The Fall of Man
A forbidden awakening that turned innocence into wisdom and cast humanity out of Eden.
His Dark Materials presents the Fall of Man as a positive act of maturation rather than a tragedy. While traditional dogma frames it as a singular act of disobedience leading to eternal damnation, Pullman reimagines this event as the necessary birth of consciousness. The trilogy functions in part as a retelling and inversion of John Milton's Paradise Lost, in which Pullman commends humanity for what Milton saw as its most tragic failing, original sin.
Lore & Background
In Lyra's world the Church has identified Dust as what it calls "original sin", which originated when Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Mulefa remember a comparable moment in their own history, 33,000 years ago, when they first interacted with the wheel-pod trees; it is their creation myth, and they see the event in a very positive light. The oil from the pods allows them to "grow up", making them more self-aware and able to see Dust. Having learned of the witches' prophecy that Lyra Belacqua is the second Eve, the Magisterium decides she must be killed to prevent a new fall.
Reader's Guide
The concept of the Fall serves as the trilogy's central philosophical engine. Pullman subverts this entirely: here, the Fall is a positive evolution—the moment humans gained complex thought, moral agency, and the ability to love deeply. Dust is attracted to consciousness, especially after puberty. The Church associates Dust with original sin and seeks its end. This ideology drives their most horrific acts, including the General Oblation Board's attempts to sever children from their daemons before puberty, aiming to halt Dust's settling. In the witches' prophecy, Mary Malone plays the part of the serpent to Lyra's Eve. In the Mulefa's world Lyra feeds Will a piece of fruit given to them by Mary, a reference to the Fall, and they realise that they have fallen in love. Pullman said that Lyra's sexual awakening "is exactly what happens in the Garden of Eden".
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Elsewhere in His Dark Materials
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