Compasses act as a symbol that represents the highest truth throughout the novel. The most obvious mention of compasses comes in the title, The Golden Compass, which refers literally to the alethiometer. This mystical tool gives Lyra the ability to ask and learn about the truth, while it symbolically represents the moral struggles of Lyra’s journey. The alethiometer is a rare device invented to track the movements of planets, but, instead, it possesses the power to help the user ascertain the truth, because “the mechanism…clearly respond[s] to something, even if no one know[s] what it [i]s” (173). This implies that the compass has a supernatural or divine ability to connect with forces humans do not understand. Though this is an incredible invention, very few of these golden compasses, or alethiometers, were made, and the ability to interact with and read the alethiometer is anything but easy—discerning core truths rarely is.

Lyra seems particularly suited to read her compass, since it largely communicates through symbols that require interpretation. As she is guileless and trusts in herself, these symbols speak to her clearly, reinforcing the theme of Clear Perception and Truth in Children—she is gifted at “reading” the truth.