Little Liar

Spiders are an important symbol in the book, representing the contradictory concepts of fear and safety. Malachi, who, like his biological father, is an arachnophile, loves spiders. In an early scene, he is heartbroken when he accidentally kills a spider. After his father goes away, the pet spider he left becomes Malachi’s biggest source of comfort. Malachi thinks of Rex as “[his] best friend. [His] protector” in the absence of his father (9). When Rex is torn apart in front of Malachi’s eyes, his sense of safety in the world is demolished as well. Subsequently, Malachi always keeps a pet spider for comfort. 

While spiders are a symbol of safety for Malachi, for Olivia, they are objects of fear. Olivia is repulsed by spiders, even weeping in terror when she touches one. Malachi, however, pushes past this revulsion by placing spiders on Olivia’s body. Though Olivia hates the sensation, toward the end of the novel, she admits that the fear is also arousing. For her, the spider represents her relationship with Malachi, in which fear becomes a source of arousal. By making his spider crawl over Olivia’s body, Malachi stakes his claim over Olivia’s person and her space.