Coraline Themes

Coraline is up there with the most courageous kids of all time. As she explains, what really makes you brave is doing something even when you're scared. This is the sort of courage Harry Potter had...

Coraline's parents are really busy and tend to ignore her; she's often left alone to entertain herself and even take care of herself. That doesn't sound like the best family set-up. But then Corali...

Coraline is definitely a scary book, there's no question about it. The stuff Coraline goes through to rescue the ghost children and her parents gives us nightmares. Coraline herself gets scared –...

The other world in Coraline is a strange version of that reality that Coraline knows well. It has the same people, the same house, and the same garden; but something's just not quite right. This wo...

At the beginning of Coraline, our heroine is bored at home: her parents are too busy for her, the place she lives is dull, and she has exhausted all the exploring there is to do. It takes being in...

When you're totally on your own – like Coraline is – you need to have a super strong sense of self to get you through things. In Coraline, our heroine doesn't have friends or family to rely on,...

Boredom and dissatisfaction are great ways to start off a story. Seriously. Dissatisfaction often leads people to look for something to do, and that something often gets them into serious trouble....

Choices are really important in Coraline. After all, Coraline makes some pretty big decisions in the story, and a lot of small ones, too (like what to have for dinner!). Her first, and most importa...