Northern Lights - The Master
By Clem Ryan-Fuller
Character description
In Chapters one and two of Northern Lights we were introduced to The Master. A despicable and devious character who plays a big part in chapter one, the decanter of tokay. We are introduced to him through indirect characterisation, "then a deep voice said 'has Lord Asriel arrived yet'". This suggests that The Master is possibly old and bold due to his deep voice. In addition, the Master is described directly as bold, "the Master had been a very powerful man, he was way over seventy now and movements are stiff and slow". The Master being powerful, bold is continually being mentioned, "Lord Asriel was careful to be courteous around the Master in his own territory, it was clear where the power lay". This leads us to think that the Master in currently the most powerful but it could be possible that he is worried that Lord Asriel will be more powerful that he. The Master tried to poison Lord Asriel but Lyra was watching and luckily she saved her uncle. The Master seemed extremely frustrated towards Lord Asriel, "the devil, he knew about the wine, I'm sure of it".
Jealousy and betrayal are quiet often accruing in the novel and this is a perfect example.