Sofia answers “So confused now... Where was this tempter...”

Tobias Hunter asked this question about The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3):

So confused now... Where was this tempter Philip Pullman spent half the book leading up to? How did Mary tempt Lyra and what was the Fall? The sex?

Sofia Mary was the temptress. She told Lyra the story of her falling in love, which opened Lyra up to understanding her own feelings and attraction to Will.…moreMary was the temptress. She told Lyra the story of her falling in love, which opened Lyra up to understanding her own feelings and attraction to Will. Mary also technically gave the fruit to Lyra, which she then fed to Will, which opened him up his feelings for Lyra.

When they realised they had fallen in love, their dæmons became fixed and they became adults (or at least, their journeys to adulthood had begun). Suddenly, Dust became attracted to them, as it is to all adults but not children (we learn this in the first book, when we see the images of the adult surrounded by Dust, but the child without it). Dust is consciousness and knowledge, and its attraction to Will and Lyra changed its course from flowing out of the universe to flowing like normal again. That is the "Fall".

From a religious and Magisterium perspective, the temptation and the Fall are bad, which is why the Magisterium sent the priest to try and assassinate the temptress (Mary). In the Christian story of Adam and Eve, we are taught to believe that the Fall was a bad thing. Eve gained knowledge and lost innocence, which was apparently bad for humankind. In reality though, it's a good thing, just like Lyra receiving knowledge and losing her innocence was a good thing, because it changed the course of Dust. This is why the "good" side in His Dark Materials is really counting on Lyra to be tempted and to fall. The only people who perceive the temptation and the Fall as a bad thing are the Magisterium.

Lyra was tempted, she fell and she saved us from living in a world with no consciousness and knowledge (which is what the Authority, Metatron and the Magisterium wanted). If she had not been tempted and fallen, Dust would have continued pouring out of the world and we would lose it forever.(less)

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The Amber Spyglass

by Philip Pullman

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