.Using the concept of “third culture” from social theory, this article examines Charles Kingsley’s use of displacement in his children’s book The Water Babies (1863). In trying to portray the site of moral formation, Kingsley displaces his central character Tom – the new, interstitial “third culture” subject. Through Tom’s displacement, Kingsley strives for unity between science and religion, resulting in new social formations. The type of unity Kingsley envisions has its own discrepancies and ironically aligns Kingsley to Cardinal John Henry Newman’s position on moral formation.