirelessly, she sat with the movement and said nothing. Perhaps he preferred that anyway, she thought; she must seem a little prattling cub, only just past babyhood, in the eyes of an armored bear. |
Lyra sees herself here through someone else's eyes (Iorek's), and in doing so she gains a new, not entirely comfortable perspective on herself.
