The Golden Compass

Dæmons represent the soul of humans and appear throughout the story, thus acting as both a symbol and a motif. The idea of connectedness between humans and their dæmons is an important point of tension throughout the story, as the Gobblers snatch children and sever them from their dæmons and effectively their souls, leaving them half-alive. The daemon often settles in a form that speaks to aspects of the adult’s personality, with dangerous and powerful people’s dæmons manifesting as predators, gyptians and witches paired with birds and migratory animals, and servant-class adults accompanied by docile creatures. Children’s dæmons are constantly trying out new forms, as children have yet to really settle into an identity, a moral code, an occupation, or an ambition. Balancing out aspects of the human, dæmons always take the form of the opposite gender of the person and settle into their final form around puberty. As such, Lyra and her friends have dæmons who can change at any moment, which often works to their advantage.

Likewise, children have absolutely no desire to separate from their dæmons, while many adults struggle with the codependent dynamic of human and daemon. This drive to deny parts of the self is only toxic and leads to corruption rather than resolves it. Similarly, because only humans have dæmons, Iofur, who is insecure in his status as a bear and wishes to be as close to humans as possible, wants a dæmon more than anything else, even though the armored bears represent their own souls through armor. He is defeated in battle because he turns away from his own nature, which leaves him at a deficit.