The Midnight Library
by Matt Haig
Contents
The Frustration of Not Finding a Library When You Really Need One
Overview
Nora confronts a polar bear and survives by making noise, not violence. In extremis, she realizes she wants to live, a pivotal internal shift that complicates her reliance on the Midnight Library as an escape. The threat passes as teammates call to her through the fog.
Summary
In dense fog, Nora faces a charging polar bear. Panic freezes her until she fires the signal pistol; the flare hisses into the sea and fails to deter the bear. She drops to her knees, banging a saucepan with a ladle and shouting for help.
Desperate, Nora calls out for the Midnight Library and Mrs Elm, pleading to be taken back. In the terror of the moment she recognizes a crucial truth: she doesn’t want to die, and fear alone won’t return her to the Library.
Accepting that she cannot reach the rifle in time, Nora commits to noise, striking the pan in rapid bursts and telling herself she isn’t scared. The bear pauses, then slips headfirst into the water and disappears.
Nora keeps making noise until, after a long minute, she hears her teammates calling her name through the fog, confirming her survival and the shift in her will to live.
Who Appears
- Nora SeedProtagonist; panics at a charging polar bear, uses a flare and noise, realizes she wants to live, survives.
- Polar bearIndifferent predator approaching Nora; ultimately slips into the water after her persistent pan-banging.
- Mrs ElmNot present; Nora pleads to her for return to the Midnight Library, underscoring Nora’s dependence and fear.
- Expedition teammatesUnseen colleagues who call Nora’s name through the fog after the bear departs, confirming her safety.