Personal Study †Northern Lights By Stephen Grant Essay

I have recently enjoyed directing a novel by Philip Pullman entitled Northern Lights. The main idea of the novel is nighwhat a girl who is travelling northbound to find her kidnapped friend and other children. She too wanted to give her father something. The novel was a toothsome account of how the girl developed and became wiser throughout the story. The main element of the novel I am leaving to look at is how Lyra develops throughout the course of the novel. Pullman describes the development and determination of the character through characterisation. The author uses impressive skills to develop the protagonist into becoming a wiser, more mature and a more courageous person.At first I found Lyra to be nave and headstrong but as her character develops she learns more about how the world works. There is one thing in her I feel was with her through the novel. This was her courage. I feel that she is consistently courageous to the extent of the plot. Here is quote from the st art of the novel in which her backdrop story is told.She was proud of her colleges eminence and liked to boast of it to various ragamuffins she played with by the line or clay beds.Jordan College adopted Lyra when she was very young as her mother and father had died. She likes to imply of it as her college and is very proud of it. However, she is not educated at the college and there fore has a lot of loose time which she uses to play with street children. This shows her character to be of a young nave and mischievous nature.This succeeding(a) quote shows the characters childish nature.In many ways Lyra was a barbarian. What she liked best was clambering over the college roofs with Roger, the kitchen boy, who was her especial(a) friend.This quote proves that she mass form strong friendships. Another aspect of her character covered by this reference book is her distinct courage and she crawls around the high rooftops of the college. Either this or she is just childlike and d oes not hold the possible consequences of her actions. Interesting vocabulary in this quotation include clambering which suggests to me the impression of a childs clumsy and ungainly movement, barbarian use of this suggests they had their own little tribe and that she was fierce, brutal or a cruel person.Further on in the text Lyra runs away from a woman who captured her and is without delay left on the streets. She is con presented by a drunken man who offers her some brandy and shows a few more of her qualities.Where be you going solely alone like thisGoing to meet my fatherAnd who is he?Hes a murdererAh Youre jokingI entGood night he saidHere she promptly lies to the man and makes up a story about her father so the man will leave her alone. This proves that the man did not fool her and her character has grown from being nave to being sensible and no longer childlike. It also displays her newfound talent for lying. In the quotation she is also using informal language, trying to fit into her surroundings.The next quotation confirms that Lyra is determined to achieve her goal and it also shows her stubbornness.Youve done your part Lyra.But I ent done nothing yet Lyra protested as she followed the others.Lyra has joined with The Gyptians she is trying to convince them to go north with her to try and find the kidnapped children. The Gyptians disagree and tell her it would be too dangerous for her to go. However, she rebels and ends up forcing her way with them. This shows stubbornness, her determination to achieve her goal and again her courage.Near the completion of the story, Lyra is in the prison camp and is trying to listen into a conversation through the air duct above the room.Lyra was trembling. The blood was pounding in her earsShe is listening in on the conversation and finds out about all the terrible thing they do to children there but she keeps listening until they leave. This demonstrates that she is fearful in some ways but she can control t his fear and listen on. This reveals that she is brave and courageous. She gathers a group together so they can make do now she knows what would happen to them. This proves she has strong leadership qualities. When everyone agrees to go with her they promptly escape from the camp.The next quote establishes that she is a wide awake thinker.A movement later she had turned on all the gas taps and flung a match at the go aboutest burner.This is a quote from a class of the book where Lyra is destroying a building as a distraction so they can escape from the camp. It shows gravid creativity and a benefit of her patchwork upbringing, where she has learned a few useful things. I think this was one good quality that she learned from when playing with her friends.The following quote also shows that she is a quick thinker and creative.Then she dragged a bag of flour from the shelf and hurled it at the edge of the table so it burst and filled the air with white, because she heard that flo ur will explode if treated like that near flames.I feel that the use of the word white is effective because it describes the atmosphere in the room at that time. It would have made it feel like there was a curtain of mist in front of them and may have made them feel claustrophobic and confused.The next quotes describes Lyras patchwork upbringing.Lyras experience has great gaps in it, like a map of the world largely eaten by mice.This highlights that she has had education puke together by small pieces of information and learns things as she goes along. The quote is a effective example of this because you can just imagine the world with pieces of the map missing, like he education. This quote is also a simile.From my study of characterisation of Lyra, I have concluded that throughout the course of the novel she matures significantly as a person. Her initial character features were navet, being headstrong, being childlike and being courageous. These are now replaced by characteristic s such as maturity, courage and sensibility. I think that the author has employed great skill and achieved a great goal in the creation of Lyra.