Two characters that have always gone together in my head are Nora Seed from Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library and Addie LaRue from V. E. Shwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Not only did both novels make me have an existential crisis (In a good way, if that’s possible). They both have exceedingly similar supernatural journeys that allow them to come into their own.
Both characters start off lost. Drifting through life without a sense of purpose and, therefore become trapped in their daily lives and minds. They become their own worst enemies.
During Nora’s realization of her lowest point, she confesses, “Do you ever think ‘how did I end up here?’ Like you are in a maze and totally lost and it's all your fault because you were the one who made every turn? And you know that there are many routes that could have helped you out, because you hear all the people on the outside of the maze who made it through, and they are laughing and smiling. And sometimes you get a glimpse of them through the hedge. A fleeting shape through the leaves. And they seem so damn happy to have made it and you don't resent them, but you do resent yourself for not having their ability to work it all out. Do you? Or is this maze just for me?” (Haig).
In this quote, Nora recognizes her own self-destruction. She sees how she could have dragged herself out from the pit of despair but resents herself because she got lost in her own “maze”.
Similarly, Addie also notices how life passed her by without making active decisions in her life. Addie states, “Blink and you’re twenty-eight, and everyone else is now a mile down the road, and you’re still trying to find it, and the irony is hardly lost on you that in wanting to live, to learn, to find yourself, you’ve gotten lost” (Schwab).
At the start of these two novels, both characters have gone through life without truly living. They harmfully compare their life experiences and decisions with others. Through introspection of themselves, others, and life in general these two characters learn to find the true meaning of living.
First, they both learn to be themselves by observing others who have accepted themselves. Addie and Nora perceive people in similar ways. Addie notes, “Live long enough, and you learn how to read a person. To ease them open like a book, some passages underlined and others hidden between the lines” (Schwab). Addie easily recognizes how people aren’t just the front cover. It takes deep analysis to truly know someone.
Likewise, Nora also realizes that people are multifaceted. She says, “A person was like a city. You couldn't let a few less desirable parts put you off the whole. There may be bits you don't like, a few dodgy side streets and suburbs, but the good stuff makes it worthwhile” (Haig).
Both characters come to an understanding that people cannot be categorized into one label. People hide certain parts of themselves or only a piece of them blooms in certain situations. Consequently, both of them learn to find something desirable about those around them, which allows them to find something worthwhile in their own lives that pushes them to live.
A major turning point for Addie and Nora is when they realize there can never be happiness without sadness. Nora explains, “And that sadness is intrinsically part of the fabric of happiness. You can’t have one without the other. Of course, they come in different degrees and quantities. But there is no life where you can be in a state of sheer happiness forever. And imagining there is just breeds more unhappiness in the life you’re in” (Haig).
Nora forms the idea that if she strives for a perfect life, she will always be miserable. So instead she embraces the varying challenges in life, knowing that makes the good experiences all the greater.
Addie also accepts that it is the sadness in her life that merely accentuates the positives. She fully embraces this concept when being questioned about her existence in the world: “And there in the dark, he asks if it was really worth it. Were the instants of joy worth the stretches of sorrow? Were the moments of beauty worth the year of pain?
And she turns her head, and looks at him, and says 'Always’” (Schwab).
This path of thinking is what allows Addie and Nora to really look at their lives and recognize not what they are lacking, but what they have. Through this, they both come to terms with the idea that they want to live not just happy lives, but ones they can deem “meaningful”.
While contemplating her life with the imaginary Mrs. Elm, the librarian asks “‘Is happiness the aim?’ and Nora replies “‘I don't know. I suppose I want my life to mean something. I want to do something good,’” (Haig).
This is what gets the ball rolling for Nora. She is beginning to know what she wants out of life, but like Addie is still not sure how to get there. Similarly, Addie also knows that she wants to make her mark on the world, not just sail through it. Addie questions, “Do you think a life has any value if one doesn’t leave some mark upon the world?” (Schwab).
At this point, both protagonists accept the lows and highs of life and are beginning to believe that they don’t want to be lost to history. Even if this means having an effect on just one person’s life.
The characters do not reach true self-actualization until they not only concede to who they are but fully appreciate their unique selves.
Nora preaches her newfound self-acceptance, “If you aim to be something you are not, you will always fail. Aim to be you. Aim to look and act and think like you. Aim to be the truest version of you. Embrace that you-ness. Endorse it. Love it. Work hard at it. And don't give a second thought when people mock it or ridicule it. Most gossip is envy in disguise” (Haig).
Nora undergoes many lives in order to discover that she will never succeed if she tries to be anything but herself. Changing her environment does not change her; therefore, it takes Nora loving herself to love her life.
Addie goes through a similar transformation when she also embraces the idea that she can never fully live if she attempts to live another’s life. She clarifies, “But if you only walk in other people's steps, you cannot make your own way. You cannot leave a mark” (Schwab).
Both walk away from their journeys holding to the core belief that life isn’t worth living if that life is not their own. The novels leave readers with a sense of hope that they are who they are supposed to be and the path to living a meaningful life is accepting that fact.
I love how these protagonists go through something completely different that no one can relate to, with Nora being able to try on different lives like hats, and Addie lives in a world where she is constantly forgotten, yet, by the end, their trials and realizations are so universal. These novels can stir up an array of emotions and thoughts from any person who reads Nora and Addie’s story.
Finally, these two novels could not be compared without the mention of books. Both stories have a way of promoting the necessity of arts, including the wonders of reading. In The Midnight Library, the text expresses the opportunity of a story, “So long as there are still books on the shelves, you are never trapped. Every book is a potential escape”(Haig). The reassuring concept that wherever you are, a book can take you somewhere new is one of the reasons I love reading.
There is a similar quote in The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, when Addie states, “Books, she has found, are a way to live a thousand lives--or to find strength in a very long one” (Schwab). Like Nora, Addies sees the escapism of novels, but also the potential that novels could inspire and keep a person satisfied through life.
Both novels take significantly different routes to find the meaning of life, but the ends leave the reader with a sense of optimism. The courage to be the truest form of oneself and the reliance on stories when that courage falters or needs boosting.
Do you see a similarity between these two characters? Which protagonist portrayed a clearer vision of the true meaning of life or happiness?
Works Cited
Adamarart. “Addie LaRue.” Tumgir, Tumblr, Feb. 2022,
https://www.tumgir.com/tag/addie%20larue%20fanart. Accessed Aug. 2022.
Haig, Matt. The Midnight Library. Viking, 2022.
Lasq.draws. “Addie and The Darkness.” Instagram, Meta, Dec. 2020,
https://www.instagram.com/p/CItQHMXJzCN/. Accessed Aug. 2022.
Liatartt. “The Midnight Library.” Deviant Art, July 2021,
https://www.deviantart.com/liatartt/art/The-midnight-library-886987728.
Accessed Aug. 2022.
“Nora Seed.” Likewise, https://likewise.com/books/nNjTDwAAQBAJ. Accessed Aug. 2022.
Schwab, V. E. The Invisble Life of Addie LaRue. Tom Doherty Associates, 2020.