Denisha Fernandez
ENG102
Research Paper Draft
Why Literature Matters
The effect literature has on peoples lives varies from person to person. Some use literature as a sort of vacation from their lives and others use literature as teaching tools. Teaching tools meaning within literature they learn something new about either themselves or the world. A book that best demonstrates the idea that literature can be a teaching tool would be “Coraline” by Neil Gaiman. The book “Coraline” by Neil Gaiman was good teaching tool, especially for children, because it teaches the lesson that the grass is not always greener on the other side.
The book “Coraline” by Neil Gaiman is about a young protagonist name Coraline. Coraline’s family has recently just moved to a new town and is just beginning to settle into their home. Coraline’s home is surrounded by neighbors whom she visits frequently during the book. Her parents work from home but often Coraline does not get to see them because they are always so busy. One day while she was bored, Coraline went into her parents office and begin to bother her father. Coralines dad then gave her a mini exploration task of counting all the doors and windows and everything that was blue in the house and that was when she discovered a door inside of the houses drawing room. Coraline became curious of what was behind the door so she asked her mother to open it to satisfy her curiosity. When Coraline’s mother opened the door, there was nothing behind it but a brick wall.
Archetypes play a very important role in the book “Coraline.” It makes it easier to dissect the persons character and find out why they are the way they are. Coraline in the beginning of the book demonstrated the Seeker archetype. According to “What Story are You Living?” by Carol S. Pearson and Hugh K. Mark, “ The Seeker is active in a person on a quest, pilgrimage, or adventure that takes place in order to satisfy and inner hunger or yearning”(page 108). Coraline first shows signs of The Seeker archetype when she was told to avoid a dangerous well by her neighbors and set off to find it (page 8). Throughout the book The Seeker archetype within Coraline begins to grow and become more dominant, especially when Coraline has to back within the other world to retrieve her parents from the evil that was her other mother (page 32).
Even when the book first began, Coraline initially acknowledged herself as being an explorer, Coraline wanted to explore, not to just entertain herself, but because she thought it was truly fun.
Often characters that lack certain archetypes within themselves will look for it within another character. For example, being that Coralines parents were home most of the time working, she barely got to spend any time with them. Coralines parents lacked The Caregiver archetype, even though in some moments of the book their love for Coraline was definitely shown. The lack of the Caregiver archetype within Coralines parents, provided the growth within the Orphan archetype in Coraline. According to Pearson and Marr in “What Story are You Living?”, “ The archetypal character of the Orphan can be a child lacking the support of those who should be there to help”(page 90). During the moment when Coraline returned from the other world back to her reality, her parents were gone, she had to fend for herself(page 27-28). That lack of Coralines parents not being there, helped strengthen her Orphan archetype.
Another archetype present within the book was the archetype Sage. According to ‘What Story are You Living” by Carol S. Pearson and Hugh K. Mark, “The Sage may be a scholar, a spiritual teacher, or just someone (often older) who has learned from experience what to expect and what not to expect from life or from any situation” (page 144). The character that best represented the archetype Sage was the black cat that assisted Coraline throughout her journey in the other world. The black cat was very sarcastic and often rude to Coraline but none the less has her best interest at heart. This is shown when the black cat helps Coraline retrieve one of the marbles needed to free the children’s souls that were stolen from them by the Other Mother(page 66).
Another archetype that was very significant in the book “Coraline” was the Destroyer. The character that displayed the Destroyer archetype would be the Other Mother. At first when introduced to the Other Mother, she is shown to Coraline as being gracious, nice, and was willing to tend to every single one of Coralines needs. The Other Mother resembled Coraline’s real mother but she was also a scary version of her. Gaiman states “ A woman stood in the kitchen with her back to Coraline. She looked a little like Coraline’s mother only...only her skin was white as paper. Only she was taller and thinner. Only her fingers were too long, and they never stopped moving, and her dark red fingernails were curved and sharp(page 18). The Other Mother introduced herself as being loving and willing to cater to Coraline’s every need, but what she hid inside was a deeper darker motive.
The Other Mother wanted Coraline to stay with her inside the other world. Going deeper within the book, although the Other Mother was evil, she also demonstrated the Warrior archetype but in a negative way. According to Pearson and Marr, “ The Warrior enjoys competing and tends to embark on crusades. At worst, they are ruthless, like Attila the Hun, destroying people without regard to their civilization or culture”(page 96). The Other Mother demonstrated signs of the Warrior archetype when she challenged Coraline to find her parents and all of the marbles that contained the childrens souls(page 49). The Other Mother loved games because it gave her the chance to win and be the overall victor. It was as is if she fed off making people know that they were the weaker ones and they need. Over and over again she repeats to Coraline throughout the book how she needs her because she can provide all the things she wants from her real mother that doesn’t get because her real parents neglect her.
Overall, I believe that the entire story of the other world within Coraline actually took place all within Coraline’s head. Coraline was initially being ignored by her parents, so it is possible she created this “other world” so that she could see how it would be if she had perfect parents that catered to her every need. For example, on the day that Coraline was bored and her mom went to buy some things at the local shop, she went to explore the “other world” (page 18). The other world contained evil versions of the people Coraline encounters in her real life. Coraline imagined all of this so that she could eventually realize that what she had at home in the real world was what she needed all along. For example, Coraline could not stand how her real father cooked. Coraline’s real dad used to always make recipes out of simple dishes and Coraline would hate them(page 10). This changed when she rescued her parents back from the Other Mothers grip within the other world her reaction to her real father’s cooking changed. Coraline gobbles down the meal her father makes for her upon his return that night from the other mother(page 75). That showed how Coraline learned to appreciate what she had after returning from the world she’d created to see what it was like on the other side.
The book “Coraline” helps children re-visit the joy of using their imagination. Coraline used hers to imagine a world where she had gotten everything she’d wanted from her parents. It may at first seemed good to Coraline, but gradually the other world started to reveal itself for what it really was. Everything began to change to being an evil version of what Coraline had to deal with within her reality which made her appreciate everything she had before. Stories like these should matter to people because not only can children learn from this book but so can adults. Often people forget what the value of what they have already in their lives and fantasize about having what others possess. Not realizing that not everything looks good when you’re on the outside looking in. “Coraline” teaches people that the grass is not always so greener on the other side and that one should appreciate what they already have.
