Coraline: A Modern Fairy Tale

Coraline is a short and eerie book by Neil Gaiman which has now been successfully adapted into a movie. The story is somewhat reminiscent of Hansel and Gretel. Coraline Jones has recently moved into a very old house divided between several tenants. Her parents are too occupied to give her much attention and she is bored. Exploring the house, she discovers a walled up door, which leaders into a much more interesting world inhabited by her other parents and replicas of the houses other tenants. However, the other mother makes a startling request, and Coraline begins to discover the other worlds dark secret.

Past this point there be spoilers. 

General knowledge of the book is assumed.

You have been warned. 

I was particularly struck by the themes of names, love, and virtual reality.

First, the theme of love. There are two main examples of love in the book. The love of the other mother, the love of Coraline, and the indifference of the house's tenants. The love of the other mother is a sort of devouring. When it has had its way, it leaves its object an empty and soulless husk. It draws its strength from the souls that it has consumed. However, it does not remember the object of its affection once it has consumed it, any more than you would remember the sandwich you had for lunch. It is significant that the other mother quotes King Lear, a play about a parent who demands a sort of servile love in return for benefits rendered.

The other tenants are exemplify simple indifference. When they speak with Coraline, they do not really listen to her, but are instead caught up in their own thoughts. This is why they cannot remember her name. Because the tenants have not really tried to know her, Coraline sometimes wonders who it is that they think they are talking to. The truth is, often they are simply talking to themselves.

Finally, we come to love as exemplified by Coraline towards the end of the story. While returning to the otherworld to rescue her parents from the other mother, Coraline states that she is rescuing them simply because they are her parents, not because of anything in particular that they have done for her. This exemplifies the love for the individual in and of itself, without reference to anything that may be gained from it. The other mother seeks to draw other selves into her self, the tenants of the flat are unable to look out of themselves, Coraline has to learn to love what is other, without conforming it to herself. In the end, she gains a greater appreciation for real things, things that are not just what she wanted. 

One of the main things that makes the world interesting is that it is other than we are. It is full of things that have never entered into our thoughts. Through this love which accepts reality, she is able to challenge the demonic other mother with the help of her friends and family, who are able to lend Coraline their strength without becoming any less themselves. 

So why is there the repeated emphasis on names? In the beginning of the book, none of the tenants of the old house say Coraline's name correctly, instead calling her Caroline no matter how many times she corrects them. In the other world, everyone gets Coraline's name right.  Later, she meets a cat who claims that the humans use names because people do not know who they are. While in the other world, Coraline also attends a theater where various fragments of Shakespeare are performed. Three lines are listed, two of which are 'What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.' and 'I know not how to tell thee who I am.' Also important was this dialogue,

"Now Coraline," said Miss Spink," what's your name?"

"Coraline," said Coraline."

"And we don't know each other, do we?"

I think what is being said here is that even though they know her name, they do not know who Coraline herself is. Hence the lines 'what is in a name.' The thing itself is not dependent upon the name. According to the cat's statement, names may be used to stop thinking about who you are. Likewise, I suspect that some people believe that something has been scientifically explicated so long as it has been scientifically named. Yet a mystery by any other name is still a mystery.

On the other hand, names are important in loving others. A name distinguishes between two people. The cat is solitary, and so does not require a name for the sake of others, and he already knows who he is, so he does not require a name for himself. A name is a contrast between two things of the same nature. The lover says that the beloved's name is like music because it is by the name that he distinguishes her from all the legions of woman kind, though he know more understands her than he does the movements of the Heavens. The name he uses is a pet name, a term of endearment. Thus, in the story, when one's soul is stolen through false love, one forgets one's own name. Conversely, when one truly loves, one learns and remembers the beloved's name. True love highlights individuality and names, false love undermines them. At the end of the book, Coraline comes to learn Mr. Bobo's name, and he in turn remembers hers. The book further records that Mr. Bobo repeats her name with wonder and respect. I think that he comes to actually see her and love her, in part by paying her enough attention to see her as an individual and know her name. Perhaps this is why it is comforting to name strange things. Names are terms of endearment. By loving a thing, it becomes lovable. We poor mortals are forever loving that which we do not understand and giving pet names to the cosmic mysteries.

Finally, there is the theme of virtual reality. The great temptation of fiction is that it allows us to create worlds in our own image. Yet man is not meant to live alone. It is suffocating to live enveloped in one's own thoughts. It is demonic to envelope others in them. Charles Williams reminds us of this in his Descent into Hell, in which one character, named Wentworth, is damned through his choice to love his own imaginings over facts. In contrast, Coraline is offered the chance to live in a world designed according to her desires, but turns it down. She understands that just getting what one wants isn't enough. One needs real people, other people. She cannot love the inhabitants of the other world because they are not persons but rather cleverly contrived imitations. It may be that a certain kind of struggle, and even pain, is necessary to human love. Perhaps that is why the symbol of love, the rose, has thorns.