Re-defining Hero as depicted in Lyra in Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass.

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RE-DEFINING HERO AS DEPICTED IN LYRA IN

PHILIP PULLMAN’S

THE GOLDEN COMPASS

THESIS

Submitted as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Sarjana Degree of English Department Faculty of Arts and Humanities State Islamic

University of Sunan Ampel Surabaya

By:

Talitha Shabrina El-Jihan Reg. Number: A03213050

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SUNAN AMPEL SURABAYA

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ABSTRACT

El-Jihan, Talitha Shabrina. 2017. Re-defining Hero as depicted in Lyra in

Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass. English Department. Faculty of Arts and Humanities. State Islamic University of Sunan Ampel Surabaya.

Thesis Advisor: Itsna Syahadatud Dinurriyah, MA

This study is a general idea toward Phillip Pullman’s adventure novel, The

Golden Compass. Many literary works states that a hero is a strong, honorable

man and hard to defeat, but Lyra as main character is portrayed as a different figure with her innocence and immaturity. This study has two points of analyses.

Firstly, this study analyze how Lyra’s figure as identifiable hero from the

description of her physical-packed and action-packed in the novel by using theory of characters and characterization along with the concept of formula of adventure story by John G Cawelti, especially about hero to find that Lyra is a hero in the novel. Secondly, the deconstruction analysis as the main analysis of this study is analyze how Lyra leads herself as a hero and this theory also help this study to describe the hero pattern of Lyra and to describe some facts why Lyra is different

from mostly identical hero by using Margery Hourihan’s theory of the

deconstructing of hero.

This study use descriptive analytic method in order to get the valid description about how Lyra leads herself as a hero and all of her hero pattern. Thus, the important result of deconstruction analysis of this study is to redefine

the hero’s perception in the adventure fictionespecially in Lyra’s character in The

Golden Compass novel.

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INTISARI

El-Jihan, Talitha Shabrina. 2017. Re-defining Hero as depicted in Lyra in

Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass. English Department. Faculty of Arts and Humanities. State Islamic University of Sunan Ampel Surabaya.

Dosen Pembimbing: Itsna Syahadatud Dinurriyah, MA

Skripsi ini adalah sebuah penjabaran ide terhadap novel dari Philip Pullman yang berjudul The Golden Compass. Banyak karya sastra yang

mengatakan bahwa seorang pahlawan adalah sosok lelaki yang kuat, terhormat, dan sulit untuk dikalahkan, tetapi Lyra sebagai sebagai tokoh utama digambarkan berbeda dengan kemurnian dirinya dan ketidakdewasaannya. Skripsi ini

mempunyai dua point analisis. Pertama, skripsi ini menganalisa bagaimana Lyra sebagai pahlawan di dalam cerita dengan menggunakan teori karakter dan penokohan bersamaan dengan konsep formula cerita petualangan oleh John G. Cawelti khususnya tentang pahlawan untuk menjelaskan bahwa Lyra adalah sosok pahlawan dalam novel tersebut. Kedua, analisis dekonstruksi sebagai analisis utama skripsi ini adalah dengan menganalisa bagaimana Lyra dapat mengontrol dirinya sebagai seorang pahlawan, teori ini membantu menjelaskan pola-pola kepahlawanan Lyra, dan teori ini juga menjelaskan beberapa fakta mengapa Lyra sangat berbeda dari pahlawan pada umumnya menggunakan teori dekonstruksi kepahlawanan dari Margery Hourihan.

Skripsi ini menggunakan metode deskriptif analitik agar bias mendapatkan hasil yang benar tentang bagaimana Lyra dapat mengontrol dirinya sebagai

seorang pahlawan dan semua pola-pola kepahlawanannya. Maka, hasil utama dari sripsi ini adalah untuk mendefinisikan ulang persepsi tentang pahlawan di novel petualangan khususnya pada karakter Lyra di novel The Golden Compass.

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background of the study

In analyzing popular literature, formula is a valuable thing that we should

to note. According to John G. Cawelti in his book: Adventure, Mystery and

Romance: Formula stories as Art and Popular Culture, formula is a narrative

construction or dramatic principle that is used in a number of literary works.

Formula can be used to name plot (1). Then, formula refers to the plot that

embodies the type of story which inspired the author to write the story. Thus,

the formula is part of a structural component (plot) that has detailed themes

which forms a type of literary work.

Cawelti also stated that the definition formula in the popular literature is

the same with the term genre in the discussion of classical literature. Formula

is a configuration or blend of a number of specific cultural conventions with a

more general story form or archetype (Cawelti 6). If in the discussion of

classical literature we know the distribution of genres such as novels, plays,

poetry, then in the popular literature there is adventure, mystery, romance,

allien being and state, as well as the melodrama or tragedy.

From the view of adventure genre, John G. Cawelti defines adventure

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and dangers and finishing some ethical and significant mission (2). He also

insults to the archetypical nature of this story pattern, which can be traced

back to ancient myths and epics. Thus, novels in the adventure genre are

action-packed, characteristic a hero on a mission, and are often set in

mysterious locales throughout the journey times.

An identifiable hero is always found in the adventure fiction, he is

character whom readers like and to whom they relate. He achieves his fraught

by means of his cleverness and skill, mission. The one the feature in adventure

genre is the personality of the hero. Although inroads have been made by

women, as will be seen below, this remains a male-dominated genre; he is a

strong, honorable man, committed to his assigned mission. Both physical and

intellectual skills are required: the hero must act to accomplish his mission,

but he must also be able to figure out the puzzles along the way (Saricks 19).

The Golden Compass novel is a novel written by Phillip Pullman and

categorized as an adventure fiction. Lyra as the main character in this novel is

taking her journey to the Northern Lights (Bolvangar and Svalbard). Lyra is

doing some mission such as rescue her best friend, Roger Parslow and the

missing Gyptians’s children abducted by the Gobblers in Bolvangar and also

rescue Lord Asriel who is imprisoned in Svalbard by bears since the church

againts his experiments on ‘Dust’ and also give the alethiometer to Lord

Asriel in which she thinks it is needed by him to reveal Dust, thus it is

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protagonist character in this Novel is. In The Golden Compass novel, Dust

accumulates around people when their daemons stop changing – that is, when

they go through puberty and grow up. As the radical theologian Rusakov

discovers, it is the ‘physical proof’ that something changes when innocence

becomes experience (Pullman 224).

A journey or quest is essential to the adventure fiction because without it

there is no adventure (Saricks 16). Cawelti said that the true focus of interest

in the adventure story is the character of hero and the nature of the obstacle he

has to overcome (40). According to Campbell, a hero is a male or a female

who ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of

supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive

victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the

power to bestow boons on his fellow man (263). Thus, the hero must leave the

world of his or her everyday life to undergo a journey to a special world where

challenges and fears are overcome in order to secure a quest, which is then

shared with other members of the hero’s community.

The act of giving up his life to someone or something greater than himself

is one of the characteristics of a hero. In Franz’s words, a hero is abnormal,

divine, beyond human limitations, even in novels and films, the hero is

someone who has found or done something beyond the normal range of

achievement and experience (Campbell 165). However according to Margery

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Children’s Literature, to undergo a special adventure to the special world,

a hero need s special characteristics. In fact, a hero is constantly special,

born to the world in special incidents and fated to undergo a

extraordinary journey, and back with unusual return s. In Western culture,

and in any culture, the hero stories have been part of life since the emergence

of the culture itself (10).

Considering the hero pattern mentioned above, there are several reasons

why this study is interested to Lyra’s character to be the object of analysis.

Firstly, this study finds that Lyra is an identifiable hero. Besides, Lyra is

different from mostly identical hero with a strong man and hard to defeat but

in the novel Lyra is describe as an immature girl and it is very doubtful that

Lyra has power in taking her journey to the northern lights. Secondly, Lyra

shows the heroic pattern which must face many problems, dangerous things

and trials in his entirely mission. The last reason is Lyra has not been analyzed

and studied by the previous students of English Department in Faculty of Arts

and Humanities, State Islamic University Sunan Ampel Surabaya. Based on

the reason mentioned above, the suitable title for this study is, “Re-defining

Hero as depicted in Lyra in Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass”.

1.2. Statement of Problems

Based on the background of the study explained above, this study will

focus to analyze some problems which are formulated as follows:

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2. How does she lead herself as a hero?

1.3. Objectives of the Study

Considering the research questions mentioned above, the research will

intend to:

1. Describe the description of physical and action-packed of Lyra

2. Find and describe the pattern of hero in Lyra

1.4. Scope and Limitation

To avoiding the broadening the analysis, this study is limited to the novel

The Golden Compass. Then, this study focuses on the hero pattern of Lyra’s

character along her heroic journey to the Northren Lights and how she leads

herself as a hero by using Margery Hourihan’s theory of deconstructing of the

hero.

1.5. Significance of the Study

This study is expected to give direct contribution to existing people

knowledge in the field of literature and to the common people who interest in

reading literature. Theoretically, study will enrich the reader’s development of

knowledge in theoretical based on literary studies, especially related to hero

pattern analysis. Meanwhile, practically, this study hopefully can give useful

contribution as references and alternative information for English Literature

Student who conduct the similar research particularly in English Department,

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1.6. Methods of the Study 1.6.1 Research Design

This study will be library research. One of the characteristic in doing

library research is working through many books, journals, articles, and

other supporting references to support the research. The Golden Compass,

a novel written by Phillip Pullman is choosing as the object of analysis.

So, through descriptive analytic method this study wants to get the valid

description about how Lyra leads herself as a hero and all her hero pattern

1.6.2 Source of Data

There are two data sources used by the writer for this research. They

are primary data and the secondary data. Those primary data are taken

from the novel itself that was written by Phillip Pullman. While, the

secondary data are taken from book of Margery Hourihan theory of Heroic

Patterns. This study analyzes phrase and sentence that relates to the hero

pattern of Lyra as the main character.

1.6.3 Method of Collecting Data

This research uses the documentation method. At first, this study will

tries to find the book and other sources related to archetypal criticism of

heroes character. Then, this study takes any statement and conversation in

the novel which is related to the problem analysis. In this case, the writer

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1.6.4 Procedure of Analyzing Data

The data which have been collected will be analyzed using literary

theory. This research is library based. In presenting the analysis, this

research mainly uses descriptive-analytical method. The research follows

the following steps:

1. Reading the novel many times toget the best understanding on the

whole story.

2. Reading some theory’s books that related to the hero’s pattern

issue

3. Selecting and collecting data inform of narration and conversation

from the novel related to the Lyra’s heroic pattern.

4. Analyzing Lyra’s heroic pattern by using new criticism theory

along with Cawelti’s formula of adventure story that focusing on

the meaning of hero and also using Hourihan’s deconstruction of

hero theory to get the best description that Lyra is a new style of

hero.

5. Drawing conclusion based on the result of data analysis.

1.7. Definition of Key Terms

1) Hero : Usually, Hero is very conscious of his dependence upon the support of his friend who often provides almost his only

emotional warmth in a seemingly hostile or, at least,

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2) Divine : The suggestion, since forever, has been that story is a conveyance, a vehicle, touse in order to think, to move

forward through life. At the end of a life that has meaning,

the point is not that one is perfected, but that one will still

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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES

2.1Theoretical Framework

This part is focused on discussing some theories which are going to be

used as a guide of accomplishing this study. The theories are deconstruction as

main theory and new criticism as supporting theory. Meanwhile as the

supporting theory, new criticism which is focused on character and

characterization is used to help this study in describing the description of

physical-packed and action-packed of Lyra. Besides, the concept of formula of

adventure story by John G Cawelti, especially about hero in adventure story is

used as a mediator to find Lyra as identifiable hero in the novel. Therefore, the

deconstructing of hero by Margery Hourihan as the main theory is used to

analyze how Lyra lead herself as a hero and this theory also helped this study

to describe the hero pattern of Lyra and to describe some facts why Lyra is

different from mostly identical hero.

2.1.1. The Concept of Formula of Adventure Stories

Cawelti stated that the definition formula in the popular literature is the

same with the term genre in the discussion of classical literature. Formula is a

combination or synthesis of a number of specific cultural conventions with a

more universal story form or archetype (Cawelti 6). If in the discussion of

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poetry, then in the popular literature there is adventure, mystery, romance,

allien being and state, as well as the melodrama or tragedy.

The appeal of adventure fiction is argued by literary scholar John

Cawelti to be due to psychological wish-fulfillment. He asserts that the most

popular works are those that ‗help people to categorize artistically with actions

they would like to perform but cannot in the ordinary course of events‘

(Cawelti 22). Cawelti seems without doubtful of the ideological effect of the

adventure genre when he posits formulaic literature as ‗a ruling-class device

for keeping a daily measure of amusing anxieties from the majority of the

people‘s satisfied (Cawelti 25).

This structural formula represented an involvement between the reader

and the author in which individual developments and turns in the plot are not

apathetically anticipated, often within a storyline‘s formation that is

conventional, relatively easy to follow and thus reassuringly familiar to the

mass viewers that enthusiastic with adventure fiction. The significance of

these narrative structures is also responsive well by publishers. Cawelti sums

awake this three-way relationship succinctly: ‗well-established conventional

structures are particularly essential to the creation of formula literature and

reflect the interests of audiences, authors and distributors‘ (Cawelti 9). First,

by delivering a suspenseful plot and epic styles of heroism, the interests of

audiences were satisfaction and distraction, understood in language that was

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Second, the principles of a formulaic narrative style allowed an abundant

productivity from the adventure writer, whose plot outlines were largely

programmed by the quest conventions of a challenge, a journey, a group of

friend, a set of difficulties, a quash in fortune, its resolution and the final

accomplishment of both the objective and the return to safety.

The creative challenge of the successful adventure writer was to

re-invent continuously, within this basic structure, the geographical settings, the

period of history, the objective to be won, the obstacles to be overcome and

(within a set of tightly prescribed margins) the traits of the hero and his

companions. Third, the interests of the publisher were paramount and closely

aligned with the interests of readers and writers outlined above (Cawelti 34).

In this way, the nature of Hero in The Golden Compassis closely to Cawelti‘s

observation that ‗formula stories are produced and distributed almost entirely

in terms of marketable exploitation‘, because The Golden Compass Novel is

categorized as popular fiction with proof of won the Carniage Medal for

children‘s fiction in the UK in 1995.

Cawelti also analyses the ways in which the imaginary, or fantasy, is

interwoven into the formulaic plot structures that are typical of the adventure

novel. These literary formulae, Cawelti argues, are ‗means of making

historical and cultural inferences about the collective fantasies shared by large

groups of people and of identifying differences in these fantasies from one

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value in identifying recurrent underlying ideological motifs in adventure

fiction which, although published in the last thirty years of the nineteenth

century, were often set at earlier historical moments, such as in the

Elizabethan or Napoleonic era.

In Cawelti‘s view, ‗one cannot write a successful adventure story

about a social character type that the culture cannot conceive in heroic terms‘

(Cawelti: 6), the adventure hero brings a set of recognizable traits to a

recognizable situation. This familiarity with a formula, for readers of

adventure fiction, is one of the ways in which the genre exemplifies Culler‘s

theory of how ‗readers produce meaning by making connections, filling in

things left unsaid, anticipating and conjecturing and then having their

expectations disappointed or confirmed‘ (Culler 123).

Conforming the view of adventure genre, John G. Cawelti defines

adventure fiction as the story “of the hero - individual or group - overcoming

obstacles and dangers and accomplishing some important and moral

mission (2). He also alludes to the archetypical nature of this story

pattern, which can be traced back to ancient myths and epics. Thus, novels in

the adventure genre are action-packed, feature a hero on a mission, and

are often set in exotic locales during the journey times.

In the adventure fiction, there is always an identifiable hero, a

character whom readers like and to whom they relate. Through ingenuity and

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hallmark of the adventure genre. Although inroads have been made by

women, as will be seen below, this remains a male-dominated genre; he is a

strong, honorable man, committed to his assigned mission. Both physical and

intellectual skills are required: the hero must act to accomplish his mission,

but he must also be able to figure out the puzzles along the way (Saricks 19).

As Cawelti said that the true focus of interest in the adventure story is the

character of hero and the nature of the obstacle he has to overcome (40).

2.1.2 New Criticism

New Criticism is a means of criticism which emphasizes

explication, or "close reading," of "the work itself." It discards old

historicism‘s attention to biographical and sociological matters. Instead, the

objective determination as to "how a piece work" can be found through

close focus and analysis, rather than through extraneous and erudite

special knowledge (Abrams 180-181).

Furthermore, the function of new critics is to examine the relationships

between a text's ideas and its form, between what a text says and the way it

says it. Tension, irony, or paradox in this relation are might found in New

Critics , but they usually determine it into unity and coherence of

meaning (Biddle 100). Readers using patterns of sound, imagery, narrative

structure, point of view, and other techniques visible on close reading of the

text to find out the meaning and suitability of these to the independent

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criticism is only the text itself. In interpreting literary works, the readers‗ do

not need to know about author‗s life, biography, whether the text is related

or a manifestation of author‗s experience. Readers do not need to

observe how the author is, the special character of particular author

writing, diaries, etc. For New Critics, it doesn‘t need all the aspect outside the

text to understand the text because they don‘t give the influence in

interpretation.

Biddle asserts that the purpose of New Criticism is to make

known the construction of art and its interrelationship and to find out

the idea developed from the work itself. He also mentioned that the New

Criticism features the interrelation and interconnection of each element to

reflect the work‗s as the main idea, thus the elements and the form of the

work cannot be separable. To realize overall meaning or the form of a work,

all the elements must be analyze and integrated first. According to Hamalian

and Karl (vii), the basic elements of a fiction consist of, plot, setting,

characters, mood and atmosphere, and style, point of view and themes

(43-44) .

2.1.2.1 Character

The significant part that need in literature is Character. According to

Abrams (1999:32) Characters are the persons represented in a dramatic or

narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with

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the persons say and their distinctive ways of saying it—the dialogue— and

from what they do—the action. It means that the characters in novel can be

stated as a verbal representative of human being because the characters in

novel can do action, speech and qualities like people in real life and also pass

the way of the life of real human Character is the single most important

intrinsic element in the literary works. The things that characters do and say

are more obvious than are the logic and meaning of the pattern in which they

say and do them. Character is showing at perpetrator of presented story or the

player of the story, whereas characterization is showing of clear picture about

someone who present in a story. (X.J. Kennedy 47)

2.1.2.2 Characterization

Richard Gill said in his book, Mastering English Literature, that a

character is a person in literary work; characterization is the way in which

character is constructed. Characters are all the result of characterization.

Characters are what they like because the way they have been made. The kind

of conversation they have, the things they do, their appearance and so on are

the particular ways in which the author has chosen to characterize of his or her

character (25).

Characterization includes both descriptions of a character's physical

attributes as well as the character's personality. It can be said that the way that

characters act, think, and speak also adds to their characterization. Character

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Tomlinson says that characterization refers to the way an author helps the

reader to know a character. By this characterization the authors try to describe

the physical appearance and personality of characters in their works (29).

There are two types of characterization, direct characterization and indirect

characterization. According to Bernardo direct characterization refers to what

speaker or narrator directly says or thinks about character, the reader is told

what the character is like. Meanwhile, indirect characterization refers to what

the character says or does. The reader then infers what the character is all

about, the reader who is obligated to figure out what the character is like.

Holman also states that there are three fundamental methods of

characterization in fiction: (1) direct exposition from the explicit appearance

by the author of the character, both in an preliminary block or more often

piecemeal throughout the work, illustrated by action; (2) the presentation of

the character in action, with little or no explicit comment by the author, in the

expectation that the reader will be able to deduce the attributes of the actor

from the actions; and (3) the representation from within a character, without

comment on the character by the author, of the impact of actions and emotions

upon the character's inner self, with the expectation that the reader will come

to a clear understanding of the attributes of the character (76).

F.C Lucas divides methods to understand the characterization, they

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1. Direct statement of the author, the author through the power of

omniscience may explain what wants to know about the character to

public.

2. Action, what a person does in the story often give the public imminent

into his very nature and from this insight public can know and create

an opinion about him.

3. Speech, from the character‘s speech public study his or her culture and

natural environment. Frequently it reveals the way he thinks about

people and thinks.

4. Reaction from others. This method often includes a prejudiced view.

Public will get a unclear picture if the person‘s act talking about the

character has a biased opinion,. Therefore, the trustworthiness of the

character must always be the most important.

5. Environment, the presentations of person‘s surrounding, particularly

those he deliberately chooses, including the recreations authors prefer,

contributes to an understanding character.

2.1.3 Deconstruction of Hero

According to Campbell (263) a hero is a male or a female who

ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of

supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive

victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the

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of his or her everyday life to undergo a journey to a special world where

challenges and fears are overcome in order to secure a quest, which is then

shared with other members of the hero‘s community.

To undergo a special adventure to the special world, a hero requires

special characteristics. In fact, a hero is always special, born to the

world in special circumstances and destined to undergo a special journey,

and back with special rewards. In Western culture, and in any culture, the

hero stories have been part of life since the emergence of the culture

itself (Hourihan 10). The oldest extant written version is The Epic of

Gilgamesh which, according to its English translator, probably belongs to

the third millennium BC (Sandars in Hourihan 10).

Surprisingly, though has undergone thousands of years of history of

storytelling and narrative writing, the presentation of hero has changed

only a little. Hourihan in his book Deconstructing the Hero (2005) lists the

characteristics of heroes commonly found in Western narratives which

occur almost in narratives from any given time. He (9-10) states that

whether it is The Odyssey, Jack andthe Beanstalk, Treasure Island, Doctor

Who, Star Wars, the latest James Bondthriller, or Where the Wild Things

are, the hero story takes the form of a journey and follows an invariable

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a) The hero is white, male, British, American or European, and

usually young. He may be the leader of a group of adventurers go

together with a single male or companion.

b) The hero leaves the civilized order of home to venture into the

wilderness in pursuit of his ambition.

c) The wilderness may be a forest, a fantasy land, another planet, Africa

or some other non-European part of the world, the mean streets of

London or New York, a tropical island, et cetera. It lacks the order and

safety of home. Dangerous and magical things happen there.

d) The hero run into a series of complexityes and also susceptible by

hazardous enemies. These may include dragons or other fantastic

creatures, wild animals, witches, giants, savages, pirates, criminals,

spies, aliens.

e) The hero overcomes these enemies because he is strong, brave,

resourceful, rational and determined to succeed. He may not dispatch

support from wise and generous beings who recognize him for what he

is.

f) The hero achieves his goal which may be golden riches, a treasure with

spiritual significance like the Holy Grail, the rescue of a virtuous

(usually female) prisoner, or the destruction of the enemies which

threaten the safety of home.

g) The hero returns home, perhaps overcoming other threats on the way,

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h) The hero is rewarded. Sometimes this reward is a virtuous and

beautiful woman.

However the characteristics of hero can also be viewed from his

physical, emotional, and social traits attributed to him/her. Further,

Hourihan suggests seven characteristics of the hero related to his race, class

and mastery, gender, age, relationship, rationality, action violence (Hourihan

57-95). These characteristics are more commonly found in action hero story,

they are:

1) Race, the hero is white, and his story inscribes the dominance of white

power and white culture. In those versions of the myth which belong to

the last four hundred years or so, the period of European expansion and

colonialism, white superiority is frequently an explicit theme. However

we may be approaching the time when black heroes are possible in

Western literature, but to date they have been almost a conceptual

contradiction in terms. While black men could be noble, in the

tradition of the ‗noble savage‘, like Timothy in Theodore Taylor‘s

perceptive children‘s book, The Cay[1969], they could not be heroes.

2) Class and mastery, one aspect of that identity, as we have seen, is a

matter of race but the hero is also dominant over the lower orders of

his own people. He is the symbol of elite. In early legends he is

typically a king or a prince, the leader and representative of his people,

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children‘s stories have moved beyond a preoccupation with social

position but this is not the case with fantasy and science fiction where

it is common to find pseudo-mediaeval societies and aristocratic

heroes.

3) Gender, the hero typically avoids any significant sexual involvement

for such a relationship would compromise his dedication to his

mission, and one of the attributes of maleness, as defined by the story,

is contempt for such involvement, a preference for the sublimation

provided by action and male bonding. Hero stories inscribe the

male/female dualism, asserting the male as the norm, as what it means

to be human, and defining the female as other— deviant, different,

dangerous.

The essence of the hero‘s masculinity is his assertion of control

over himself, his environment and his world. The world of these texts

is a place of Manichean opposites: monsters exist and must be

opposed. The hero‘s life, therefore, consists of a succession of

struggles. His struggle is with his own unconscious as much as with

external opponents: he puts down the things which rise from the inner

darkness, because to him they are enemies. Emotions and imagination

threaten his control, and threaten to come between him and his goal;

therefore they too must be suppressed.

4) Age, Heroes are young. In most versions of the myth there is no

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and readers are not invited to consider further. Where images of old

heroes do occur they are depicted as dissatisfied, dreaming of the past.

The archetypal hero is not merely young, he is essentially adolescent.

Sometimes, in children‘s literature, he is even younger.

5) Relationship, the hero‘s relationships are also typically adolescent.

This is inherent in the linearity of the story, for as he a journey

relentlessly onward he meets people, spends a little time with them,

and then leaves them behind, especially the women he encounters.

6) Rationality, Historically the hero opposes the darkness. He stands for

the power of reason, the transforming strength of human intellectual

energy. But while reason and its products, science and technology,

have produced innumerable benefits, the exaltation of reason, which

has been the primary characteristic of Western culture since the

Enlightenment, has encouraged a corresponding devaluing of emotion

and imagination and a profound fear of the unconscious.

7) Action and violence, The hero is a man of action and it is in action that

he expresses his nature—skill, courage, dominance and determination.

He is neither contemplative nor creative. He marches onward, and

when he encounters a dragon or a difficulty he deals with it. In some

versions of the story it is action itself, as much as the final goal, which

is the point of the quest. Action involving an extreme level of skill or

great danger is depicted as providing extraordinary fulfillment akin to

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2.1.4. Review of related studies

There are some researchers who have analyzed about the hero, but the hero

of these researchers is a man who has passed the three stages of heroic journey.

But, this analysis will be need to be added in order to get the proper information

about the hero. Because not only a man called a hero but also a girl who is

immature can be called as a hero. So, there are two undergraduate theses which

are analyses The Golden Compass Novel. firstly, the udergraduate thesis written

by Mahardi Eka Putra, 2009, a student in Department of English Literature,

Faculty Of Letters, State University Of Malang entitled, “Human/Daemon: The

Role As Human Alter-ego Depicted In Daemon Of The Golden Compass” that

analyzed The Golden Compass Novel also. However the scope and the aim of this

study are on the analysis of archetypal criticism toward the concept of daemon by

using Carl Jung's theory of individuation process. This analysis begins by

analyzing the daemon as the alter ego of the human, then examining the roles of

daemon in the relationship of human and daemon through the theory of Jung's

archetypes; the ego, persona, shadow, animus/anima, or the self, which can be

found in the details of this daemon conception. This analysis is done in sequence

since the individuation process also happens sequentially in a human. This

analysis aims to proof the role of alter ego in the depiction of daemon. The

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but this study will be differences with previous study, because this study will be

focuses on Margery Hourihan theory in analyzing and re-defining the hero pattern

of Lyra as identifiable hero in the novel.

Besides, a thesis which is written by Gatriciya Rachman, 2014, a student

in Department of English Literature, Faculty of Letters, State University of

Yogyakarta entitled, The Archetypes of Hero and Hero’s Journey in Five

Grimm’s Fairy Tales has the similar approach in using theory. However, The

focus of the researchwill be on finding the recurrent patterns of the

presentation of hero and hero‘sjourney in Grimm‘s fairy tales and Campbell ‗s

Theory of the Archetypes of Hero and Hero‘s Journey is mainly use in the

research. So, truly it is different from this study which is more focus in use

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CHAPTER 3 ANALYSIS

The Golden Compass is an adventure fiction which is written by Phillip

Pullman. It tells about Lyra as the main character in this novel is taking her

journey to the Northern Lights (Bolvangar and Svalbard). Lyra is doing some

mission such as rescuing her best friend, Roger Parslow and the missing

Gyptians‘s children abducted by the Gobblers in Bolvangar and also rescue Lord

Asriel who is imprisoned in Svalbard by bears since the church against his

experiments on ‗Dust‘ and also give the alethiometer to Lord Asriel in which she

thinks it is needed by him to expose Dust. Even though Lyra is only a child and

not fully developed as a mature, but she can do her dangerous adventure. Thus,

the identifiable hero and protagonist character in this adventure novel is Lyra

Belacqua.

Conforming that, there will be two analyses in this chapter. Firstly, this

study will analyze how Lyra‘s figure as identifiable hero from the description of

her physical-packed and action-packed in the novel by using theory of characters

and characterization along with the concept of formula of adventure story by John

G Cawelti, especially about hero to find that Lyra is a hero in the novel. After

describing Lyra‘s character, the result will support the next analysis as the main

analysis of this study. Secondly, the deconstruction analysis is the main analysis

of this study. Lyra as a hero is different from the most identical hero, for that

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heroic journey to the Northern Lights and how she leads herself as a hero by using

Margery Hourihan‘s theory of deconstructing of the hero. Thus, the important key

of deconstruction analysis in this study is to redefine the hero‘s perception in the

adventure fiction especially in Lyra‘s character from The Golden Compass novel.

3.1 Character’s analysis

This part explains about Lyra‘s character. The story of The Golden

Compass is conveyed by a third person omniscient narrator. This means that the

narrator is not a character in the story, just a voice that distinguishes everything

that‘s going on in the story. The narrator bonds close to Lyra and only tells us

what does occur around her. However, the description of Lyra‘s character is not

only visible from the narrator, but also from her actions and characters around her.

3.1.1 Lyra is an uneducated but a curious girl

In the first chapter of The Golden Compass Lyra Belacqua is a lawbreaker

in the “Retiring Room” of the University of Jordan,

“Crouching behind the high table, Lyra darted along and through the door

into the Retiring Room, where she stood up and looked around. The only light in here came from the fireplace, where a bright blaze of logs settled slightly as she looked, sending a fountain of sparks up into the chimney. She had lived most of her life in the College, but had never seen the Retiring Room before: only Scholars and their guests were allowed in here, and never females. Even the maidservants didn't clean in here. That

was the Butler's job alone. Pantalaimon settled on her shoulder.” (Pullman

4)

The quotation above show that Lyra breaks several norms: she is an

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males. Compare for being allowed to be alive in this room she seems to be weak

enough and thus her compromise to enter this room is done in terms of sneakiness

and investigation. Lyra expresses a hope in cruising and tries to hide her existence

despite the tremendous hope of being able to stay unharmed in the room as show

in the quotation below:

“Lyra and her daemon moved through the darkening hall, taking care to

keep to one side, out of sight of the kitchen. The three great tables that ran the length of the hall were laid already, the silver and the glass catching what little light there was, and the long benches were pulled out ready for the guests. Portraits of former Masters hung high up in the gloom along the walls. Lyra reached the dais and looked back at the open kitchen door, and, seeing no one, stepped up beside the high table. The places here were laid with gold, not silver, and the fourteen seats were not oak benches but mahogany chairs with velvet cushions. Lyra stopped beside the Master's chair and flicked the biggest glass gently with a fingernail. The sound rang

clearly through the hall” (4)

On the other hand, the sounds indicate the need to do a force, or for her to

be in a powerful or a strong position (male/adult) position. She is realizes that she

is wrong but shortly she ignores the dangers that is being discover. Her daemon

Pantalaimon (Pan) mediates:

“You're not taking this seriously,” whispered her daemon. “Behave yourself.”

Her daemon's name was Pantalaimon, and he was currently in the form of a moth, a dark brown one so as not to show up in the darkness of the hall.

“They're making too much noise to hear from the kitchen,” Lyra

whispered back. “And the Steward doesn't come in till the first bell. Stop fussing.”

But she put her palm over the ringing crystal anyway, and Pantalaimon fluttered ahead and through the slightly open door of the Retiring Room at the other end of the dais. After a moment he appeared again.

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Crouching behind the high table, Lyra darted along and through the door into the Retiring Room, where she stood up and looked around. The only light in here came from the fireplace, where a bright blaze of

logs settled slightly as she looked, sending a fountain of sparks up into the chimney. She had lived most of her life in the College, but had never seen the Retiring Room before: only Scholars and their guests were allowed in here, and never females. Even the maidservants didn't clean in here. That was the Butler's job alone.

Pantalaimon settled on her shoulder.

“Happy now? Can we go?” he whispered. “Don't be silly! I want to look around!” (4)

This is an act of controlling Lyra‘s aim. Here Pantalaimon is an alternate

for adult authority, and since Pantalaimon is the right figure as belief, or soul, his

worry for Lyra‘s defense is symbolizes the extent to which Lyra‘s position can be

controlled and strong. In this novel, Pullman spends the time in creating Pan as

the place and center of Lyra‘s belief, as shown in this quotation:

“You're a coward, Pan.”

“Certainly I am. May I ask what you intend to do? Are you going to leap

out and snatch the glass from his trembling fingers? What did you have in

mind?”

“I didn't have anything in mind, and well you know it,” she snapped quietly. “But now I've seen what the Master did, I haven't got any choice. You're supposed to know about conscience, aren't you? How can I just go and sit in the library or somewhere and twiddle my thumbs, knowing what's going to happen? I don't intend to do that, I promise you.” (7).

Here, rather than free or abandoned, Lyra‘s self confidence (her

consciousness of her own actions) are get from Pan as an adult imitation and

suggestion. Although Pan and Lyra‘s actions look contradictory here In the novel,

but it illustrates that the actions of Lyra and Pan cannot be easily considered

individually but constitutes a whole and interconnected whole. For this reason

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hearing Pan‘s sound. He acts as a ethical guide and tells Lyra‘s thoughts. In this

case at the time after Pantalaimon asked Lyra to be careful, she becomes attentive

of her own fault. Lyra can describe and distinguishes the portraits of scientists or

scholars (adult male authority figures) in the room in view of her actions as shown

in this quotation:

“She sat in one of the green leather armchairs. It was so deep she

found herself nearly lying down, but she sat up again and tucked her legs under her to look at the portraits on the walls. More old Scholars,

probably; robed, bearded, and gloomy, they stared out of their frames in

solemn disapproval.” (4).

Lyra‘s thinking that adult‘s strengths are on a mission is supporting by

Pantalaimon‘s voice, that sound is reprimand from previous warnings in following

Lyra‘s apparent actions. Lyra is sincerely rejects adult‘s authority and tests her

own limits of power through her exploration – Lyra enters the adult word

unhurriedly.

There is a change of tone directly when the threats it finds increasingly

visible. Instead of open rejection and a reluctance to acknowledge her adventures,

Lyra secretly avoids the detection when the Master and his servant enter the room:

“What d'you think they talk about?” Lyra said, or began to say, because

before she'd finished the question she heard voices outside the door.

“Behind the chair—quick!” whispered Pantalaimon, and in a flash Lyra

was out of the armchair and crouching behind it. It wasn't the best one for hiding behind: she'd chosen one in the very center of the room, and unless she kept very quiet...

“The door opened, and the light changed in the room; one of the incomers

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his legs, in their dark green trousers and shiny black shoes. It was a servant. Then a deep voice said, “Has Lord Asriel arrived yet?” (4).

Here the threat of detection alters Lyra‘s comfort in the room. Before the

Master enters the room Lyra seats herself in the center of the room in a chair

reserved for scholars. At this moment she visualizes what it might be like to live a

more powerful subject-position. When the room is reclaimed by the Master of

Jordan, an adult male presence, she is jailed to her hiding place,

“The Butler bowed slightly and turned to leave, his daemon trotting obediently after him. From her Not-much-of-a-hiding place Lyra watched as the Master went to a large oak wardrobe in the corner of the room, took his gown from a hanger, and pulled it laboriously on. The Master had been a powerful man, but he was well over seventy now, and his movements were stiff and slow. The Master's daemon had the form of a raven, and as soon as his robe was on, she jumped down from the wardrobe and settled

in her accustomed place on his right shoulder.” (5)

While the Master waits in the room the extent of Lyra‘s power is limited,

but her aim (to investigate, or to achieve knowledge) still the same. Similarly, it is

her aim which brings her into a space where conflict is potential – while Lyra does

not necessarily need conflict she is aware that conflict is a possible result of her

aims. In both cases, whether acting out when an adult presence is not readily

monitoring her actions, or avoiding notice by an adult presence, the adolescent is

limited either in variance or magnitude of available actions. In the case that Lyra‘s

action is severely limited, as it is when the Master enters the room, her intent

becomes nearly deviate. She stops stirring and investigating in order to cover and

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aspects. It does not matter what the adolescent would like to do so long as he/she

is unable to act on this wish.

By the end of the wardrobe scene Lyra has fallen asleep, she is so happily

posed in this room for children that she loses her ability to detect the adult world –

the maneuver of adult issues seems to have moved beyond Lyra, and she is once

again more child than adult. Confirmation of this return to childhood comes as

Lyra is reproving when she asks to further her participation in adult dealings.

When she asks to go along with him on his mission to the north, Lord Asriel tells

Lyra:

“You're not coming, child. Put it out of your head; the times are too

dangerous. Do as you're told and go to bed, and if you're a good girl, I'll bring you back a walrus tusk with some Eskimo carving on it. Don't argue

anymore or I shall be angry.”

And his daemon growled with a deep savage rumble that made Lyra suddenly aware of what it would be like to have teeth meeting in her throat. She compressed her lips and frowned hard at her uncle. He was pumping the air from the vacuum flask, and took no notice; it was as if he'd already forgotten her. Without a word, but with lips tight and eyes narrowed, the girl and her daemon left and went to bed. (20)

Lord Asriel distinguishes this fact and tries to reinstate Lyra‘s social

-hierarchical place. He prohibits her from his journey to the Bolvangar and

Svalbard. He calls Lyra “child,” and “girl” for making sure to place her through

her subject‘s position, supporting the identified in limitations of her age and

gender. He reminds her thoughts which are contrary to previously founded

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cause for her prohibiting, implying that her subject-position as a girl or as a child

stops her from facing danger. He calls on adult language like,

“Good. But I've scotched him for now. Do as you're told and go to bed.”

(20)

In order to repress Lyra‘s ambition and curiosity. He offers a gift with

slight price to calm her down, and damages these faces up to control her, he picks

once again to dangers “I shall be angry” (Pullman 20). This dialogue is proposed

to control Lyra‘s natural curiosity (mission of wakefulness, especially of the

North) and adjust her to childish thoughts. The function of the dialogue is for

guidelines of admiration and agreement, it forces and warns to achieve these

goals, and because Lyra is still young.

3.1.2 Lyra is an immature girl

Lyra‘s innocence and immaturityis side of Lyra‘s character and it is most

clearly seen at Jordan College. This is the “world” in which we understand best

about Lyra‘s innocence and immaturity as it was her childish pleasure at Jordan

College. For years spent at the college she needed the love of a mother and father

because she believes that her parents were killed in an accident when she was

young. The scholars at the college are all Lyra has for family. However they

never attended to her pities. Consequently, Lyra is not gived with any paternal

love from any of the scholars at Jordan College. Because of this Lyra misbehaves

at the college by participating in tricks in order to feel a sense of fellowship with

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her friend Roger and spitting plum stones on the Scholars, stealing apples from

the market, and participating in feuds with the other colleges. This is all part of

Lyra‘s “wild,” immature, and selfish behavior. Lyra had remained like a “half

-wild cat” at Jordan College because of being without a mother and a father.

Lyra‘s need for parental help is involve her bad activities. Even though

this behavior appears as misbehavior when seen through the eyes of the Scholars

at the college, it is the result of Lyra‘s innocence. Lyra looks for guidance and

family. By her naughty behavior, Lyra believes that she will form a community

for herself at the college which will be her family.

Despite Lyra‘s immature behavior and selfish acts, the pranks and

naughtiness that Lyra contributes in at Jordan College are a part of her way of

enjoying life. As much as she likes spending her time at the college with a lot of

fun and cheats people as shown in this quotation:

“That was Lyra's world and her delight. She was a coarse and

greedy little savage, for the most part. But she always had a dim sense Had

a dim sense that it wasn‘t her whole world…and that somewhere in her life

there was a connection with the high world of politics represented by Lord Asriel. All she did with that knowledge was to give her airs and lord it

over the other urchins. It had never occurred to her to find out more.” (24)

Although Lyra understands that there is more to Jordan College outside

her pranks, she prefers to be unconscious with the issue such as politics that

related in college. This further demonstrates Lyra‘s innocence because does not

know the difficulties of the world outside her world at Jordan College. She forms

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Additionally, Lyra begins to confuse with her immature behavior by the

lies she says to. When her uncle Lord Asriel asks her as to how she spends her

time at the College. As she spends most of the time on the roofs of the college

with Roger and playing a part in pranks:

“Dirty,” said Lord Asriel, pushing her hands away. “Don't they make you wash in this place?”

“Yes,” she said. “But the Chaplain's fingernails are always dirty. They're even dirtier than mine.”

“He's a learned man. What's your excuse?”

“I must've got them dirty after I washed.”

“Where do you play to get so dirty?”

She looked at him suspiciously. She had the feeling that being on the roof

was forbidden, though no one had actually said so. “In some of the old

rooms,” she said finally.” (25)

Lyra uses dishonesty to keep her out of trouble. However, she does not

know the extent of the consequences caused by her lies. It is because of her lack

of knowledge of the damage that lies cause that we can say her innocence is most

clearly in this point.

From all the definition and analyses about Lyra‘s characterization above,

this can be written that Lyra is doubtful character to be a hero because she is still

young and immature according to the narrator, her actions and characters around

her. She also avoids doing anything without suggestion and help from her daemon

Pantalaimon. However, along her heroic journey to the Bolvangar and Svalbard

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the novel. Therefore, the next analysis is consisting of hero characteristics or hero

pattern in Lyra. The main focus of next analysis is to change hero‘s perception

that an immature girl is can be called as a hero like a strong and honorable man.

3.2. Lyra as a Hero based on Cawelti’s formula of adventure story

Before this study explains more about Lyra as a hero in the novel,

Campbell was defined that hero is someone who has given his life over to

someone or something bigger than himself. In Franz‘s words, a hero is

abnormal, divine, beyond human limitations, even in novels and films, the

hero is someone who has found or done something beyond the normal range

of achievement and experience (165). That definition is not commonly

suitable with Lyra‘s character because actually Lyra is normal girl with her

curiosity and innocence as children usually do. Then, although in the first

chapter Lyra described as an innocence girl, but her character‘s development

from the beginning of her experience and mission to the Bolvangar and

Svalbard is show that Lyra is a hero of the story, as Cawelti said that the true

focus of interest in the adventure story is the character of hero and the nature

of the obstacle he has to overcome (40).

In spite of the fact that the narrator only very seldom leaves Lyra‘s

side, one is never given any purportedly true information which, in the course

of the novel, then turns out to be wrong and little more than the hero‘s

subjective perception. Therefore, the reader may also trust the narrator‘s

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eyes of the authorial narrator, one may regard this as a fact within the opus

reality.

There are a lot of people argue that the young girl must have fear at a

high level and with high intensity and that this is not quite match with

described as hero. Nevertheless, one should not be sure to say that Lyra is not

necessarily always afraid for herself. At the beginning of the novel, for

instance, the girl is anxious for Lord Asriel (Pullman 9), while later on, her

main fear is directed towards her friend Roger who is disappeared (Pullman

60). Despite this moment of full fear, however, Lyra do whatever is needed in

order to accomplish her heroic ambitions, this act is a hassle to take control of

her panic.

3.2.1 Lyra is an optimist girl in completing her heroic mission to the Bolvangar and Svalbard

As Cawelti said in the chapter two that the hero must completes his

problem in the heroic mission, then starting from this passage this study will show

that Lyra can be supposed to this character stereotype of a hero. Firstly, although

all the difficulties Lyra meets during her heroic journey Lyra is portrayed as a

really optimist little girl. This fact rejects the perception that say hero is abnormal

because in the previous definition of Lyra‘s character, Lyra was described as a

normal child with her innocence and curiosity but in the progress of the story Lyra

is enthusiastic for information and attracted in things which actually are none of

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Scholars try to teach the young girl, she is devoted to learn about Dust and another

world. The process of finding out about things that interest for her can be seen as a

kind of mission for knowledge and this is very important to her. So that, this must

surely be considered as a marking that she is a heroic character.

From Lyra‘s own way Lyra be able to control herself, this becomes very

clear when Lyra gets herself at Bolvangar, as show in this quotation:

It wasn not Lyra‘s way to brood; she was a sanguine and practical

child, and besides, she wasn,t imaginative. No one with much imagination would have thought seriously that it was possible to come all this way and rescue her friend Roger; or, having thought it, an imaginative child would immediately have come up with several ways in which it was impossible.

Being a practiced liar doesn‘t mean you have a powerful imagination.

Many good liars have no imagination at all; it‘s that which gives their lies such wide-eyed conviction. So now that she was in the hands of the

Oblation Board, Lyra didn‘t fret herself into terror about what had

happened to the gyptians. They were all good fighters, and even though Pantalaimon said he‘d seen John Faa shot, he might have been mistaken;

or if he wasn‘t mistaken, John Faa might not have been seriously hurt. It had been bad luck that she‘d fallen into the hands of the Samoyeds, but the

gyptians would be along soon to rescue her, and if they couldn‘t manage it, nothing would stop Iorek Byrnison from getting her out; and then

they‘d fly to Svalbard and rescue Lord Asriel. (247)

Because a hero does not only require the certain abilities which make him

or her better-quality to his enemies, but may also be as important– the strength

and confidence necessary to keep on fighting against crime even if reaction

happens from time to time, so that Lyra‘s optimism act is perhaps one of the

confirmations for behaviors that characterize her as a hero,. Lyra also shows this

trait at the end of story, when she loses her best friend Roger because she and Pan

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feeling sorry for herself and being final motivation, Lyra wants to go to the world

behind the Bolvangar and Svalbard, find out about Dust and “do better next time”

(Pullman 398).

This part very well explains Lyra‘s practice of tricks up her own courage,

as show in this quotation:

The alethiometer had indicated something and unnatural, which

was alarming; but who was she? Lord Ariel‘s daughter. And who was

under her command? A mighty bear. How could she possibly show any

fear? […] She was horribly nervous. […] There was no choice, and

anyway, she didn‟t want the bear to see her being afraid. He had spoken of

mastering his fear: that was what she‟d have to do. (210-212)

Lyra knows she has to control her fear. Northern Lights does not care for

fear to be something impossible or somewhat that should best be reserved secret,

but as something very natural, and this stance towards fear has been preserved for

the narrator‘s potrayal of the hero in the novel. As just described in the novel,

there are bright descriptions of Lyra‘s most afraid moments, and also Iorek

Byrnison, the mighty bear, owns to experiencing situations in which he feels fear.

The main thing is exactly as Iorek once puts it not the escaping or rejection of

one‘s fear but the ability to manage with it and overcome it: “When I am [afraid],

I shall master my fear” (Pullman 209). Being able to overcome one‘s fear means

being courageous.

There is one evidence in the novel in which Lyra looks to almost offer to

her fear for her friend Roger. She recognizes that Roger will probably die and that

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feelings and tries her best to fight for. Lyra‘s courage is increasingly emphasizes

when even the Gyptians, who accompany her on her way to the Northern Lights,

defy not touch the so-called half-boy. They help as Lyra‘s foil characters and do

so successfully. As if this were not enough celebrating the heroic courage, Iorek

chides the gyptians for their cowardly behaviour:

The men held back, fearful; but the bear spoke, to Lyra's weary amazement, chiding them.

“Shame on you! Think what this child has done! You might not have more courage, but you should be ashamed to show less.”

“You're right, lorek Byrnison,” said John Faa, and turned to give orders.

“Build that fire up and heat some soup for the child. For both children. Farder Coram, is your shelter rigged?”

“It is, John. Bring her over and we'll get her warm....”

“And the little boy,” said someone else. “He can eat and get warm, even

if...” (132)

However, apart from her courage, Lyra also can make the other qualities

which make her a hero. On the one hand, she is apparently able to understand with

others and seems to tend to stand up for those people who cannot speak for

themselves. This becomes especially obvious when, after the half-boy‘s death, one

of the Gyptians takes away the dried fish which the boy used as a substitute for his

lost daemon in order to give it to the dogs. When Lyra realizes that the cut boy has

been disadvantaged of his substitute daemon, she becomes absolutely furious and

rebukes the Gyptians for behaving so unkindly and rudely. Lyra shows the same

degree of loyalty when she finds out about what really happens to the children

who are kept at Bolvangar and chooses not only to help the gyptians' children and

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3.2.2 Lyra is an intelligent girl during her heroic mission to the Bolvangar and Svalbard

Secondly, Before Lyra leaves Jordan College; she is neither described as

very intelligent nor as very smart and actually it rejects the idea which is say the

hero is divine or the person who is chosen by God. However, her ability to read

the alethiometer, which is Lyra‘s one talent Northern Lights focuses on, and

only develops after her leaving home, and her looks are only mentioned

with regard to her tattered clothes and her overall state:

“The number of times you been told about going out there—Look at you! Just look at your skirt—it‘s filthy! Take it off at once and wash yourself while I look for something decent that en't torn. Why you can't keep

yourself clean and tidy...” (41)

Even if Lyra does not know about her role as rescuer and her destiny at

that point – and also must not know, as the prophecy about her would have it –,

her main goal is making her way there, and when she learns that the Gobblers

might have taken Roger, her will to leave Jordan College becomes only stronger.

This is best exemplified by looking at the conversation she has with Lord Asriel

before he intends to leave Jordan College and go to the north:

“But where are you going?”

“Back to the North. I'm leaving in ten minutes.” “Can I come?”

Re-defining Hero as depicted in Lyra in Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass.