Mythic Fiction

I ended up reading Coraline by Neil Gaiman and was heavily surprised by the story. It was a more detailed version of the movie Coraline, which is based off his novel.  Before reading this novel I figured the story was going to have more to it, but was surprised how well the two match up. 

Coraline presents an awesome myth about a haunted house that basically holds children’s spirits.  There is a secret door in the living room that is covered up when Coraline and her family move in. Coraline soon finds out why the door is covered, she goes through the door and finds a parallel universe where things are completely better than the life she is living now. The first time she goes through the tunnel she meets her parents, but these parents have buttons for eyes and are considered her “other” parents. Coraline Is presented with lots of amazing things from these new parents and is very found of this new place. She finally feels accepted everyone is getting along, but her other mother says she can stay and not have to return to the other universe as long as she replaces her eyes with buttons. At this point Coraline is terrified she realized her connection with this place was all show and they wanted something more than what she is willing to give. Coraline is to far in at this point and she has to fight away to get back to her universe.

The myth of the story is really interesting, because I think most people can learn from the lesson that it is giving, but its heavily influenced for children. Most adults are content with what they have and aren’t tempted by such things. Laika studios probably picked this story up to animate, because the appeal it has to children. The story fits their spooky, quirky animation style and in my opinion it was translated really well. I saw this movie when I was in high school and was scared of the other universe Coraline visits.