Lyra: The Child of Prophecy
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Lyra: The Child of Prophecy · Lorne Balfe
The Musical Anthology of His Dark Materials (Music from the Television Series)
PROPHECY
In storytelling, the protagonist often experiences events that mirror that of prominent biblical figures. It seems fundamental to storytelling that some individual is destined to do the thing that causes significant change. Rarely in literature and pop culture, particularly media directed towards children, are we as the audience empowered to be the change we want to see. It is rarely the common masses that bring about reform; nay, it seems the revolution must always begin with a Harry, or Neo, or Skywalker, or Lyra.
Prophecy in Literature
Prophecy is a popular theme in literature, perhaps even required given the amount of storytelling that is based around the prophetic “chosen one”. If the outcome is not determined, then it must be random, and randomness reduces the dignity of free will (Cowburn). It may be that stories are just not as interesting without the drama surrounding predestination. If the protagonist will realize their destiny and fulfill their calling, like Harry Potters defeat of Voldemort, or Neo’s manipulation of the matrix, or will they rebel against the doom and gloom predictions and come out victorious changing their destiny and saving the world as the antichrist Adam Young did in Good Omens, or as Lyra is attempting to do in His Dark Materials.
In His Dark Materials, Lyra is prophesized as the second Eve who is "destined to bring about the end of destiny"(Pullman). That the destruction of destiny itself is the ultimate end goal shows another glimpse into Phillip Pullman’s contempt for religion that he expresses so well through surrogate characters in his novels, such an ex-nun turned scientist condemning Christianity as a “very powerful and convincing mistake” (Miller).
Paradise Found
Phillip Pullman was heavily inspired by the work Paradise Lost by John Milton (Robinson) and as a result, in His Dark Materials, he frames the story of Adam and Eve quite differently (Milton and Pullman). Eve’s eating of the apple from the tree of knowledge is not the cause of original sin as in the Book of Genesis, but rather the liberation of all knowledge and awareness released into the world. “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and your daemons shall assume their true form, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Pullman). When Eve eats the apple she introduces Dust into the world and thus expanding knowledge and awareness to all corners. Had Eve not eaten the apple, she and Adam would still be in the garden in a childlike state of ignorance and all world's knowledge would be frozen within the tree (Sparks notes).
For Eve, the enticing serpent, perhaps even Eve’s daemon in non-corporeal form, is seen as a liberator, releasing Adam and Eve from their ignorance and spreading knowledge (Dust) throughout the world. Pullman flips this traditional bible story of good and evil on their head by introducing the Church as the evil that wants to restrict the flow and investigation of Dust (knowledge) and propagandizes it as original sin.
Lyra’s prophesized as the second Eve, who is "destined to bring about the end of destiny” by the witch Serafina. She qualifies the prophecy stating “she must do so without knowing what she is doing…If she is told what she must do, it will all fail; death will sweep through all the worlds; it will be a triumph of despair, forever” (Pullman). This prophecy is curious as in order for it to be fulfilled, Lyra must do as Eve had done in the Garden; succumb to temptation and disobey the Lord, but for Lyra, this temptation is the pursuit of Dust, and the Lord is the Magisterium.