The Golden Compass Identity Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

She felt angry and miserable. His badger claws dug into the earth and he walked forward. It was such a strange tormenting feeling when your daemon was pulling at the link between you; part physical pain deep in the chest, part intense sadness and love. And she knew it was the same for him. Everyone tested it when they were growing up: seeing how far they could pull apart, coming back with intense relief. (11.116)

Part of growing up is testing boundaries. Lyra and Pan pull apart here but soon realize that they are one and the same.

Quote #8

"My armor is made of sky iron, made for me. A bear's armor is his soul, just as your daemon is your soul. You might as well take him away" – indicating Pantalaimon – "and replace him with a doll full of sawdust. That is the difference. Now where is my armor?" (11.136)

Though bears don't have daemons, they do have armor. Iorek's armor is part of his core identity; without it he feels incomplete.

Quote #9

So as he loped along, his great legs swinging tirelessly, she sat with the movement and said nothing. Perhaps he preferred that anyway, she thought; she must seem a little prattling cub, only just past babyhood, in the eyes of an armored bear.

She had seldom considered herself before, and found the experience interesting but uncomfortable, very like riding the bear, in fact. (12.56-57)

Lyra sees herself here through someone else's eyes (Iorek's), and in doing so she gains a new, not entirely comfortable perspective on herself.