Week Seven: The Night Circus and The Golden Compass.

I have heard of The Night Circus many times before, but never had the chance of reading it until now. Truly, as I have heard, the tale is filled with a rich fantastical world that sometimes makes you feel a bit lost in it. But even though it deals with magic and supernatural powers, the underlying tones of this piece, as well as many others in this Young-Adult genre, is not so "fantastical" as it seems to be.


While in the Night Circus we are met with overpowering masters who abuse their apprentices to their whims, in our society we are met with controlling parents that also restrain their children, often unwilling to see or try to understand their opinion and point of view. They are unshakable, believing to be the holder of all knowledge for being in the business for the longest time, and often overseen that their actions bring nothing nutritive to those under their wings.


We are also met with Cecilia and Marco, two characters who are grounded into the old-fashioned rules in the beginning, but that grow more aware and independent as the story progresses. While at first they seem hopeless and willing to accept whatever is offered to them, by the end both are capable of making their own decisions, analyzing with a new set of morals and beliefs the situation they are put against, and taking a jump to obtain the ending that they themselves paved and decided, rather then following a pre-stablished route imposed upon them.


In The Night Circus we watch the classic formula of young adult reads — a character rebelling against old-fashioned beliefs that have been imposed upon them, fighting to validate all those who manage to fight against the unshakable rules, and willing to break the so called traditions in order to bring forward a new era and vision. It's a story about change, be it for the good or bad, and all the lost and gains that comes with it.


Thus, rather than simply being a story about an odd circus filled with magic and unfortunate events, The Night Circus tackles a much more complex line of thought: Coming of age, and the idea of developing your own set of values; this idea of venturing into the unknown, acquiring stories and finding people that are not bound to you by blood relations, but by choice.


This however, is not a "formula" particular to this work per say, but rather something often explored in various others in the same genre. It is a way to teach those who are young about morals, and the importance of learning the difference between who you want to be, who you wish you were, and who you actually are.

Alongside with the Night Circus, I have also read another novel that I am quite passionate about: The Golden Compass, by Phillip Pullman.

To me, The Golden Compass is one of the most wonderful pieces I have ever read. Not only is the world-building quite amazing, but the uniqueness of the story and the way it tackles aspects of "growth" and changes is quite magical in a very mature way.

In his work, Pullman tackles the adventures and discovery of adulthood, but never in a way that makes the situations feel naive, even though his target audience are 13-14 year olds. In fact, the novel at times is quite cold, showcasing inhumane actions and cold decisions made by characters. It has fantasy in it, yes, but still gives us the horror of our mundane lives and social interactions that might not always be joyful.

Pullman also doesn't shy away from exploring wavering territories, such as moral and spiritual values. His work is actually full of it. From the very beginning he assigns every character a spiritual animal that represents their personality. It is interesting to note how these spirit animals don't have a fixed shape while their "person" is still a child, but only truly change to a fixed form when they have fully matured into who they are. That in itself represents growth in itself, a visual representation of this journey of "finding yourself" that the entire story is about, and can also be seen as a critic to the society and how often people are influenced by their surroundings so much so that it literally shapes who they become.

Thus, both Night Circus and The Golden Compass are works that are not afraid to bring maturity into their magical worlds. They don't shy away from exploring the dark side of society and the difficult and quite mundane obstacles that we are faced with in our lives. Different from many fantastical works, they don't exactly follow the linear line of a happy ending, in all truth their so "Happy Ending" is pretty open to interpretation, really depending on your own set of morals and values, and specially the character's, in order to decide if you are truly satisfied with the outcome in the end.