Philp Pullman's His Dark Materials

by Leonard F. Wheat

Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy is one of the most popular fantasy works of our time. Both the trilogy and the movies based on it are being marketed chiefly as YA (young adult) fare. But Leonard F. Wheat shows in this fascinating analysis that His Dark Materials is far more than a YA tale. At a deeper level it is a complex triple allegory—a surface story that uses 231 symbols to tell three hidden stories. As such, it is among the most profound, intellectually challenging, and thoroughly adult works ever written.
Wheat brings the hidden stories to light. He demonstrates how Pullman retells two prominent works of British literature—C. S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and John Milton's Paradise Lost. Pullman's aim is to counter Lewis's pro-Christian allegory with his own anti-Christian allegory. Pullman does this in his second allegory by turning Paradise Lost upside down. Satan and his daughter, Sin, along with Adam's murderous son Cain, become heroes; God and Jesus become villains. This retold story depicts our society's warfare between knowledge (symbolized by Dust) and religious superstitions (symbolized by Specters). Pullman adds an original third hidden story featuring Christian missionaries, Charles Darwin, agnostics, and atheists.
Wheat's intriguing interpretation of Pullman's work is the first to point out the many allegorical features of His Dark Materials and to highlight the ingenious ways in which Pullman subtly attacks religious institutions and superstitions. Pullman fans as well as readers interested in fantasy or concerned about religious coercion will find Wheat's book not only stimulating but overflowing with surprises.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction

339 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2007

Reviews

[Gv]

The author compares His Dark Materials with two of the most important fictions about the same themes: Narnia and Paradise Lost. It could have been interesting, however L. Wheat gets lost in absurd comparisons and reduces HDM to a pale copy, forgetting to look at its specificities. Trying to find "symbols" (and using this word in the weirdest way), he reads HDM only as a rewriting, and forgets its originalities, with specious arguments (Lucy and Lyra have the same number of letters and start with an L, therefore Lyra is a symbol of Lucy, the reference to Edmund in Tony Makarios is obvious, since both of them are seduced by people offering them sweets... while this represent a trope of children's literature). Same about the explanations about the paradise: nothing new, maybe some details but the overall argument definitely lacks strength...

[Jenny]

Leonard Wheat presents some intriguing thoughts about Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Series. Wheat contends that there are three allegories (hidden stories) beneath the surface of the three books, a retelling of C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, a reverse telling of Milton's Paradise Lost, and a commentary on Darwin and Christian missionaries. Wheat summarizes the His Dark Materials series, as well as The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe and Paradise Lost, to familiarize readers with the plots of each. He then presents his interpetations of the allegories, and he lists the number of symbols for each allegory at the ends of the chapters. While his ideas are interesting, his tone and manner of writing leaves much to be desired. He condescends to the reader and assumes that his interpretation is the only possible way to read the books. He also tries to persuade readers by burying them in repetitions of his points, as if this tactic will make his ideas more plausible.

[Louisa]

A very thoughtful and thorough review of the parallels between the books mentioned in the title. I do take issue with the amount of repetition the author felt he needed to use; he fairly beats you over the head with who matches to whom and what event matches to what. He also makes some seriously questionable attempts at figuring out what characters' names mean; in fact those were what killed the book for me, because too many times he said something completely outlandish that sounded stupid, and then said, "...but that's probably wrong." Then don't write it, Mr. Wheat! It takes away from your scholarship.

[Sunny Johnson]

I have always believed that Pullman intended this trilogy as an allegorical work. The science on which it is based does not, of course, stand up. We have all heard of talk of parallel universes but they are certainly not going to be entered using a knife to cut into the scenery! But that is not the point and consequently the books are far more than children's books - they are allegories and hence to be considered as serious works of science fiction. This book attempts to show Pullman's genius - I love the fantasy but I also love searching for hidden meanings. If you found 'His Dark Materials' incomprehensible, try reading this analysis. Very good.