The Golden Compass

by

Philip Pullman

The king of the gyptians. John Faa is a huge and imposing man, but Lyra discovers quickly that he's very warm and kind. His sense of morality is finely-tuned; he shames gyptians who suggest that they shouldn't rescue non-gyptian children, refuses to give up Lyra to the authorities, and reminds everyone that they have a responsibility to care for Lyra in part because she's Lord Asriel's daughter and Lord Asriel has advocated for gyptian legal rights at various points. When they discuss the Master's choice to allow Lyra to go to Mrs. Coulter (something he'd been asked not to do), John Faa suggests to Lyra that sometimes, there are no good decisions. However, John Faa always tries to do the right thing, and so aligns himself with a variety of different people and races who all believe in the same vision of the future.

John Faa Quotes in The Golden Compass

The The Golden Compass quotes below are all either spoken by John Faa or refer to John Faa. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Childhood, Innocence, and Maturation Theme Icon
).
Chapter Seven Quotes

"And the Church in recent times, Lyra, it's been getting more commanding. There's councils for this and councils for that; there's talk of reviving the Office of Inquisition, God forbid. And the Master has to tread warily between all these powers. He has to keep Jordan College on the right side of the Church, or it won't survive."

Related Characters: John Faa (speaker), Lyra, Farder Coram, The Master
Page Number: 127
Explanation and Analysis:
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John Faa Quotes in The Golden Compass

The The Golden Compass quotes below are all either spoken by John Faa or refer to John Faa. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Childhood, Innocence, and Maturation Theme Icon
).
Chapter Seven Quotes

"And the Church in recent times, Lyra, it's been getting more commanding. There's councils for this and councils for that; there's talk of reviving the Office of Inquisition, God forbid. And the Master has to tread warily between all these powers. He has to keep Jordan College on the right side of the Church, or it won't survive."

Related Characters: John Faa (speaker), Lyra, Farder Coram, The Master
Page Number: 127
Explanation and Analysis: