The Golden Compass Halfway Through

So far, I am really enjoying the read. The thing I find curious about the Golden Compass is that most of the story, thus far, borrows from other, better known stories.

For example, the main character, Lyra resembles Lucy from Clive Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, even to the point of discovering a new world by stumbling into a wardrobe. An ice queen of sorts lures a "gyptian" boy away by inticing him not with Turkish delight, but with chocolatl.

Pullman also borrows heavily from some biblical stories, like an affair and love child by high powered people who attempt to cover it up (David and Bathsheba). He also borrows from the Moses story. Lyra, spent her infancy being nursed by a woman who traveled the waterways and continued to keep an eye on her after she was "adopted" by the Scholars at Jordan College.

The gist of the book, thus far, seems to be leading to human freedom in a libertarian sense, where any and all restrictions are viewed as oppressive and evil. My guess is that the characters are being set up to rescue humanity from "what the religious think they know." We'll see how this plays out...