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The Alethiometer
Within the world of the novel, Dust is an elementary particle that collects around adult humans beginning at the onset of puberty, as a person's dæmon begins to settle. It is a physical embodiment of adults’ capacity for individual choice as they lose their childhood innocence and gain knowledge of the world—whether those choices are good or evil. Because of this, the Magisterium decides that Dust is both proof of and the reason for original sin, or the ability to make choices and acquire knowledge (and also is the root of death, disease, and evil). Turning original sin into a physical thing that can be studied, manipulated, and blamed for the world's evils magnifies the Magisterium's need for power, as it means that there's a way to create a population that's easier to control: stopping Dust from settling, and original sin from taking hold, through intercision.
Dust Quotes in The Golden Compass
The The Golden Compass quotes below all refer to the symbol of Dust. 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:
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Chapter Two
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Ever since Pope John Calvin had moved the seat of the Papacy to Geneva and set up the Consistorial Court of Discipline, the Church's power over every aspect of life had been absolute. The Papacy itself had been abolished after Calvin's death, and a tangle of courts, colleges, and councils, collectively known as the Magisterium, had grown up in its place.
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Chapter Fifteen
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"We dunno," said Annie. "Just something from space. Not real dust. If you en't got any Dust, that's good. But everyone gets Dust in the end."
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Chapter Sixteen
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"I think he's got an entirely different idea of the nature of Dust. That's the point. It's profoundly heretical, you see, and the Consistorial Court of Discipline can't allow any other interpretation than the authorized one. And besides, he wants to experiment—"
"To experiment? With Dust?"
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Chapter Seventeen
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"If he's got Dust and you've got Dust, and the Master of Jordan and every other grownup's got Dust, it must be all right. When I get out I'm going to tell all the kids in the world about this. Anyway, if it was so good, why'd you stop them doing it to me? If it was good, you should've let them do it. You should have been glad."
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Chapter Twenty-One
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"She guessed that the two things that happen in adolescence might be connected: the change in one's dæmon and the fact that Dust began to settle. Perhaps if the dæmon were separated from the body, we might never be subject to Dust—to original sin."
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Chapter Twenty-Three
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"We've heard them all talk about Dust, and they're so afraid of it, and you know what? We believed them, even though we could see that what they were doing was wicked and evil and wrong...We thought Dust must be bad too, because they were grown up and they said so. But what if it isn't? What if it's—"
She said breathlessly, "Yeah! What if it's really good..."
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Get the entire The Golden Compass LitChart as a printable PDF.
Dust Symbol Timeline in The Golden Compass
The timeline below shows where the symbol Dust appears in The Golden Compass. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter Two
...Lord Asriel says that the glowing light is moving downward, not upward, and is actually Dust.
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Silence follows, and Lyra feels that this Dust is different from normal dust. Scholars begin to gasp and Lord Asriel draws their attention...
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...much later. He says they voted to give him money but won't tell Lyra what Dust is. He also refuses to let her look at Grumman's head. Lyra says that the...
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...to explain things to her, but the Master thinks that Lyra might be interested in Dust. He says that knowing about it might help her on her journey. The Master also...
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Chapter Three
...Lyra's life proceeded like this until she hid in the Retiring Room and heard about Dust, and the narrator also says that the Librarian was wrong that Lyra wouldn't be interested...
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Chapter Five
...things, so when Mrs. Coulter tells Lyra about electrons, Lyra says that they're particles like Dust, but they're negatively charged. At the mention of Dust the golden monkey snaps to attention,...
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...an aeronautical accident in the North. As she wanders away, Lyra hears a man mention Dust to a young woman. The man says that a scientist called Rusakov discovered Dust and...
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...as oblates, which means "sacrifice." The General Oblation Board is drawing on those ideas with Dust. The man suggests that Lyra speak to Lord Boreal and points out an older man...
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...Uncomfortable under Lord Boreal's stare, Lyra admits that Lord Asriel showed her a photo of Dust and that the Oblation Board took Roger. She says that she hasn't "taken part" yet...
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...knows what happens to the children. Lyra says that she only knows that it's about Dust and that the children are a sacrifice. Lord Boreal deems this dramatic; he says that...
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Chapter Seven
...rescue him. She tells them everything she can remember about Lord Asriel's visit and about Dust, and specifically about the special photographs of the city in the Aurora. John Faa says...
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John Faa says that in the years after, people began to get anxious about Dust. He tells Lyra that the pastry cook at Jordan has been watching over her and...
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Chapter Eleven
...Hell, and Lyra thinks that it seems almost holy. She thinks that it might be Dust, but then promptly forgets the thought. A city then appears in the sky—but as Lyra...
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...and need the witches' help, but Kaisa says that some clans are working with the "Dust hunters." He doesn't know if the Dust hunters and the Oblation Board are the same,...
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Kaisa explains that they don't know what the Dust hunters do at Bolvanger, but it emanates hatred and fear. The Dust hunters have a...
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Chapter Fourteen
...can't tell Lyra definitively what the adults do here, though one says that they measure Dust. Eventually, they take kids away one by one and they don't come back. The girls...
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Chapter Fifteen
After lunch, the doctors test Lyra for Dust. She continues to play dumb and says she's not dusty. During one test, Lyra tests...
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Chapter Sixteen
...herself. The doctors talk quietly about Lord Asriel, what he's doing with his experiments on Dust, and Mrs. Coulter's cruel interest in seeing children and dæmons being ripped apart. Lyra involuntarily...
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Chapter Seventeen
Lyra asks if it has to do with Dust and demands an answer. Mrs. Coulter says that Dust is bad and evil, and separating...
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Chapter Eighteen
Lyra asks what Dust is. Serafina Pekkala doesn't know, but says that priests and the Church fear Dust. Lyra...
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Chapter Nineteen
...accuses him of plagiary. Lyra lies and says that the Palmerian Professor was writing about Dust. Santelia shouts insults about the Palmerian Professor. Lyra sits down and flatters Santelia into telling...
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Chapter Twenty-One
...asks Lyra for her story. When she finishes, she asks him to tell her what Dust is and why it's so scary. Lord Asriel says that it’s what makes the alethiometer...
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...-1: it doesn't exist, but a person can calculate things using it. He declares that Dust is proof that something happens when "innocence changed into experience." He shows her where in...
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...licensed. Mrs. Coulter is ambitious and alluring, so she was the perfect person to investigate Dust for the Magisterium. Lyra asks why the Church would cut children in the first place....
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...Asriel says that intercision was Mrs. Coulter's idea; she suspected that a dæmon settling and Dust gathering were connected. In her travels, she's seen other cultures successfully separate dæmons from bodies....
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Chapter Twenty-Three
...Roger is stuck. Suddenly, the Aurora flickers and Lyra thinks that she can feel the Dust. Roger cries out for Lyra and Lyra runs to him as Pan changes form rapidly...
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...run. Pan attacks Stelmaria and the two young dæmons fight her. Lyra fights the thick Dust and sees palm trees and boulevards in the sky. She pulls Roger away, but Stelmaria...
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...scratches her hand and confirms that Lord Asriel is going to find the source of Dust and destroy it. He says that the Oblation Board, the Church, Bolvanger, and Mrs. Coulter...
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