Authority

Throughout the book, Will and Lyra have conflicts with different kinds of authority and authority figures. Will has spent most of his young life trying to fool the school, social service agencies, friends and neighbors in his efforts to keep his mother safe and to keep the two of them together. He has done this by making himself invisible and unnoticed to the adults around him. Lyra, on the other hand, prefers to lie to the adults she must deal with, and that is how she has handled things for all of her life.

Both styles have their limitations. Will is initiated into a warrior's life quite by accident when the thief in his home falls down the stairs and dies. This is only his first encounter with the kind violence that he must learn to accept—and to use—as he and Lyra protect themselves...