The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage

“‘In the Bible,’ he said one day as he was helping elderly Sister Fenella in the lofty kitchen, 'you know it says God created the world in six days?’

'That’s right,’ said Sister Fenella, rolling some pastry. 

'Well, how is it that there’s fossils and things that are millions of years old?’

‘Ah, you see, days were much longer then,’ said the good sister. ‘Have you cut up that rhubarb yet? Look, I’ll be finished before you will.’”

At the beginning of the novel, Malcolm is an inquisitive young boy who constantly listens and asks questions. He spends much time at the Godstow Priory, where the nuns allow him to ask questions that other branches of the Church might consider heresy. Sister Fenella’s response shows her willingness to listen to other points of view, illustrating how religious and scientific thought can coexist. This interaction also represents Malcolm’s internal debate about religion and science. He wants to be a scholar and an adventurer and values the opinions of scientists, but he also respects the nuns at the priory.

“There was probably nowhere, he thought, where anyone could learn so much about the world as this little bend of the river, with the inn on one side and the priory on the other.”

Here, Malcolm describes his home on the banks of the River Thames. Between the priory and the inn, Malcolm is exposed to many different kinds of people. Travelers are always passing through, and he loves listening to the travelers’ conversations. His childhood has privileged him with worldly knowledge, which feeds into his character development as he walks the line between religious belief and science.

“These days the prevailing fashion in politics was one of obsequious submissiveness to the religious authorities, and ultimately to Geneva. As a consequence, some organizations of the favored religious kind found their power and influence greatly enhanced, while officials and ministers who had supported the secular line that was now out of favor had either to find other things to do, or to work surreptitiously, and at continuous risk of discovery.”

This passage describes the rise of the Church, headquartered in Geneva, as a political power. The change occurred recently enough that characters like Lord Nugent used to hold power openly but now must work secretly in their opposition.