Brian Skrzypek
09/24/15
YA Fiction: #5 The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman: Interview Questions Question #1: While your book has drawn much success, how do you respond to the several critics who bash on your book for being anti-Catholic? Was it an intention to promote Atheism within The Golden Compass? Answer #1: Well...within the story of The Golden Compass, there is a church that has acquired great political power in the same way that some religions in our own world have done at various times. My point is that religion can be at its best when it is farthest away from political power. When religions get hold of great power, they rapidly start to do bad things. For instance, they start religious wars, rule aspects of life, and even condemn people to death. Some people think
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All of these things are good and can relate to things in life. I wanted the book to go against cold-heartedness, tyranny, close-mindedness, cruelty, and things that are just plain bad in the world. I also wanted to show that good always wins against corrupt ways. The bad ways of corrupt organizations, like the Gobblers who took children against their will within the book, will eventually catch up to them. Question #3: How did you come up with the world for The Golden Compass? Answer #3: This is actually interesting because I 've often wondered about this myself *laughs* I think that half of the story might have been just made up on the spot. Examples of this would be the idea of the Daemon companion, where people could have a partner to speak with. With the other half, however, it could have come from some of my experiences with life events. There is not really a definite answer to this question, but I do know that if I try to write things down as I think about them, then a story would eventually settle into place. I try to make sure to do