The Importance of Liminal Spaces in Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Philip K. Dick’s Beyond Lies the Wub, and Art Spiegelman’s Maus

Liminal spaces are a common theme throughout many works as they act as a device to highlight the importance of the unknown. They are a way for humans to act upon their innate curiosity, and to an extent imagination On occasion, there are specific characters that inhabit these spaces permanently. These characters are used in the texts as plot devices to show the iudgmental aspects of human nature while showing the liminal space as a safe haven for the characters that live within them. This paper will show the importance of liminal spaces to these characters in particular: Hans from Grimm’s Fairy Tales, the wub from Philip Dick‘s “Beyond Lies the Wub,” and Vladek from Spiegelman’s Maus, all characters who use liminal spaces, such as the woods, space, and even a story, as a semi- escape from reality and a safe place The woods are used throughout the collection of Grimm’s Fairy Tales to act as a liminal space for the characters to venture into, not only as a plot device but also to enhance character development, in “Hans-My-Hedgehog,” Hans has made his home in the forest after leaving his family due to their poor treatment of him Immediately.

Hans acts as a way to show the judgmental tendencies of those around him when his father let him “lay behind the stove for eight years, and [he] grew sick to death of him” and as soon as Hans offered to leave “[his father] was happy to get rid of him”. These negative views of Hans simply come from the fact that he is different in appearance, and not what one would constitute as “normal,” He is constantly referred to as a “monster”  by those who come in contact with him and many assume he is uneducated based on his appearance saying “the hedgehog creature won’t be able to read”. For Hans, the only safe place for him is within the woods, or a liminal space, as it is a place for him to do what he enjoys, “tending to his pigs and playing his bagpipes”, with little fear of judgment.

This idea of liminal spaces acting as a safe place is also seen in Philip K Dick’s work “Beyond Lies the Wub.” For this show story, space itself acts as a liminal space since it bridges the gaps between numerous worlds. For the uh, this acts as its home as it moves through different hosts and bodies, and it is only when it comes in contact with the men on the ship that it experiences judgment and ridicule. The current body is possessed resembles a pig, and that is all the men, specifically Captain Franco, on the ship can see, even when it shows signs of intelligence Franco immediately sees the wub as something to eat or use to benefit himself, and further demeans the creature, calling it “a huge dirty pig" while the other men simply “[kick] at the wub” or feed it “scraps from the table”.

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When Franco presses to have the wub cut open, it protests immediately and even points out his tendencies of violent actions saying, “Is that all people can think of, killing and cutting?”  For the wub, these men have invaded its home, as humans are not naturally meant to survive in space; it is only through their use of technology that they are able to continue living and they see the wub as another means of their survival, Even when the wub appeals to principles Franco is familiar with by proposing that “each of [them] casts one vote“ to determine the fate of the wub he still is adamant in his decision The wub’s character is meant to highlight the flaws of Franco‘s character, similar to Hans showing the negative aspects of his father and the first kingi.

In all of their interactions together, the wub tries to reason with Franco, and this appeals to the reader making them feel sympathy toward the wub and realize that Franco’s actions are completely unnecessary and irrational. Franco and his team have entered the liminal space, much like those who entered the forest in Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and are met with the creatures that inhabit it, similar to those who passed through Hans’ woods; they entered his place of safety and were forced to deal with any consequences their actions may bring. When entering liminal spaces it is unclear whether one will encounter new things, or find something they are familiar with. In Spiegelman’s Maus, the story being told acts as a liminal space itself, and Art’s father, Vladek, is the one who inhabits it. This idea of the story acting as a liminal space can be seen with various stylistic techniques Art uses in his drawings.

In these panels, Vladek is describing the layout of the various different parts of Auschwitz to Art. On the full page, these panels surround a large drawing of the camps themselves, which is important when determining how the story acts as a liminal space. When listening or reading a story, it is not uncommon to create the images and scenes described within the realm of imagination, which is essentially what Art is doing when writing this story: putting the images he created onto paper. When creating these images, the story is able to act as a bridge between what happened in the past, in this case Vladek’s Holocaust story, and the present, Art’s interpretation of the story. These panels act to highlight this idea; the umbrella pole between Vladek and Art shows the different areas of the liminal space they are in: Vladek is in the past, recollecting on his experience, Art is in the present, taking notes on his father’s story, and the story is between them to act as a bridge.

It is important to note the shading on these panels as well as Art is shaded much darker than his father which could be him delving deeper into the story and therefore further into the liminal space as they are typically depicted as darker places, like the woods in Grimm’s Fairy Tales or the open universe in “Beyond Lies the Wub,“ However, Vladek lives in that liminal space but his shading is not as dark. In his case, the light shading may come from his enlightened state of understanding as he knows the full experience of the Holocaust, For Vladek, however, the liminal space of the story still acts as a safe place for him, and allows him to describe the negative characteristics of those around him.

The story is his way of detailing his life to his son without having Art live through the same experience. In a way, he is pulling Art into that same safety he feels and it is his way of protecting him The idea of liminal spaces is seen throughout many works as a device used to illustrate the unknown and curiosity, but for some characters, liminal spaces act as a safe haven from the harsh realities of the world. For Hans, the woods allowed him to do what he enjoys without the ridicule from his family, for the wub space was a free area for it to roam without interaction with humans, and for Vladek, the story he told allowed him to reconnect with his son.

These types of liminal spaces can usually be found within the already set up ones, such as in Dante‘s The Inferno, where Dante must fall asleep to pass between the different layers of hell. This sleeping state allows him a temporary reprieve from the horrors going on around him, therefore acting as safety. These necessary safety features of the liminal spaces are important when understanding the Characters that simply move in and out of them, or exist permanently within them. Those that come and go do so out of curiosity and those who stay are seemingly forced there due to previous mocking or ridicule, whether from those around them or themselves and when they come into contact with other characters they are able to highlight the negative aspects that surround them.

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