What Is The Theme Of Coraline By Neil Gaiman

“Well, you know, mom, there are other ways to enjoy yourself... without dad.” The utopian ambience of the town of Pleasantville is thrown into disorder when it is visited by two siblings from the real world. David is your typical high school geek - a teen obsessed with a TV show (Pleasantville) and a social ‘loser’. His sister, on the other hand, is only concerned with getting intimate with the attractive boys at her school. The actions from both of these teens go against the norm in Pleasantville and causes the perfectly ordered black and white town to become illuminated with colour. Colour has a profound effect on the lives of people in Pleasantville - the prosaic town ends up having to face issues such as racism, separating itself from conformity,

The overt neglect of her prodigal intellect experienced by Matilda leaves her feeling misunderstood and an outsider in her family which differs from the perceived neglect which leaves Coraline struggling with her sense of self. Born to parents described as “gormless” (Dahl 4), Matilda is both blessed and cursed with a prodigal intellect. Causing Matilda to crave knowledge, it is her intellect that leads her at the age of “four years and three months” (9), to defy her parents and everyday walk to the library. Matilda admits to this neglect to Mrs. Phelps, the librarian, when she tells her of her mother, “She doesn’t encourage reading books. Nor does my father” (10). With this statement Matilda shows how her parents have neglected to foster her intellect. Matilda’s eagerness to digest information, and the fact that the only book in the Wormwood home is her mother’s cookbook, elaborates how she differs from her parents.

As a child daydreaming and imagining was essential to survive the extensive abominable days of summer, or the weekends. Likewise, in the texts “Red Cranes” by Jacey Choy and “The Firefly Hunt” by Jun’ichiro Tanizaki two children who still express their imagination and creativity, have to realize the harsh realities that everyone must incorporate. In the texts “Red Cranes” and “The Firefly Hunt” they express the ambition and creativity of a child’s mind. However, the development of the two characters dealing with the realities in their adolescent years, varies tremendously between the two stories.

The novel, Coraline, was published in 2002 by Neil Gaimen, in which he won several awards. The film, Coraline, is an adaptation of the novel that was released by Henry Selick in 2009. It was a cleverly, produced stop-motion picture animation adaptation of the novel, where audiences everywhere seem to enjoy the plot. Neil Gaimen and Henry created differences between interpretations. Neil Gaimen’s gothic novel, Coraline, won widespread commendation for the fairy tale of a teenage girl. Coraline is absolutely bored with her life, even her parents until she explored and found a door which leads to a mirrored world with the same neighbours, parents and house but even better. The moment she realizes that this world which she loves has more hidden

The story of Coraline is written by Neil Gaiman as a novel. Other text types have been made from the story, a graphic novel illustrated and adapted by P. Craig Russel, and a film adaption directed by Henry Selick. There are many differences between the characters in the three texts. Often the gothic features play a big role in making the story has terrifying as it is. Some features include the secret passageway between the worlds, and the supernatural being pretending to be the ‘Other Mother’. Other elements of the gothic story include, old events that point towards the future, mysterious disappearances, suspense, supernatural things that happen, visions and dreams. These features help to instil a feeling of discomfort

In terms of plot, the movie adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline is extremely true to the source material. It still tells the story of a young girl who grows unappreciative of her real family and finds a magical door in her new home that leads to a better, fantastical version of the family she has now. The creepiness and scary moments are also true to form, with this world being only a copy of the real world, created by the Other Mother in an attempt to trap Coraline forever. The quest to rescue the three ghost children is almost exactly the same, with two of their souls being found in Miss Spink and Forcible’s theater and Mr. B’s circus. But since the movie added a scene in which an enticing garden is used as an item to gain Coraline’s trust in the Other Mother’s fake world, one of the ghost souls was placed in this location instead. Another major difference between the book and the movie is the addition of the character Wybie. He acts as a source of inside knowledge about The Pink Palace and helps kill the Other Mother’s hand at the climax of the movie, while in the book Coraline gathered her information about her home from her parents as well as Miss Spink and Forcible, and killed the Other Mother’s hand by tricking it rather than crushing it. The use of stop motion animation was also a benefactor in bringing this terrifying story to a visual format, as stop motion tends to look uncanny and unsettling at times. Both works are masterpieces of writing and storytelling, and

Pearl, the leading child in the novel, is an excellent example of childish innocence combined with almost preternatural perception. Her willpower and imagination make her a blessing and a curse to her mother, who

The setting and time period of this story supports the adventurous innocence of its youthful characters, as well as enriching the story’s momentous and climactic confrontation between the forward-looking Mona, and her more traditional mother, Helen.

The setting in this story is an a futuristic world and the book involves many setting such as The Smoke, New Pretty Town, and Ugly Town. This book is about two different worlds: the uglies and the pretties. The pretties live in nice houses, party everyday, and don’t do any work. The uglies have to work everyday and both worlds are totally separated. This book is about Tally Youngblood and how her journey was when she was an ugly. She is an adventurous girl who loves to play tricks on other people is Uglyville, but she an thrilled to become pretty. Tally is also a very loyal because she had a big decision to make: to choose between her friends or becoming pretty. Shay, another main character, is a very unique person. Unlike Tally, she doesn’t know if she wants to become pretty or not. She is also rebellious because she escaped Uglyville the day before her birthday so she wouldn’t have the operation. The inciting incident in this story

This charming story reverses the typical roles within a children’s book. With underlying issues of stereotypes, independence and empowerment, it fills children with imagination and teaches them the importance of being strong, smart, and the realization that beauty comes from within.

In this paper I will be summarizing the graphic novel, Swallow Me Whole, and whether or not the concepts of James O. Young’s cultural appropriation and Linda Nochlin’s concept of genius are present in it. Nate Powell’s graphic novel, Swallow Me Whole, Powell depicts, the life of a young girl named Ruth and her step brother Perry. Their grandmother ever since they were kids has been sick and had various medical complications. It seems as though the two kids had suffered from depression ever since they encountered their sick grandmother, who seemed to mean a lot to them. The graphic novel begins with a particular interaction Ruth has with her grandmother and end with her and her family heading back home. Ruth seems to create a strong connection with her collection of dead insects and Perry with an imaginary wizard, which resides at the end of his pencil, which forces him to draw for him, driving Perry crazy at times. Eventually her grandmother gets better and moves in with her and her family. From there on, the graphic novel takes place during Ruth’s and Perry’s adolescence, during their lives in high school. Ruth and Perry seem to have issues at school, they don’t have many friends and Ruth tends to be tardy to class.

Furthermore, McEwan uses symbols alongside, motifs such as the Trials of Arabella in order to explain Briony’s mindset as a child. This suggest and supports the idea that Briony being young is unable to fully grasp and understand her surroundings.

This novel teaches us about the endless possibilities of life that we can face and that we can keep trying until we succeed with the many opportunities that we have around us.

Children are more likely to engage with characters they identify with, but when a character is also a hero, children feel as if they themselves have the power to take agency in their own lives. Coraline is a representation of any child that is easily bored and seeks adventure, but she also displays bravery and heroism. Coraline’s greatest strength is her imagination, which she uses to her advantage. Most children have active imaginations as she does, and this quality that they have in common will result in children identifying with Coraline and believing they are just as capable of surmounting obstacles as she is. Coraline is also not perfect, and although many children like to pretend they are perfect, they know they are not. When she loses the marble containing

The resentment within the young girl’s family is essential to the novel because one can understand the young girl better as she makes her decision.