The Subtle Knife | Style

The Subtle Knife Style

Point of View

The book is written in the third person from many different points of view. The reader sees things from Will's perspective, from Lyra's, from Serafina Pekkala's, from Lee Scoresby's, and also from some of the minor characters such as the witch in the last chapter who watches Mrs. Coulter obtain information from Carlo/Lord Boreal/Sir Charles before administering poison. While the daemons are an integral part of certain characters' personalities, the reader never sees anything from a daemon's point of view. The closest we get is the scene set at night when Will talks to Pan, and since he has an incomplete understanding of what it is like to have a daemon, he probably does not know that Lyra is indeed a part of the conversation even though she does not speak.

While we know quite a bit about what Lyra thinks and what Will thinks, we never quite...
(read more)