RosieWildsmith
August 12th, 2011, 7:05 pm
I don't know if anyone has read Philip Pullman's His Dark materials series (a trilogy of books the first of which is called Northern Lights and was filmed, rather badly I might add, as the US title The Golden Compass)
It strikes me that rather a lot of comparisons could be drawn. As I mentioned in another thread, there are creatures similar to Dementors in the books, they are called Spectres, and they pretty much do exactly what Dementors do - they suck the hope, joy and awareness out of a person. In common with Dementors, they don't actually kill a person, but what they leave behind is just an empty shell.
In addition there is a prophecy in each of the books about the protagonist. In HDM we are repeatedly told "The witches have a prophecy about the child..." it's not until quite late in the series that we learn what the prophecy is. There's less foreshadowing in HP, but there is of course the prophecy made by Sybil Trelawney about Harry. Both prophecies are about the fact that these children will be instrumental in changing the world (in Lyra's case, the multiverse) forever.
You could compare Both Lyra and Will with Harry, in different ways. As Harry is chosen to bear the Sword of Gryffindor (inheriting it in Dumbledore's will) and also becomes master of the elder wand, in HDM, Will becomes the bearer of the subtle knife. Neither of them wanted to be "chosen" for the task they were chosen for - they were unwilling heroes.
Also, Lyra at the beginning believes her parents died "in a zeppelin crash", just as Harry is told his parents died in a car crash. Lyra subsequently finds her parents, but believes for a long time that she is an orphan, just as Harry is an orphan.
Mrs Coulter (Lyra's mother) actually dies for Lyra in the end, just as Lily died for Harry. Mrs Coulter is cast as a horrible, cruel person while Lily seems to have been beloved of everyone who knew her...but towards the end of the series, Mrs Coulter tells us she has begun to unexpectedly love Lyra and throws herself into the abyss to save her. Like Lily, she knew that she would die by her actions, but her love for her child was stronger than her fear of death in the end.
If you've read both series, what do you think? Can you spot any comparisons I have missed?
It strikes me that rather a lot of comparisons could be drawn. As I mentioned in another thread, there are creatures similar to Dementors in the books, they are called Spectres, and they pretty much do exactly what Dementors do - they suck the hope, joy and awareness out of a person. In common with Dementors, they don't actually kill a person, but what they leave behind is just an empty shell.
In addition there is a prophecy in each of the books about the protagonist. In HDM we are repeatedly told "The witches have a prophecy about the child..." it's not until quite late in the series that we learn what the prophecy is. There's less foreshadowing in HP, but there is of course the prophecy made by Sybil Trelawney about Harry. Both prophecies are about the fact that these children will be instrumental in changing the world (in Lyra's case, the multiverse) forever.
You could compare Both Lyra and Will with Harry, in different ways. As Harry is chosen to bear the Sword of Gryffindor (inheriting it in Dumbledore's will) and also becomes master of the elder wand, in HDM, Will becomes the bearer of the subtle knife. Neither of them wanted to be "chosen" for the task they were chosen for - they were unwilling heroes.
Also, Lyra at the beginning believes her parents died "in a zeppelin crash", just as Harry is told his parents died in a car crash. Lyra subsequently finds her parents, but believes for a long time that she is an orphan, just as Harry is an orphan.
Mrs Coulter (Lyra's mother) actually dies for Lyra in the end, just as Lily died for Harry. Mrs Coulter is cast as a horrible, cruel person while Lily seems to have been beloved of everyone who knew her...but towards the end of the series, Mrs Coulter tells us she has begun to unexpectedly love Lyra and throws herself into the abyss to save her. Like Lily, she knew that she would die by her actions, but her love for her child was stronger than her fear of death in the end.
If you've read both series, what do you think? Can you spot any comparisons I have missed?