WHY did you cry

[rainbowdarling]

I may not be in the norm here, but the ending didn't set me to tears. It was a little bittersweet knowing that Lyra and Will, having just found their first love, would have to separate themselves, but one thing they'll always have are the memories, and I think it's fairly clear that they'll mend and think fondly on the time they were able to spend together. I also believe they'll be able, in some form or other, to see one another again someday. But for the time being (in the immediate future at the end of the book anyhow), they know they have other tasks to accomplish, one of which includes growing up.

I cried a rather loud sob when I realized that Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter sacrificed themselves for Lyra's safety. That's something that takes real gumption to do, and I found renewed respect for both of them where I had lost it (or neglected to have it to begin with) earlier in the story. It was a heart-wrenching moment for me, but I know if it were my child in that situation, I would do it in a heartbeat.

[CMR]

Because i'd read it before and i knew what was coming..

[Connor B.]

I cried because, truly and most dearly, they loved each other, and had gone through so much, and when they though everything was going to be okay, they had to leave each other and try to live their normal lives again.

Have you ever, persay, been living rather happily, then bought a pet. When the pet dies, life doesn't just restore to how it was before. It's changed, and it's not good enough. There's something missing, and there's grief in your heart.

I've lost friends, pets. I know what it's like. So maybe I was just more sensitive to it. But I definitely cried.

[jonoboy]

I've lost friends, pets. I know what it's like. So maybe I was just more sensitive to it. But I definitely cried.

You lost friends? YOU mean they died?

[rainbowdarling]

I've lost friends, pets. I know what it's like. So maybe I was just more sensitive to it. But I definitely cried.

You lost friends? U mean they....died?

So it would seem from the phrasing.


I think there's a marked difference between losing them for good - in Lyra's world, that would be knowing they're in the land of the dead or else have dissipated and rejoined everything in the land of the Mulefa - and having to separate for an undetermined amount of time. Lyra and Will are not necessarily going to be apart forever. There's a certain sense of hope that at the end of all things, they'll accomplish their tasks and still have been able to see one another in the meantime.

[Huber]

Lyra and Will are not necessarily going to be apart forever. There's a certain sense of hope that at the end of all things, they'll accomplish their tasks and still have been able to see one another in the meantime.

What do you mean there is hope that they'll see each other after completing their tasks?

Will's task is to seal up all of the windows that would make seeing each other possible.

Also, for my own answer, I just finished rereading the trilogy for the umpteenth time last night, and I cried in two places: when they are feeding each other in the world of the Mulefa, because they are so happy and carefree and I know what is going to happen, and then when they leave each other forever, because I've had people that I never got to say goodbye to before I never saw them again, and that was sad enough. Just thinking about if I had known that it was going to be the last time I ever saw them. what I would say or what I would do...it makes me tear up every time.

Also I got misty eyed when Lee and Hester died, because it makes me wonder if I'll ever be privileged enough to find out if I am willing to die to defend Good, and if so, be able to die with such a noble and loyal companion.

[rainbowdarling]

Lyra and Will are not necessarily going to be apart forever. There's a certain sense of hope that at the end of all things, they'll accomplish their tasks and still have been able to see one another in the meantime.

What do you mean there is hope that they'll see each other after completing their tasks?

Will's task is to seal up all of the windows that would make seeing each other possible.

Also, for my own answer, I just finished rereading the trilogy for the umpteenth time last night, and I cried in two places: when they are feeding each other in the world of the Mulefa, because they are so happy and carefree and I know what is going to happen, and then when they leave each other forever, because I've had people that I never got to say goodbye to before I never saw them again, and that was sad enough. Just thinking about if I had known that it was going to be the last time I ever saw them. what I would say or what I would do...it makes me tear up every time.

Also I got misty eyed when Lee and Hester died, because it makes me wonder if I'll ever be privileged enough to find out if I am willing to die to defend Good, and if so, be able to die with such a noble and loyal companion.

I perhaps read it differently than others did, but I got the idea that once they finished their task - which I assumed to be assembling the Republic of Heaven or something like that (I do need to reread; I've only read them once. It will have to wait until after I bring down my book queue a bit, unfortunately.); as far as I know, the angels took care of closing all of the open windows except for the one out of the Land of the Dead. The angel at the end also alluded to the fact that the two would be able to "travel" to see each other and that somebody one (or both) of them knows already knows the way to do so. It isn't elaborated on because nobody asks about it but I assumed that when the time came, they would know how.

That's how I read the ending, and I think that's more how Pullman might have meant it (of course, I can't speak with any sort of certainty as I'm not actually him), since it doesn't leave the ending as sad or "negative" as the ending of the Narnia series, which he heavily criticizes.

Anyhow, that was my $0.02.

[Huber]

Ah, I see.

I read it that assembling the republic of heaven was making their lives and worlds as rich as possible, like when Xanaphenia told them that to keep more dust from escaping they would have to convince people to be kinder, more patient, etc.

Also, I always thought that the person who knew the first steps to "traveling" was Mary Malone, since she had the out of body experience in the seedpod tree. Which would mean that Will could learn but not Lyra, although it never explains whether you could interact with non out-of-body people while doing it yourself.

Luckily the books were written to be intentionally vague on the subject, presumably so people would engage in dialogue just like you and I are having. I don't think that there is any "right" answer, just opinions and theories.

[rainbowdarling]

I rather like it that way. It's so open to interpretation that we're both right because there's nothing to prove that one of us is wrong! Or something like that...

I can sort of see how that would work, and it's a completely viable reading of it. It would put Mary's out-of-body experience a bit more into perspective (although I truly thought it had mostly to do with dust and its quickly progressing escape... something to do with that which made total sense in my head at the time but which I now can't pull out of my head. I'll have to reread the scene and see if it comes back).

I guess why I like the way I ended up reading it was that it ended on a very positive note. The two are very young and have the rest of their lives in front of them so I do want it to be hopeful - nobody wants the next sixty to eighty years of their life overshadowed by something as heavy as losing your first love forever. I do somehow believe they'll see each other but my thinking on how this would happen is about as defined as the concepts that Pullman wrote at the end. I might come up with a more definitive answer later. Maybe.

The out-of-body theory is a good one. I'm sure there would be a way for Lyra to also learn to do that. It might end up a bit odd otherwise, Will being out of body and Lyra not. That only assumes of course, that in that form they can travel into other worlds. Mary's experience is spent first figuring out what the heck was going on and then trying to get back into her body. It would probably take her quite a while to figure out how to do it intentionally.

One thing's for sure: Pullman left it wide open for fanfiction!

[Chapo101]

I cried when Lyra and Will had to leave each other. For the sake of him i'm writing my own fanfiction on it

[Chapo101]

I cried when Lyra and Will had to leave each other. For the sake of him i'm writing my own fanfiction on it

[Chapo101]

I cried when Lyra and Will had to leave each other. For the sake of him i'm writing my own fanfiction on it

[Mossface12]

I cried because I was sad... having Will and Lyra forced to leave eachother, and having the series end