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Library as a Source for Transformation: A Study of Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library
Article Number: SIS456893AI040325
4th March, 2025
Author(s):
Bishnu Prasad Pokharel, Balkrishna Sharma
Abstract:
This study examines the library as a crucial point in Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library to reshape life through transformation. For Haig, the library is not just a physical place, but a liminal space that stands for a transformation. This paper applies theoretical analysis as a method of interpretation using border theory as a theoretical tool, particularly the concept of liminal space, to project the library as the positive threshold for personal and social transformation. Drawing on Homi K Bhabha’s borderland theory related to the liminal space, this study examines how the library serves as a liminal space for reforming life through conversion. Ultimately, the protagonist Nora finds the library as a life-affirming space that points a shift from death mania to life, from self-effacement to optimism and self-discovery. This transformation ranges from factual life to creative life to designate creative world is more powerful than the physical one. This study argues that library not only blurs division that separates the physical world from the fictional creative world but also indicates that creative world is more powerful than the physical world. The conclusion of the novel indicates that the protagonist Nora Seed finds the library as a life affirming space the one that points a shift from death mania to life and hope. The library and librarian are so vibrant that they diffuse the general obsession suicidal tendency and reinforce a support to rejuvenate life. The transformation of Nora Seed’s life from self-effacement to optimism and self-discovery is only possible through the liminal space of library.