The secular angel in contemporary children's literature: David ...

Pullman wished for this story to resonate as a classic tale of the good and the bad and the
powers that shift this delicate scale: “Pullman describes his intent in writing the trilogy as
‘Paradise Lost for teenagers in three volumes’ —a comment initially made half in jest, but
then converted to reality” (Squires, 2004, 18-19). The amount of controversy that Philip
Pullman has been involved in since the publication of the trilogy has been almost entirely the
result of his choice to show the death of the God-figure in the narrative. 8 However, this act,
even though completely deliberate, is not as simple or straightforward as some would like to
assume. Religion in Pullman’s work is one of the central issues; yet, its delivery is as complex
and thorny as the issue itself. Although the author is a self-proclaimed atheist, 9 his narrative is
not purposefully devoid of a higher being, because his intent is not to prove that such a being
does not exist. Instead, what he provides is an angel who has assumed the role of creator
under false pretences, and is not only indifferent and apathetic to the fate of humanity but
lives only for himself and for the pleasure of being in control. Stephen Colbert writes that
“Milton’s Satan believes God is keeping humankind in ignorance because it serves God’s ego.
It almost seems as if God is the selfish one. That perspective is similar to Pullman’s” (Colbert,
2006, 12). This is indeed Pullman’s mentality when describing the Authority in His Dark
Materials:
‘The Authority, God, the Creator, the Lord, Yahweh, El, Adonai, the King, the
Father, the Almighty, those were all names he gave himself. He was never the
creator. He was an angel like ourselves, the first angel, true, the most powerful,
8 Some of the theorists, reviewers, commentators, and believers that have negatively criticized Pullman’s trilogy
are Peter Hitchens (2002), Blogger Joe Levi (2007), Frank Furedi, Tom Gilson, the Head of the Catholic League
Bill O’Donohue (2007), Russ Wise and Steve Cable (2007).
9 In an interview, Susan Mansfield discusses Pullman’s absence of faith, as well as the elements that shaped his
current beliefs from childhood to adulthood, and finally, how they in turn influenced his writing. “When
Kingsley Amis was asked, 'Are you an atheist?' he said, 'Yes, but it's more that I hate him.' There's plenty to hate
there, plenty to be angry with. The God who is depicted in the Old Testament is a peculiarly unpleasant
psychopath. The Church, in whichever of its varieties, has done all manner of extraordinarily wicked things”
(Mansfield, 2010).
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