Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials

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Midway through

His Dark Materials

, a character describes a never-ending conflict between liberating knowledge and oppressive ignorance:

There are two great powers . . . and they've been fighting since time began. Every advance in human life, every scrap of knowledge and wisdom and decency we have has been torn by one side from the teeth of the other. Every little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit. (Subtle Knife 335)

There are two great powers . . . and they've been fighting since time began. Every advance in human life, every scrap of knowledge and wisdom and decency we have has been torn by one side from the teeth of the other. Every littleā€¦

2479 words

Citation: Burke, Richard C. . "His Dark Materials". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 September 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=31707, accessed 19 March 2024.]

31707 His Dark Materials 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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