{"id":358,"date":"2011-05-26T07:00:28","date_gmt":"2011-05-26T14:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=358"},"modified":"2011-05-25T13:55:15","modified_gmt":"2011-05-25T20:55:15","slug":"mark-reads-the-golden-compass-chapter-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2011\/05\/mark-reads-the-golden-compass-chapter-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘The Golden Compass’: Chapter 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fourth chapter of The Golden Compass<\/em>, Lyra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s meeting with The Master does not go as expected, for both positive and negative reasons. She is then thrust into traveling with a woman who has a very secret double life. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read The Golden Compass<\/em>.<\/p>\n

holy god HOLY SHIT WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME, BOOK<\/em><\/p>\n

CHAPTER FOUR: THE ALETHIOMETER<\/strong><\/p>\n

Again, lots and lots of information thrown my way by Pullman here in the fourth chapter, and while much of it is unanswered, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s completely found my interest at this point. I mean, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to discount some fantastic character growth on the part of Lyra, but now I want to binge read this book in one sitting out of my sheer desire to know what the everliving fuck is going on<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Shall we?<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I hope you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll sit next to me at dinner,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Mrs. Coulter, making room for Lyra on the sofa. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not used to the grandeur of a Master\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lodging. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to show me which knife and fork to use.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Oh, you are a clever<\/em> one, aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you? Given that we know Mrs. Coulter is THE Gobbler, every single line of hers in this chapter seems to drip with a malevolent subtext. Which…that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kind of amazing? We know absolutely nothing about her at this point, aside from the fact that she kidnaps children, sends them to the north, and then throws away their letters to their parents. Personality-wise, all I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been able to surmise is that Mrs. Coulter appears unbearably sweet (and not in that way that Dolores Umbridge does, since it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t inspire rage), yet she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also able to switch on that manipulative streak at any moment in time. I have a feeling that Pullman isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to allow Mrs. Coulter to be a two-dimensional \u00e2\u20ac\u0153villain\u00e2\u20ac\u009d like she is here, and it actually kind of excites me to think about where he could take her character.<\/p>\n
(Side note: It is slightly<\/em> distracting that her name is Coulter, if only because here in America, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a certain woman who is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153involved\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in right wing politics who is also very had to…listen to? Gosh, she ruined the name Coulter<\/em>.)<\/p>\n
Even right off the bat, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not what she seems. Lyra thinks about how she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unlike any<\/em> female scholar she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ever seen, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s made abundantly clear that the world of education belongs mostly to men at Jordan College. (I presume that is the case for the rest of the world.) And yet, here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Mrs. Coulter, distinctly feminine, and Lyra cannot<\/em> take her eyes off her. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not only unlike any Scholar she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s known (especially the women ones), but she also seems to be unlike any person<\/em> she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ever known, too.<\/p>\n
This is a bad combination for Lyra, who has no idea what Mrs. Coulter is actually<\/em> up to. I love the idea that Mrs. Coulter is good friends with the Master, allowing Pullman to naturally interject her into the story so early without it feeling forced.<\/p>\n
But I also get the sense that the feeling is a bit mutual, as Mrs. Coulter has never met a little girl quite like Lyra, who has a zest and excitement for life that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not coated in fear. She even comments on this very thing with a look of admiration donning her face, and, while Mrs. Coulter definitely has the advantage here, I like that this moment briefly tips the scales in Lyra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s favor.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t until Mrs. Coulter asks Lyra if the people who run Jordan College are going to send her to school that I realized that Lyra lives<\/em> there, but has not started classes yet. How I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t realize that this school was very obviously and clearly a college<\/em>, despite that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in the name of the fucking place<\/em><\/strong>, is beyond me. But it does help to provide even more context for Lyra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life at Jordan College and explains why she feels so out-of-place there at times. IT ALL MAKES SENSE.<\/p>\n
I kind of adore that Lyra is basically like LOL I AIN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T GOING TO SCHOOL, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M GOING TO THE NORTH<\/em>. Again, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s refreshing how much of a little brat she is to the people around her, mostly because sometimes I wish I had<\/em> been that person when I was that young. (HELLO, I AM A HUMAN DOOR MAT, PLEASE WIPE YOUR FEET ON ME.)<\/p>\n
That mention of the North prompts Mrs. Coulter to pretty much sink the hook in Lyra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mouth. Looking back on this with all of chapter four in mind, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m amazed just how manipulative this woman seems, able to hone in on exactly what a person is looking to hear and then saying it while appearing completely oblivious to the fact. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear that she was doing this as her own way to convince Lyra to travel with her. Why though? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a question for another time.<\/p>\n
After Mrs. Coulter had left, the Master pulls Lyra aside to discuss her future at the college. At the time I read it, I honestly didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t realize that this initial discussion and Lyra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s meeting with Mrs. Coulter were connected so deeply, so I became sad at the thought of Lyra leaving the rich and detailed world of Jordan College. Hell, she<\/em> is upset at the very notion, and it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help that the Master codes his speech with references to keeping Lyra safe from…well, he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t name what it is yet again.<\/p>\n
I appreciated that the Master was aware that Lyra didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really fit in with either<\/em> world that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s split between, as the Scholars teach a knowledge that she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need right now, yet she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also too curious and adventurous to be a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153servant\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s child,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and thus, he tells Lyra that her time at Jordan College has come to an end and tells her she needs \u00e2\u20ac\u0153female company.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m seriously enamored with the inner-workings of d\u00c3\u00a6mons and I seriously want a chapter devoted to just<\/em> how they work and what they are, and this scene is a big reason why. Assuming the Master means the elder female Scholars, Lyra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s d\u00c3\u00a6amon, Pantalaimon, changes the color of his fur to represent Lyra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s frustration. Earlier, when Lyra had said that she was going to the north, the two female Scholars were very clearly upset with the notion themselves, but their d\u00c3\u00a6mons were able to exhibit complete control and not reflect the emotions of their companions. So now I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m wondering: Because Lyra is young, does her d\u00c3\u00a6mon act more susceptible to changes in mood? Is this a thing you have to train yourself on?<\/p>\n
Pantalaimon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fur changes once the Master suggests that Mrs. Coulter will be the one to take care of her and I was full of conflicting emotions. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really dislike<\/em> Mrs. Coulter so much as I recognize her as the antagonist of the story. She intrigues me, and the thought of her traveling with Lyra is even more<\/em> intriguing to me. I suppose I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know her motivations and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what she stands far. What little I do know certainly paints her in a negative light, since…you know…SHE KIDNAPS CHILDREN TO BE SAWED IN HALF<\/strong>. Or whatever it is that happens in the North.<\/p>\n
In short, this development is FASCINATING to me. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t jump to yelling OH NO DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T DO THAT because I think we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see interesting things with the two of them paired together. Hell, the entire conversation between Lyra and Mrs. Coulter when Lyra agrees to travel with her is actually really neat to me, since I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not terribly sure that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Mrs. Coulter being manipulative so much as just genuinely excited to have this girl along with her. Neither one seems to hesitate at the idea of going some place new, exciting, and dangerous, and that is rather goddamn lovely, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you think?<\/p>\n
That does not mean I did not read this chapter without pause, because there certainly is an incredibly odd scene thrown in here that, truthfully, doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t not really make sense to me at the moment. In the middle of the night, Mrs. Lonsdale wakes up Lyra and tells her that the Master needs to see her. Oh, and she needs to sneak into his place through a window<\/em>. Well, sort of. Still, as soon as I read that, I thought, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153THIS IS WEIRD WHAT IS GOING ON I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T GET IT.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d But she obeys mrs. Lonsdale, probably out of curiosity alone, and arrives in the Master\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s study:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t I going after all?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Lyra asked.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yes; I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t prevent it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said the Master, and Lyra didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t notice at the time what an odd thing that was to say.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
OK SERIOUSLY, THAT IS REALLY ODD. Why does he make it sound like this was forced<\/em> or inevitable<\/em>?<\/p>\n
The confusion continues when the Master hands over a package \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wrapped in black velvet.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Inside, the titular golden compass. Well, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a compass, and then my brain explodes:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an alethiometer. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of only six that were ever made. Lyra, I urge you again: keep it private. It would be better if Mrs. Coulter didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know about it. Your uncle–\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But what does it do?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It tells you the truth. As for how to read it, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to learn by yourself.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
what the holy living hell<\/em>. It tells the truth?<\/em> What does that<\/em> mean? And why must she keep this a secret from Mrs. Coulter? And why did Lord Asriel initially have it and give it to Jordan College and what was the Master going to say about that? MY GOD SO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS. And what does this<\/em> mean?<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The powers of this world are very strong. Men and women are moved by tides much fiercer than you can imagine, and they sweep us all up into the current.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
SERIOUSLY I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS GOING ON.<\/p>\n
This all happens so fast, too, which adds to the disorientation I felt, both because this new information completely changed how I felt about the trip and because Lyra was off traveling so soon after the chapter that introduced me to the world she was now leaving. But Lyra is entranced by what Mrs. Coulter has to tell her as they fly to London on a zeppelin and much of her experience on this first day in London is a reflection of just how little of the world that Lyra has seen. The very concept of Mrs. Coulter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s flat alone is enough for Lyra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s brains to leak out of her ears, as Pullman makes a point to focus on how Lyra was not used to such ornate prettiness, since Oxford was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153grand and stony and masculine.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually a lot I can relate to in this, though for me it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because of an entirely different reason: growing up poor. The most obvious thing I can think of to relate to you is the first time I stayed in a nice<\/em> hotel when I was 18, and it was the same experience in that sense of what Lyra goes through here. I almost felt that I was making the place dirtier<\/em> just by being there. Actually, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something I still feel to this day.<\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m interested to see how this plays out, though, since the obvious physical manifestations of femininity that Lyra sees here remind me of those same things that Dolores Umbridge had, though hers were more towards the overbearingly cute side of things. I wonder if Pullman is going to allow Lyra to explore her feminine side through Mrs. Coulter, or if this is a set up for something else.<\/p>\n
If anything, though, Pullman doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let me forget the Master\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s last warning about the alethiometer, as Lyra remembers that she is supposed to keep it close right when she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s far away from it in the bathtub. Despite knowing a bit more about both the Master and Mrs. Coulter than Lyra does, I must admit that even I<\/em> am still confused about who to believe at this point. But the alethiometer seems like a much more important thing to worry about at this point, so Lyra keeps it close as she continues on her trip through London with Mrs. Coulter. They attend a fancy lunch, where Mrs. Coulter seems to know all of the important people in the room, and I start giving the sense that Mrs. Coulter is doing this on purpose for some reason. I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite figured out what that reason might be, but this feels all too intentional. Is she trying to win Lyra over to her side for something?<\/p>\n
That night, Lyra gets the chance to examine the alethiometer closely, which I was thankful for, having expected that Pullman would wait until later to talk about it. I guess it was pretty silly of me to think that the face of the instrument would have some sort of simple LYING and NOT LYING measurement on the front, because that is CERTAINLY not how it works.<\/p>\n
It was very like a clock, or a compass, for there were hands pointing to places around the dial, but instead of hours or the points of the compass there were several little pictures, each of them printed with extraordinary precision, as if on ivory with the finest and slenderest sable brush. She turned the dial around to look at them all. There was an achor; an hourglass surmounted by a skull; a chameleon, a bull, a beehive…Thirty-six altogether, and she couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even guess what they meant.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
On top of that, there are three short hands you can adjust, and a fourth that works more like a compass. In short: I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T GET IT<\/strong>. Why are there thirty-six images<\/em>? That seems a bit much, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you think?<\/p>\n
While I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m busy contemplating this mystery, Lyra is concerned about the Master\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s final message to her, confused by the fact that he tried to kill her uncle. She has no idea where her allegiance should<\/em> lay, but for the time being, she chooses to protect the alethiometer:<\/p>\n
She snuggled down and switched off the light. Before she fell asleep, she tucked the alethiometer under the pillow, just in case.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Well, color me intrigued.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the fourth chapter of The Golden Compass, Lyra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s meeting with The Master does not go as expected, for both positive and negative reasons. She is then thrust into traveling with a woman who has a very secret double life. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,57],"tags":[23,60,62,61],"class_list":["post-358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-his-dark-materials","category-the-golden-compass","tag-mark-reads","tag-mark-reads-the-golden-compass","tag-philip-pullman","tag-religion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}