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John Laurin
Lewis
English 115
30 October 2015
Coralines Imagination
Picture a cardboard box. Unlike a complex object, it has a very basic structure and shape.
Its function is to store objects in an orderly fashion and put things in for shipping purposes. Now
think back to when you were a child. An empty cardboard box is not just an empty box
anymore, but something one can create an entire world out of with one's imagination. With only
a cardboard box and a childs imagination, a journey as enthralling as going to the moon can be
created. In the book Coraline, by Neil Gaiman, Coraline is an eleven-year-old girl living in a
new city with negligent parents. Coraline copes with her situation by resorting to going on
adventures and exploring the inside of her new home and the surroundings of her house. Coraline
discovers two places that are the main settings of her story. First she finds a small door inside her
home that appears to be blocked with bricks. She also stumbles upon a mile-deep well located in
the forest that surrounds her home. With these places she has found and her adventurous
personality, she creates an adventure within her imagination and dreams in order to deal with the
new lifestyle she has been presented with. Coraline identifies herself as lonely, adventurous,
imaginative, and brave; these characteristics allow her to fabricate different adventures to
counter the loneliness she feels in reality.
Coralines loneliness is derived from many different sources. Her negligent parents,
recent move, and the absence of companions that are her age are all contributors of Coraline
feeling lonely. There is a lack of connection between Coraline and her parents, which heavily

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affects her throughout the film and book. For example in the movie, Coralines parents are busy
working on their gardening journal, causing them to be completely oblivious of her. Early in the
novel, Coralines boredom and loneliness are beautifully captured when she represents her state
on paper, for her mother. She writes the word mist thus: The I, is placed away from the
rest of the words, this symbolizes Coraline. She is the letter I, she feels alone. It is also a pun
because she displaces the lonely I, which symbolizes Coraline herself (Buckley). The I or
Coraline is significantly alone and has therefore dropped out. Her loneliness is easy to point out
because she is usually alone, besides when she is in the other world. Coralines issue of being
lonely is not a personal choice; she feels separated from her parents. This is also evident when
Coraline visits her dad in his study, Go out and count all the doors and windows and write that
down. List everything that's blue. Just let me work!(Selick). Both parents are so involved with
working, they neglect Coraline. Their whole family dynamic is lacking, which causes her to
dream up this alternate world in which her family is more affectionate and she is the center of
attention. She is constantly ignored by her parents: "Coraline? Oh there you are. Where on earth
were you? I was kidnapped by aliens, said Coraline. They came down from outer space with
ray guns, but I fooled them by wearing a wig and laughing in a foreign accent, and I escaped.
Yes, dear."(Gaiman 22). This is another example of Coraline identifying herself as lonely. She
is not given any attention and her parents do not listen to what she is saying. On top of that,
Coraline has a hard time finding companions in her new home because all the neighbors are
much older than her. Not having making new friends, as well as having to leave her old ones
makes Coraline feel very alone. Throughout the movie and the book, she develops a friendship
with a cat and in the alternate world, he talks.

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Coraline befriends a cat; he claims not to have a name, because unlike people, animals
know who they are. No, said the cat. Now you people have names. Thats because you dont
know who you are. We know who we are, so we dont need names.(Gaiman 35). The cat
already has his identity; he no longer needs to search for himself. He is the only thing that
remains constant in both worlds. In reality and the alternate world, the cat tries to warn Coraline
not to let her imagination consume her mind. The cat is sort of Coralines protector; he aids her
in her adventures in the world of the other mother. Also, he tries to explain to her the
consequences of choosing the other mother instead of her real mother. Coralines characteristic
of being lonely is prominent here because she is becoming friends with an animal. Coraline,
being so lonely does not care what physical characteristics her companions have, it does not
matter to her. As the story continues, Coraline and the cats friendship continues to evolve. At
the end of the story, the cat moves in with her and helps Coraline feel less lonely. Throughout all
the endeavours in each of the world's, the cat played a key part and he put in a constant effort to
help Coraline.
Coraline has such vivid imagination which is used to its greatest abilities during her
story. For example Rudd portrays his view that the house that Coraline lives in connects to a
childs unconscious. The setting in which the story takes place sets the perfect scene for Coraline
to let her imagination run wild (Rudd). He is suggesting that all events that took place were
figments of Coralines imagination. Given Coralines surroundings, it made it easy for her to
imagine a different, better world for herself. The other mother was Coralines ideal mom of her
dreams; most of the events that took place in the other world were dictated by her imagination.
Towards the end, the dreams of her fantasy land transitioned from sweet to sour and things took
a turn for the worst. Whether one has the same perceptions as Rudd or not, the extent of

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Coralines imagination is very apparent. Her bold imagination led to numerous adventures,
showing that side of her personality.
The adventurous part of Coralines identity was shown in many different parts and scenes
of both the book and movie. From the beginning to the end, the story is one big adventure. From
the very start, when she goes into the woods with her dowsing-rod and finds the well, one can
clearly see she likes adventure. The moment when Coraline becomes aware of the small door,
located in her living room, she was instantly intrigued. Coraline pestered her mom until she
opened it for her because she wanted to explore the secrets hidden inside. Coraline willingly
explored behind the door without even thinking what could possibly be behind it; she is
enthralled with the thought of adventure. The liking she has for adventure allows her imagination
to wander and lets her fantasize about crazy adventurous. Despite the cat warning her of the
danger of the other mother, she continues to explore all the opposite world has to offer. In a way,
Coralines adventurous qualities almost lead to her downfall, but her she showed bravery and
this helped her escape the other mother.
A key part of Coralines identity is shown in the level of bravery she presents when faced
with the many challenges she faces. She is aware of the bravery she possesses, "Because, she
said, when you're scared but you still do it anyway, that's brave.(Gaiman 57). Coraline defines
brave as something ones does regardless of how scared one is. This is very accurately describes
this particular part of Coralines identity. She faces the other mother and fights for the people she
loves. Coraline never backs down from a challenge and always does everything in her power to
fight for what she thinks is the right choice. When she is placed behind the mirror and comes
face-to-face with ghosts of the button-eyed children, this does not scare her. Instead she asks
them questions and tries to get advantages to beat the other mother. Her sense of bravery is part

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of the reason why she is so adventurous. It allows her to explore new things; she is not afraid of
challenges that are presented to her. Bravery is quite possibly one of the most prominent
characteristics that identify Coraline, even she is aware that she possesses grave levels of
bravery.
Coralines characteristics vary from being adventurous, lonely, brave, and imaginative;
each of these accurately makes up her identity. All of those four parts play a key role in creating
the person she is. Every part of her identity is important factors in her story. The fact that
Coraline is so lonely was essentially the reason why the other world was created in the first
place. Her loneliness is also the reason she develops the friendship with the cat that helps her
save her family from the other mother. If she was not very imaginative, the dreams would not
have took place nor been so vivid. Without her having such an adventurous spirit, half of her
dreams or imaginations would not have happened. Her bravery allowed her to face her fears and
deal with the other mother. All of the characteristics are connected, if one of them were to be
missing, the way in which things happened would have been altered. Coralines identity is
unique; the qualities that make her who she is are important. Mainly her neglecting parents
caused her loneliness. Because she was lonely she used her imagination to fill the void in her
life. Also feeling alone gave her a stronger personality and helped her be more brave and
adventurous. Coralines identity is based on these four characteristics: bravery, loneliness,
imagination, and adventurousness.

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Works Cited
Buckley, Chlo Germaine. "Psychoanalysis, 'Gothic' Children's Literature, and the Canonization
of Coraline". Children's Literature Association Quarterly 40.1 (2015): 58-79. MLA
International Bibliography. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.
Coraline. Dir. Henry Selick. Perf. Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, and John Hodgman. Focus
Features. DVD.
Gaiman, Neil. Coraline. New York: HarperCollins, 2012. Print.
Rudd, David. An Eye for an I: Neil Gaimans Coraline and Questions of Identity. Childrens
Literature in Education 39 (2008): 159168. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 24
Oct. 2015.