The Republic of Heaven

I was a bit disappointed when Will's daemon settled as a cat. His personality matches a big cat better, and Lyra herself said in TAS that if Will had a daemon, she would picture her as a tigress. I was almost sure that his daemon would be a tiger or a leopard, because Will has courage, cunning, careful and rational and usually likes to surprise the people he has to deal with(remember the mask, the bland cover he used to make himself appear unimportant in order to deceive the people? It's stealth, and it better suits tigers and especially leopards than a plain cat.) Also, Will also makes use of cold calculations when his task asks him to do, and even if he had to sacrifice himself, he always moved forward.

So, what do you think? Personally, I think Pullman made it a cat because a leopard or a tiger was kind of big and inconvenient if his daemon was to be visible in his own universe. Silly, I know, but I actually thought of that right after Kirjava returned to him as a cat.

Well, a housecat is just a big cat adapted to human society. Will was very well adapted to fitting in amidst any group of people, and his daemon reflects that as much as any other personality trait.

I don't think I'd ever thought about the issue of walking back into his own world with a tiger in tow, but a cat makes sense from that perspective too. I think what people want can influence their daemon's forms a little bit, so long as it's... true to who they are, I guess. The way Harry Potter influenced the Sorting Hat not to put him in Slytherin

Yea but each big cat has a different type of behavior. Cheetahs are the least aggressive cat and they usually want to avoid danger while leopards are very aggressive and unpredictable, and even if you try to tame them, it's still a risk to be near one. I'm not really sure if it works the way you put it. Maybe it does, but Serafina made it clear that no matter how much you want a certain daemon, you will get what you deserve.

Valrad wrote:Yea but each big cat has a different type of behavior. Cheetahs are the least aggressive cat and they usually want to avoid danger while leopards are very aggressive and unpredictable, and even if you try to tame them, it's still a risk to be near one. I'm not really sure if it works the way you put it. Maybe it does, but Serafina made it clear that no matter how much you want a certain daemon, you will get what you deserve.

Then it doesn't make sense for Will to have a leopard at all. He's predictable, he likes avoiding danger or diffusing violence (look at how he managed to get the town from killing Iorek and vice versa) and I wouldn't be scared to be around him. He is not at all aggressive and takes no pleasure in hurting people. House cats use the same hunting techniques that big cats use. It's why we have to put bells on them, to alert nearby birds that they are there.

I think we have a tendency to assume our/other people's daemons are gonna be at the top of the food chain and that's why so many people say their daemons are wolves or big cats or something. In reality daemons can take any sort of form and since daemons aren't at risk of being eaten by another creature its place in the food chain isn't all that relevant. It's not shameful to have a herbivore/omnivore for a daemon or to have a fluffy house cat as it's more about the animal's behaviour and the way it survives, reproduces and interacts with other creatures that matters.

I think the fact domestic cats were symbolically linked with Will from the start has been over looked:
his cat Moxie 'saved' him by tripping over the intruder and it was a cat that lead him to his first window, Citagazze, Lyra etc. The same cat also helped them again later (attaching the golden monkey I think??)
Since Will likes to disappear into the background but can fight if he has too a cat makes perfect sense.

kaoshoneybun wrote:I think the fact domestic cats were symbolically linked with Will from the start has been over looked:
his cat Moxie 'saved' him by tripping over the intruder and it was a cat that lead him to his first window, Citagazze, Lyra etc. The same cat also helped them again later (attaching the golden monkey I think??)
Since Will likes to disappear into the background but can fight if he has too a cat makes perfect sense.

Yeah, I agree. The first time I read it I also found it weird that Will wouldn't have a big damn daemon just as heroic as he is, but in a second thought, cats have always been very important in Will's journey. Moxie and the Citagazze's cat saved them, and they're just cats.

And Will is courageous but he definitely don't follow trouble, he's not an "alpha". He's an ordinary kid in the midst of a war big as hell. He tries to avoid trouble and deal with them when necessary. Cats are very much like that, I guess.

Not only cats, but many animals too, especially the prey. I agree with pretty much everything that has been said, and I haven't ignored the fact that two cats helped Will in his quest, but I usually smile wryly when something I could predict happens. When Will was parted from his daemon on that ship, I kind of knew that his daemon, if it will settle, it will be a cat because of the early examples. Sure, that's great, but I still expected a surprise.

Soapy, you are right, but it was actually me hoping for something more surprising than the obvious choice. Also, I doubt my daemon would be a predator. Sure it's cool to think of something big and important, but if I was to ponder upon what daemon I would have, I doubt it would be one of the mentioned predators.

As I'm rereading TGC/NL, I was reminded of this thread in comparing Asriel (who DOES have a leopard daemon) to Will (who got the domestic version). I haven't quite managed to formulate my thoughts on this properly, but I'm saving quotes describing personalities to hopefully help out here.

One thing it mentions is how Asriel seems like a caged animal when he's indoors. Will, on the other hand, is more adaptable to environments and being able to deal with whatever situation he's put in.

Just some thoughts. Will add more as I continue reading, I'm sure.

Good point. There is also the personality of Asriel, who always seems agitated to me and unable to settle in one place, and maybe his coldness depicted that of a predator. In a way, Asriel only wanted to achieve what embedded in his mind, by any means necessary.