Coraline

In most fairy tales, there is a quest structure that the protagonist follows through. The typical quest structure is as followed: an ideal happiness, disruption of the ideal happiness, tasks to reinstate happiness, and finally the reinstating of happiness. The cycle is never broken. In Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, this quest structure is abandoned. Unlike the typical quest structure, the protagonist, Coraline, undergoes a coming of age quest in which the quest structure deviates from the typical structure. Coraline’s quest signifies her coming of age when she overcomes what Freud calls her “infantile complexes,” which then allows her to break the typical quest structure by abandoning her childhood and embracing her adulthood.

The typical quest structure that protagonist follows in the majority of fairy tales consists of distinct stages. The stages (the ideal happiness, disruption of the ideal happiness, tasks to reinstate happiness, and the reinstating of happiness) are cyclical. The quest narrative is always present in some form and the cycle is never broken. The typical quest structure allows the story to reach an absolute resolution to the threat of the happiness. The cycle allows for the return to the “original status” which is the ultimate goal for the protagonist. It allows for a victory without significant change and the return to the ideal happiness. In Coraline, it becomes apparent that Coraline’s quest structure does not follow the typical structure form the beginning based on the relationship between Coraline and her parents.

In Coraline, Neil Gaiman makes it clear that Coraline’s family is anything but the ideal, happy family. Gaiman states, “both of her [Coraline] parents worked, doing things on computers, which meant...

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...o adulthood and how they have led to her inner change, which deviates from the typical quest where the protagonist does not change and simply returns to the “original status.”

In essence, Coraline is presented to be the polar opposite of the typical quest structure. Coraline begins with an unhappy family, disruption in the form of desire (Coraline’s ideal happiness), and the return to Coraline’s world with significant character change. Not only does it contradict the typical quest structure, but also Coraline’s quest focuses on the character changing aspects of the quest. The coming of age quest is used to emphasize the changes Coraline goes through during the quest. As a final act of releasing her childhood, Coraline buries the hand of the other mother in the real world. Coraline finally cuts all connection with her childhood and the other world with this act.