CORALINE

By: Neil Gaiman

CORALINE BACKGROUND
Neil Gaiman is the author of Coraline, an exciting, adventurous children's novel. Gaiman was born in
the United Kingdom during 1960. He has authored many creative works, such as novels, graphic
novels, short fiction, comic books, audio theatre, and movies, etc. His love for reading and writing
started during his childhood and strongly shaped his unique literary style. For example, he was
inspired by C.S. Lewis, Edgar Allan Poe, Gene Wolfe, and many others.

Gaiman wholeheartedly credits his stays at the library as a child. Fortunately, his parents nurtured
this intense literary wonder. His creative works don't only focus on children's literature. He wrote
picture books, short fiction, and novels for teenagers and young adults. Regarding Coraline, he
started writing this book during 2002 when its genre (i.e. gothic horror) wasn't popular. Not to
mention, this story was once considered too scary for children.

Yet this peculiar and imaginative novel won him several awards, such as the British Science Fiction
Award and the American Elizabeth Burr/Worzalla Award. Coraline leaves readers with compelling
lessons on self-discovery, courage, and rebellion. Several literary critics have described this story as
creepy and stunning.

CORALINE SUMMARY
Coraline by Neil Gaiman is about a girl named Coraline who shifts to a new house with her workaholic
parents, who never have time for Coraline. Feeling bored and with a curiosity to discover her new
house, she finds a secret door which she later discovers that opens into another world where there
are replicas of her parents and neighbors, where cats and dogs can talk. She begins visiting the
alternate world where she receives kindness and love from her other parents.

As it turned out, Coraline was happy with the other world until her bewitched mother asked her to sew
buttons on her eyes like they had. There was nothing original in the world, only the replicas of the real
world created by The Beldam. Coraline returns to the real world and finds her real parents missing. A
cat whom she had befriended in the other world tells her that her parents were kidnapped by the
mother of the other world. Coraline goes in the alternate world to bring them back but she is denied.
Coraline also learns that the other mother had captured souls of three children on which she was
feeding and deriving nutrition from.

Coraline, with her intelligence and the help of the cat, brings her real parents back to real world. She
also frees the souls of those children and they go to the afterlife.

CORALINE CHARACTER LIST

Coraline Jones
Coraline is a little girl with big courage but to those around her she seems a little bland and
unmemorable. Her family's neighbors call her "Caroline" (which is ironic since this is also what the
author had intended to call her too, but his autocorrect erroneously altered the vowels) Even her
parents overlook her many talents, especially her vivid imagination. She is also bold and brave with a
thirst for knowledge and adventure. Coraline is not really sure what brace actually is but she thinks it's
when a person deliberately goes into a situation that scares them.

Coraline is often compared to other brave and adventurous children in novels but she is most
reminiscent of Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking, primarily because she is often called upon to act
like an adult whilst she is still a little girl. Like Pippi she cooks for herself and also tells herself when to
go to bed at night. However she still likes the trappings of childhood such as playing with dolls and
being outside. She is also smart enough to know that nobody is going to honk her adventures are true
and so her heroic exploits go largely unlauded.

The Beldam (the other mother)

Beldam is another word for witch which is very fitting in this instance. The Beldam is a character that
creates a doll that looks like a child to attract them through it and then watches the child through the
eyes of the doll to find everything supposedly "wrong" with their lives and create a parallel world
where everything is "better." This way she can lure the child in and convince them to join her in
sewing buttons into their eyes, and then she intends to eat them.

The other mother, at one point is called the "Beldam" which comes from the words "Belle dame"
which is french and translates literally as for beautiful lady, whereas beldam usually translate into

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"hag" or "old witch." I think this is the perfect name to give the other mother because in the movie she
at first portrays a beautiful and friendly version of her own mother, and slowly with her frustration and
anger with Coraline's refusal to cooperate, grows to a rigid, creepy and spider-like hag.

Wyborne "Wybie" Lovat

Wybie is Coraline's new neighbor who, in her opinion, "talks a lot." His grandma owns the "Pink
Palace" (the split house rented out to the Jones and their neighbors) He is the only other person who
knows of this parallel world that Coraline visits. Wybie also introduces Coraline to the feral
neighborhood cat who plays as both a sort of threshold guardian AND a mentor in the story.
Sidekick- Wybie helps Coraline every step of the way, whether it's helping Coraline escape the
Beldam's mirror, or defeating her all together, he was there to provide assistance.

Charlie Jones (Coraline' s Father)

Mr. Jones seems like a decent enough man. He works from home and has trouble separating work
from family time; consequently his best intentions to spend time with Coraline fall by the wayside.
Despite not having as much time with his as she would like, Coraline idolizes her dad and knows that
he loves her.

Mel Jones (Coraline' Mother)

Mrs. Jones is something of an enigma. She is not a hands-on mother and barely knows her daughter
which seems to be something that happened in purpose since she takes no interest in Coraline
whatsoever and seems to have largely blocked out her existence. However she does love Coraline
and despite a difficult relationship Coraline knows this.

April Spink & Miriam Forcible

Miss Spink and Forcible are the two elderly women living on the basement level floor below    
Coraline's family in the Pink Palace. These two retired actresses live with their
many Scottish terriers, and help Coraline, by giving her the stone she needs to find the ghost eyes in
the end, as well as read her fortune and warning her of danger. They provide Coraline with many of
the gadgets and information she needs to successful save her parents and the ghost children.

Ghost Boy
If the three ghost children, Ghost Boy is the boldest. He speaks for the three and is the most
forthcoming with details about their circumstances, chiefly how they came to be trapped in the
Beldam's world.

Ghost Girl
The Ghost Girl is quiet and shy. She is even demure and serious during occasions that should be
more fun and lighthearted.

Fairy Princess
When Coraline meets the third girl in the mirror she is convinced that she is actually a fairy with
wings. This is never actually confirmed but Coraline remains convinced of it. She has plenty of
character and an entertaining personality. She seems to bond the most of all the children with
Coraline.

The Other Father

The Other Father is under the thumb, controlled absolutely by the Beldam and therefore too wimpy to
provide much of a threat to Coraline. He definitely generates sympathy in Coraline - which is exactly
what he intended as his sad exterior is just a front created to tri Coraline. He may indeed be under the
thumb of his wife but he is just as untrustworthy and manipulative as she is.

Mr. Bobinski
Mr. Bobinski is the retired russian circus preformer who live on the flat above the Jones'. He's
believed to be a little bit crazy and claims to be training his "jumping mouse circus." His mice are what
lead Coraline through the door at night into this parallel world of better things.

The Cat
Coraline first encounters the cat at the beginning of the movie when she is in search of a well when
he spooks her when she thought she was alone. She later fines that he is just a wild cat that Wybie
takes care of and plays with. Later once introduce to the "other world," Coraline meets up with the cat
again, but this time he can talk. He warns her that everything is not all that it seems in the other world.

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Mentor: the cat serves as a mentor for Coraline, warning her of dangers and informing her of tricks
and ways of defeating the Beldam in the end.
The cat is the only other character besides Coraline that doesn't have a parallel character in the other
world. He, just like Coraline can come and go as he pleases. Though the Beldam does not like him or
cats for that matter.

CORALINE THEMES
Overcoming Fears
An argument can be made that this entire story is supposed to encourage readers to overcome their
fears. Coraline is a regular kid who is called upon to be incredibly courageous in order to do the right
thing. She introduces herself as just the kind of person who is capable of these things from the
beginning by saying she's an explorer. In good fortunate and poor, she's already said yes to the
adventure. Initially terrified of her evil doppelganger mother in the other world, she ends up personally
destroying this woman and saving several people in the process. She's putting other people's needs
before her own security, which makes her a very brave girl. Compared to the stress of her adventures
throughout the book, Coraline finds herself more than prepared to face school when it starts. She's
already proven to herself that fear is just a roadblock that must be overcome by courage and
determination.

Independence
Coraline is an empower kid. With her parents gone at work all the time, she finds herself alone most
of the time. After years of this she has grown resourceful. She demonstrates her independence by
never asking for help, not that that would be a sign of weakness. Instead she trusts herself to find an
acceptable solution to her problems. This becomes particularly important when her parents are
kidnapped, and she's the only one capable fo saving them. While a less independent girl may have
gone to the police for help, Coraline recognizes that these events seem to be centered around her so
maybe she is the one best qualified to fix them. She takes it upon herself, trusting in herself to come
up with solutions, to rescue her parents and defeat the beldam.

Curiosity and Optimism

Coraline has a superpower: choice. She chooses to say yes to things, a direct manifestation of
optimism. Choosing to believe in the possibility of good, she remains optimistic despite her rather dire
circumstances. Being left home alone so much is an opportunity for adventure rather than a trial.
These sorts of positive frames help her to remain hopeful and most importantly curious. Her curiosity
stems from the belief that good things exist that have yet to be discovered. She wants to learn
everything possible about the world around her, a perspective which naturally stems from a conscious
commitment to hopefulness. This gives Coraline an advantage over her evil other mother: the power
to believe the best.

Solitude
The flip-side to Coraline's fiercely independent nature is her loneliness. She's spent most of her time
alive alone thanks to her workaholic parents. While Coraline does not complain, she is obviously
bored. She talks to cats after all. Although never explicitly stated, readers can assume that the world
which Coraline finds is in her imagination. She uses her time thinking up these wild stories to
entertain herself. This is entirely possible and would not detract from the validity of Coraline's
experiences in the least. Consider it. What would a child who basically lives alone dream of? Parents
who pay attention to her. How about a mother who won't leave her alone? Coraline's vision of a
perfect mother quickly sours when she realizes that her real mother is the one from whom she truly
desires attention.

CORALINE SYMBOLS, ALLEGORY AND MOTIFS

Buttons
Buttons in the novel act much like masks in that they conceal. Buttons though conceal a being’s
intentions rather than identity. Coraline cannot read the Other Parent’s intentions, as they reveal no
perceptible emotion through their dead, plastic button eyes. She can’t even discern if they’re watching
her, as the buttons don’t rotate the way normal human eyes do. The buttons therefore become a
symbol of the inscrutability and inhumanity of the Other Parents.

Key
The key serves as a plot device and is central to the novel as such. The key allows the bearer access
to the human world and the dimension where the Other Mother/The Beldam lives. Both Coraline and
the Other Mother/The Beldam want possession of the key as it represents freedom and power for
them both. The Other Mother/The Beldam desires the key as it affords her freedom to move back and

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forth with impunity between dimensions, allowing her both to hunt and escape reprisal as she
pleases, which in turn gives her immense power over her victims. Coraline wants the key because to
her it is both her means of escape, and as with any key, it can also lock doors barring entry giving her
power over The Beldam, who can only find prey in the human world.

Mirrors
Coraline is both a respectful homage and an original take on Alice Through the Looking Glass and as
such, mirrors are a frequently occurring symbol in the story. In the human world, mirrors are just that,
tools to reflect images that are placed in front of it, truthfully revealing flaws. In the Beldam’s
dimension however, the whole place being nothing more than a twisted mirror image of our world,
mirrors likewise reflect the ugly truth behind it---revealing the dimension to be what it is: nothing but a
deadly simulacrum of our world created by the Beldam for luring in children.

Food
Many people associate food with comfort, warmth, and family but not Coraline. Coraline’s food is
often cold, tasteless, or just plain weird because of her father’s culinary experimentation and/or her
mother’s busyness. The quality of Coraline’s food serves as a symbol of her parent’s indifference
towards her. The Beldam on the other hand serves her delicious, familiar food but despite its appeal
and savor it too is created without love or regard for Coraline as it is primarily used to bait her.

Felines
The cat has been associated with the occult, primal wisdom, and femininity throughout history and
throughout many different cultures. The same thinking applies in Coraline and the cat likewise
becomes a symbol of Coraline’s practical feminine wisdom being used to combat the manipulations of
the Beldam. The nearly feral black cat she finds near their house reveals itself to be a wise sentient
creature capable of human speech in the Beldam’s dimension. It warns Coraline about the dangers of
the Beldam but delivers the warning in cryptic statements. Later on the cat serves as her guide out of
the Beldam’s dimension as it is shown to be capable of freely moving between dimensions.

CORALINE METAPHORS AND SIMILES

A rainy day (Metaphor)
Coraline didn’t like rainy days, for they meant no exploring. Of course, she could play inside but the
number of games was rather limited. The girl wasn’t allowed to make a mess, distract her parents
from work, and many other things that she – unfortunately for her – found exiting. Coraline went “over
the window” to check if there was any sign of rain ending. Alas, it wasn’t “the kind of rain you could go
out in.” It was “the other kind, the kind that threw itself down from the sky and splashed where it
landed.” It was rain that “meant business.”

The future (Metaphor)

Who doesn’t want to know the future? It is an enigma that always attracts curious minds. Coraline
was curious too, so when Miss Spink offered to “read leaves,” Coraline didn’t refuse. She really
wanted to see how one could see her future in “the tea leaves.” However, the prediction made by
Miss Spink wasn’t very promising. As it turned out to be, Coraline was “in terrible danger.” Luckily for
the child, she was brave and could face any danger.

Strong enough (Metaphor)

Even though Coraline managed to escape from that terrible place the other mother called home and
destroy the other mother’s treacherous plans, she was scared of the prospect of meeting her again.
She decided that it wasn’t fair. Why had she chosen her? What had Coraline done to deserve that
kind of punishment? However, the souls she had saved managed to cheer her up a little bit. One of
them said that nobody was “ever given more to shoulder” than he or she could “bear.”

Old friends (Simile)

Miss Spink and miss Forcible were old friends in every sense of the word. They were retired
actresses, so they always had a lot of interesting stories to tell. Bored and lonely, Coraline decided to
use an invitation and pay a visit to that strange pair. Even though they tried to engage Coraline in
their conversations, the girl simply could follow with their stories, for Miss Spink and miss Forcible
were constantly interrupting each other. Their argument was “as old and comfortable as an armchair,”
the kind of argument that no one could ever win or lose.

The other mother (Simile)

The other mother looked just like Coraline’s mother. However, there were several distinctive features
that differentiated one woman from another. For instance, the other mother was rather pale. Her skin
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was “white as paper.” She was “taller and thinner.” Her fingers were “too long, and they never
stopped moving, and her dark-red fingernails were curved and sharp.” When she turned around,
Coraline noticed that that her eyes were “big black buttons.”

Cunning (Simile)
The cat proved itself smart, independent, and even a little bit dangerous. The animal made it clear
from the very beginning that it wasn’t going to be Coraline’s pet toy. Though Coraline found it rather
cruel of the cat to play with its prey before killing it, the cat replied “ in tones as smooth as oiled silk”
that “the tendency of a cat to play with its prey” was “a merciful one.” After all, it permitted a snack to
escape, “from time to time.” “How often does your dinner get to escape?” asked the cat.

CORALINE IRONY
Irony of Parental Love
Coraline’s parents actually do love their daughter but they manifest their love for her in ways that a
child’s mind cannot readily understand. Coraline’s mother works hard so that they maintain and
continue to enjoy a certain lifestyle standard. Coraline’s father experiments in the kitchen to produce
“gourmet meals” gleaned from old French cookbooks. Unfortunately these meals are cooked with an
amateur’s talents and are so foreign to Coraline that she rejects them outright. Conversely, the
Beldam is, at least outwardly, a “loving parent” lavishing her with attention and providing her with food
that she actually enjoys eating. Unfortunately it is all a ruse intended to lure Coraline as children are
the Beldam’s primary food source.

Irony of food
Food has often been treated as a tangible manifestation of love and service of a parent to a child.
This is not the case for Coraline. Food is actually symbolic for her parent’s lack of regard for her.
Coraline’s mother is too busy to lovingly prepare meals as such Coraline practically lives on
microwave convenience food. Her father on the other hand takes time to prepare hot meals but the
food he prepares, such as chicken stewed in red wine, come across as strange to a child and as such
is not appreciated---even rejected by Coraline. The Beldam’s food, even if it is delicious and familiar
to Coraline, is not a manifestation of love and service either as the Beldam creates these meals
specifically as bait for the children she lures in.

Irony of “The Other World”

The Beldam’s dimension is a garish, exaggerated representation of our world. In many ways it is
better--prettier, more fun, more exciting. Again, these exaggerations and improvements are deliberate
as they are specifically designed to lure children in and keep them inside for the Beldam to prey on.

Irony of the Key

The key that allows the wielder access to both the Beldam’s dimension and the human dimension is a
pivotal item and plot driver in the novel. Its appearance is reflective of the Beldam’s opinion of the
human world: old, rusty, and cumbersome. The irony here is that the key is used to lock something in
rather than open and to prevent the Beldam from continuing to prey on children Coraline locks the
key itself preventing it from being used ever again.

Irony of Mirrors
Mirrors in the Beldam’s dimension do not function the way they do in the human dimension. Rather
than reflect what is directly in front of it the mirror reflects what is beneath the surface, revealing her
parents, whom the Beldam has trapped in her dimension, as well as the souls of the children that she
had consumed.

CORALINE IMAGERY
Buttons
The imagery of buttons is first encountered when Coraline meets the Beldam. Her button eyes act like
masks that obscure her motives and emotions, a real necessity for an entity that lures in children
through deceit to feed on their life essence. The imagery of buttons appears more frequently as the
Beldam tries harder and harder to entice Coraline to stay in her world.

Keys/Doorways
The keys and doorways are plot drivers and as such, also appear frequently in the novel. Coraline
encounters both the key and the doorway as the Beldam’s means of inciting her curiosity to entice her
to enter into her world. She enters the doorway through the use of the key willingly though as she is
bored as well as lonely. As the novel progresses and the themes of curiosity, optimism, and escapism
become more pronounced, these two images become more and more central to the story.

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Family
Family is also a recurring image in Coraline. Most of the tension in fact stems from her family and
what she initially perceives to be the “better version” of what she already has. Coraline soon learns
that getting what she wants all the time and being genuinely loved are mutually exclusive.

Home
When Coraline realizes that she is now in an alternate dimension what is a frightening farce of her
home with a homicidal supernatural entity she also realizes how much she values her home and all
the quirky people within. Initially Coraline found her home uninteresting, but here she was in no
immediate danger and, despite her protestations, actually loved. The image of home, oddly enough,
is often more frequently and pointedly described when Coraline was in the Beldam’s realm.

CORALINE LITERARY ELEMENTS

Genre
A fantasy

Setting and Context

Coraline Jones and her parents move into a new flat where the girl finds a strange door that goes
nowhere. Later on, Coraline notices strange dark shadows that visit their home at night and disappear
behind the door. Being a curious child, she makes up her mind to solve that riddle.

Narrator and Point of View

The story is written from the third-person point of view.

Tone and Mood

The narrator’s tone is contemplative. The mood is mysterious.

Protagonist and Antagonist

Coraline Jones is the protagonist of the story while the other mother is the antagonist.

Major Conflict
The major conflict is person vs. person. Coraline has to find a way of escaping from the other
mother’s bizarre world.

Climax
Coraline’s escape is the climax of the story.

Foreshadowing
Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house.

The narrator hints that there is a secret behind this door.

Understatement
“I don’t really mind what you do,” said Coraline’s mother, “as long as you don’t make a mess.”

Both Coraline’s mother and father can’t find a spare minute and play a little bit with her, though they
are “home a lot of the time.”

Allusions
The story alludes to Hamlet and Alice in Wonderland.

Imagery
There is important imagery of an enigmatic black figure.

The black shape went into the drawing room and Coraline followed in it, a little nervously. The room
was dark.