Believing Like a Child

In class on Monday we talked about of how children believe. I think the beauty of children is that they can believe everything at once. Pullman's book is a good example of how children are free from the boundaries a set belief can create. In this book "God," angels, witches, polar bears with opposable thumbs, magic spells, ghosts, medicine men, and separate universes all exist together. A child doesn't point out that these are conflicting ideas. They just believe that anything is possible. I wish so much that I could still look at the world through the eyes of my nine-year-old self. I wish I could believe in everything without having to judge and question each credence. Today I was watching the news when a story about a little boy who was home alone when a robber tried to break in came on. When the boy was being interviewed the reporter asked what he did. He said that he hid in his room and dialed 911, but if he would have had super powers he would have arrested the bad guy himself. I loved it. I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. This boy made this proclamation with such conviction that it was beyond great. Honestly, I felt so jealous of this boy and I can't even explain why.

My Daemon

After thinking about it for a couple days, I can't decide what kind of daemon I would want. I just can't choose between all of the options. Having a wolf or a hawk would be cool, but there really aren't too many animals I would be disappointed to have. From what I know about myself I would assume I would have some sort of cat as my daemon. I'm very catlike in many ways. I took two separate quizzes on quizilla.com and was told I would have either an ermine or a cougar. The quiz that told me I would have an ermine only asked one question that I thought was poorly worded. The quiz that told me I would have a cougar asked a good amount of questions. I like what the site says about having a cougar, this does match my personality.

"Cougar~ Yay for you...you are a cheerful hyper kind of person...but you do like your space sometimes. Annoying people is fun and you always play fair.....well almost always. You don't like the rat because you think he/she is a cheater and a con. In your opinion."

Dust as God

I found an extremely interesting site in which the discussion of rather dust represents god is debated. It comes down to how you interpret the meaning of "god." Of course dust does not represent the Biblical or Christian version of God, but if you relate god with human consciousness than yes, you could say dust is a "cosmic life-force," or a god. I think the most interesting part of this site is how one decides to interpret what an author is saying. If you believe in something enough, you will always twist things around to fit into your own preconceived notions. Here is a quote from the site that shows how many different ways there are to see what you are reading. The funny thing is, I don't believe in God and yet this quote makes perfect sense to me. The idea of believing in some significant force that makes humans human is not too far fetched. I still don't fully agree, but I like his way of thinking.

"Having read the books from a Christian perspective, I've come to the conclusion that the Authority portrayed in the books is most certainly not God. Instead, the Authority represents all of the cruelties and atrocities committed over the years by people 'in the name of God', such as the Crusades or the Spanish Inquisition. The Authority displays what mankind has turned the idea of God into - a tool for mankind's use. Pullman has also portrayed the true God, in the form of Dust. Dust is the unseen but always present representation of love, conscious thought, and free will. It is what makes us human beings."

http://www.facingthechallenge.org/ppfaq03.php

Religion in His Dark Materials

Though we have been told in class to trust the tale and not the teller, I found it hard after hearing about all of the controversy in the news to not think about Pullman's religious views while reading the book. Since I am not religious, I personally did not find it offensive, but I can see how someone of the Christian religion would. The church and God are the bad guys. If I worshipped a being that someone else portrayed as being a coward who tricks his followers I would probably be upset. Then again, other authors have written books that contain witches or mythological gods/creatures or people who travel to other universes, and no one makes a big deal about those stories. I think it is just human nature to get overly excited about any hint of controversy.

To be agnostic means that you are simply skeptical about rather God exists, it does not involve claiming true atheism. An atheist is one who believes there is no deity. I don't think Pullman's intentions were to change the world's mind about religion. It was just good material for a good book. As a side note, it is interesting that the gnostic gospels are a collection of writings about the teachings of Jesus. And gnosis is the "practical spirituality at the base of all religions."

Lyra and Little Red Riding Hood

I was googling His Dark Materials and found an interesting site (http://www.darkmaterials.com/golinter01.htm) comparing Little Red Riding Hood with Lyra. Though Little Red Riding Hood is a simple fairy tale and His Dark Materials is a complex novel, the similarities are quit obvious. Both stories deal with a young adolescent female confronting the desire for independence, both deal with sexuality, and both deal with the young female being stripped of her innocence. Both characters stray from the safe path. Lyra refused to listen to the people trying to keep her from harms way like L.R.R.H refused to listen to her mother. Both character have "idealized familial figures who turn out to be vicious predators." "Both have corresponding antagonists who destroy the heroine while in the role of her benefactor and protector." Both girls are betrayed by someone they trusted: L.R.R.H. by the wolf and Lyra by both of her parents. Innocence and maturity are the themes in both of these stories. I thought this was an interesting comparison even worthy of a term paper topic.

Similarities between Wonderland & Sunderland

One of the main relationships between Alice in Wonderland and Alice in Sunderland is how both characters go through similar mood swings. Both Alice and the actor in Sunderland go from high to low in seconds. They both question themselves too often. For example, when Alice meets Tweedledum and Tweedledee they easily make her cry by saying that she might not be real and just a part of the Red King's dream. Yet she doesn't cry when faced with other strange incidences. And the actor breaks down several times during his performance in Sunderland. One moment he'll be performing his play, and the next he's questioning his age or the play itself. Both books are filled with breakdowns.

Favorite Chapter

My favorite chapter in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is Pig & Pepper. I chose this chapter as my favorite because I like the conversation at the end between Alice and the Cheshire-Cat. This conversation seemed to me more dream-like than any other part of the book. First, Alice asks where to go and the cat responds by asking where she wants to go. Alice has no real preference, which is how dreams often are. Does anyone ever know where they should go in a dream? Secondly, I like the way the Cheshire-Cat explains his madness. If a dog is not mad, and it wags its tail when it is happy and growls when it is angry, than a cat must be mad if it growls when it is happy and wags its tail when it is angry. I think it is humorous how something as logical as comparing and contrasting can be so illogical. Thirdly, I like how normal Alice’s reply to the cat’s question about the baby is. "It turned into a pig." There is no need for further explanation because that’s what happened and it’s as simple as that. This is the way dreams come to me. Nothing makes sense and nothing has to.