Is The Knife Really That Sharp?

[Dante]

Well what I found kind of annoying was that, no matter how sharp your knife is, you cant plunge it into stone, the stone needs to be able to move out of the way of the knife but to do that you would need enormous strength. Will may have the sharpest edge in the world but he's not strong enough to pry open rock, not with a short little knife at least.

There's our wedging theory, on the previous page, though you might have already read that.

[Ferdinand]

Hmm, I must be blind but I can't find the wedging theory anywhere, whatever, the ghost thing still has me wondring...

[Dire_Psycho]

once again, dunno if this has been mentioned, because i havent read the posts before this (lots of them, lacking time) but i recall the knife having an edge that reminded Lyra of the silver guilotine(sp) when she first saw it after the fight...

[Ferdinand]

Actually on the page before this one there was along conversation about exactly that.

[FreeWill]

The knife has two parts to it, two edges - a physical one that cuts through matter, and a 'spiritual' one, that cuts nonmaterial essences, like the fabric between worlds, or the connection between a person and his or her daemon. The steel edge cuts automatically, when it comes in contact with anything physical. The other edge must be directed with consciousness and intention to cut. One must be in a 'Negative Capability' consciousness, the one that Will is in when he makes windows, or that Lyra is in when she reads the alethiometer, to cut with the silver edge. The powerful link between Lyra and her soul, Pantalaimon, connot be cut with only the mere presence of the knife between them. Mrs. Coulter's guillotine was an instrument of pure evil, within it was injected the consciousness needed to sever a person from his or her daemon.

[AUST]

I think a big diffrence is the intentions of the user. The intentions of the user of the gilloutine is to sever the bond between the daemon and person. will doesn't intend that so it dosn't happen.

[Stargirl]

I think that's a load of poop. You don't seriously think that it would sever their connection? Were you just trying to think of something to make a thread about? The knife they used at bolvangar was very similar but made differently, could it cut through worlds? i think not.

[Soapy]

The blade used at Bolvangar was, I always thought, the other edge of the knife, as in the edge he doesn't use to cut through worlds. And yes, as Stargirl says even if they could use the blade from the guillotine they would still have to do that thing Will and Lyra do whne they use the knife and alethiometer respectively.


Also, I kind of always assumed that the compartments htey were placed in were....umm...like, no holes. As in the only link between them was where the blade was as the rest of the cage was enclosed. That's probably not what it says in the book but that's how it makes sense for me

[Stargirl]

Obviously as you walk around with your daemon there is an invisible link there between you, but the cages must somehow make it so that the link becomes something you can physically cut.

[Alexandra]

I think someone on the other page solved this problem already.... the Guillotine concentrates the connection (like energy) through a small tube between the cages. The Guillotine cuts this current and therefore severs the connection. But while outside, say, and Will passes between Lyra and Pan, the connection will go in all directions rather than a straight line between the two. It would be like water passing around a rock wedged in a river; the rock wouldn't stop the flow, the water would pass around it instead.

[Slizer]

Wonder if we have subtle Knifes on shops like we have the LOTR swords now :> That would be cool? (or not)

[Atrias]

The way it looks to me is of course as has been mentioned before, intention.

Will can't cut through the worlds unless he wants to (or he'd be walking around snagging on to every world along the way and he'd never get anywhere for having to close up windows).

He could probably give cutting Pan and Lyra apart a try too if he thought about it and was sadistic enough to try it (without Lyra braining seven shades of sugar out of him).

Think about a real knife, it doesn't cut on its own, it only cuts through an application of force... so Will and Lyra\Pan standing between eachother wouldn't cut their connection unless Will as the bearer intends to do it.

As for the sharpness of the knife... during the fight on Torre Degli Angeli doesn't it sink completely to the hilt when it falls INTO the tower? So it really can cut through pretty much anything, but equally you've kinda gotta accept that on blind faith because it would be pretty boring if will stopped off at a series of different objects to say like "ooh I know, I'll just cut through this wall... or this steel girder... or this bus..." The subtle knife is not something you would stoop so low as to butter your bread with. Hehe!

[Somewhat]

The way it looks to me is of course as has been mentioned before, intention.

Will can't cut through the worlds unless he wants to (or he'd be walking around snagging on to every world along the way and he'd never get anywhere for having to close up windows).

He could probably give cutting Pan and Lyra apart a try too if he thought about it and was sadistic enough to try it (without Lyra braining seven shades of sugar out of him).

Think about a real knife, it doesn't cut on its own, it only cuts through an application of force... so Will and Lyra\Pan standing between eachother wouldn't cut their connection unless Will as the bearer intends to do it.

As for the sharpness of the knife... during the fight on Torre Degli Angeli doesn't it sink completely to the hilt when it falls INTO the tower? So it really can cut through pretty much anything, but equally you've kinda gotta accept that on blind faith because it would be pretty boring if will stopped off at a series of different objects to say like "ooh I know, I'll just cut through this wall... or this steel girder... or this bus..." The subtle knife is not something you would stoop so low as to butter your bread with. Hehe!

For fear of cutting the bread and the plate and the butter with it, of course. I think it does cut everything, but then it is very short so not that helpful in cutting thick objects.
Concerning cutting through worlds, he not only needs intention, but he has to actually find a point in which to cut as well.

[Vicinity of Obscenity]

I believe the theory behind the compartments concentrating the energy...like said before, energy can be absorbed & reflected and probably experienced both inside those compartments. I think the guillotine was sort of dramatic and I really don't believe the object would have to be sharp to cut that bond. I think it would merely have to interupt as stated before. I think Lyra made the correlation with the guillotine and knife because she saw the guillotine as the destroyer of what was once thought an eternal bond, seperated only by death. Which then compares the knife to death, which then supports the fact that the knife summons specters...intellectual death. Geez it's all too complicated.

[Dark Sentry]

I always thought that the knife had two seperate metals on each side, Now I realise this is almost impossible given they could have different melting and evaporating points but we are talking about the subtle knife here, Also when Lyra observed that it was like the guillotine she was observing one edge if I remember correctly....