At its heart, La Belle Sauvage is a coming-of-age story as young Malcolm moves into adolescence and begins to lose his childhood innocence. In Pullman’s fantasy world, the strictly oppressive Magisterium views growing up and leaving innocence behind as a movement into sin. However, Pullman rejects this assessment and illustrates instead the beauty of growing up and the complexity gained in experience, especially the increased capacity for love.

At the beginning of the novel, 11-year-old Malcolm is the picture of an innocent boy. He is kind, curious, and annoyed by girls, especially Alice, who works in the kitchen. Outside Malcolm’s safe childhood bubble, religious and secular powers battle for control of England. However, the boy is largely unaware of these forces, living in a world “where everything was interesting and happy” (33). However, through a series of events, Malcolm starts to learn about the issues and complexities in the larger world, fostering a new awareness that causes him to lose his innocence and mature. 

The first of these incidents is the discovery of the acorn, which leads Malcolm to Dr. Hannah Relf. As a scholar, Hannah symbolically ushers Malcolm out of childhood by offering him access to new knowledge, both through involving him with Oakley Street and by loaning him books.