Introduction
The book Coraline mainly focuses on courage among children, as depicted by Neil Gaiman. Neil Gaiman’s children’s novel, Coraline, is about a tale of a child and mother, belonging, and the variances between reality and fantasy. After Coraline moved into a new apartment located in a remote area, she realized new ways of escaping from her disinterested and boring parents to the other universe. This area appears to be the ideal world of Coraline. Coraline’s other parents give her attention and are exciting to her; Coraline has many games and toys, the elderly neighbors also excited Coraline when they were around.
Nevertheless, as Coraline grew, she realized that she had a heavy value to pay because of being in the universe. Coraline is a fractured, dark, relatively story that utilizes storybook formats with less dark embellishments that are dream-like to educate the benefits of being satisfied with what an individual has, developing better interactions with guardians, and exploring an individual’s imagination. The book Coraline also features the topics of dreaming and food exchange as power; all of the themes add to the evil fairy tale of the story. This essay specifically emphasizes scary stories as depicted in the book Coraline. It examines how the book’s author creates an independent child hero through the exposition of the socio-cultural context. Evil fairy tales in a story enables the reader to experience effective cognitive and emotional development.
Context
Courage is a vital element that enables people to overcome fear and attain desired goals. Fear exists among every individual, and no hero or any specific heroic figure has courage without fear. Courage does not need fear; an individual must look beyond fear to possess courage as excellent quality. Some risks are involved when an individual overcomes fear and goes against the culture of society. Different categories of risks are involved; individuals could risk limp or life, while others may risk their public figure. Troubles may be severe to the extent that an individual may require courage to persevere the risks. Courage may occur anywhere, anytime, and every day in the life of an individual. Every person will undergo courage, including the young and adults. Courage is the ability to face any painful or dangerous situation. Courage may be moral or physical; Individuals experience physical courage when they are in a position of facing physical pains. Moral courage involves an individual engaging in suitable activities or making the right decisions in every circumstance. Coraline, a girl in the book Coraline, is an example of a courageous person. Courage may result from different things; some people are born with courage, while others learn courage as they grow.
Confidence plays a crucial role in an individual’s courage. An individual can solve a complex circumstance when they are confident in their skills. Courage is a good quality that enables people in different ways. For instance, courage raises an individual’s confidence, allowing the person to engage in activities with ease. Courage enables individuals to experience various situations which expose them to multiple things, people, and places. Courage also allows people to live without depending on anybody by doing the right things or living happily. Hence, everyone is often loved by everyone, becoming an excellent example to others, thus making the entire community proud. Courage is an attribute that individuals ought to learn because it is an element that enables people to be against wrongdoings within society. An individual’s personality is developed out of their courage because it helps people face challenging circumstances by being wise and bold; both moral and physical courage are worth possessing.
Outline of argument
Some authors argue that scary tales determine how many courageous and independent children, predominantly female children are. Other authors say that scary stories do not choose children’s courage or independence, especially female children. However, scary stories are sometimes used to know how independent and courageous a child is by observing how a child reacts or how brave the child is when in danger. This is evident in the courage depicted by the young girl, Coraline (Gaiman). Courage is among the themes that define Coraline. She is an adventurous and proactive person, a significant factor determining her capability to overthrow the ‘other mother’ and get out of that world. Coraline’s entire escapade relies on the act of being careful about an individual’s wishes. Coraline’s desire to get better parents exposes her to a universe where seeking attention attracts more oppression.
Nevertheless, Coraline faces the challenges she faces, depicting her image as a strong and proactive girl. Her perspectives include exploring and daring herself even when in danger; Coraline says that when an individual is scared and eliminates the fear, the individual is brave. Despite Coraline’s fears and terrible things that happen while at the ‘other mother’s hands, she is determined to get out of the other universe (Gaiman). Her courage is selfless; she decides to rescue the cat, which assists her throughout the other universe. “Just remain there for few moments. We will get back home, I promise”. All these characteristics define Coraline’s status as an adventurer and explorer who overcomes fear by demonstrating her courage while facing death.
Coraline’s relationship with the ‘other mother’ illustrates how the author has used socio-culturalism to develop a self-reliable child hero. Coraline’s interaction with the other mother is emphasized in the book and exposes notions concerning the past mother-daughter interactions that are most poignant and creepy (Gaiman). The difference between Coraline’s mother and the other mother is physical; Coraline’s biological mother is very busy at work and does not give Coraline attention. The other mother constantly gives Coraline attention and is dedicated to involving Caroline in intensive ways. Coraline rarely speaks or talks with her parents; her parents are often ignorant and distracted by what Coraline wants to pursue. Her parents only care for her practical and basic needs. The other mother willingly plays with Coraline and notifies Coraline to meet and live together as one big family.
Coraline is the most robust female character regularly found in storybooks. Coraline’s adolescence is a commodity to the other characters involved in the book. Her challenges at the start of the book motivated her towards living an extraordinary life. She only wants to explore life, which indicates that the girl is courageous and self-reliable in making her own decisions without the fear of being lured by her parents. Her exploration is the most inextricable and central portion of her self-identity. Like other children, Coraline is interested in learning about the universe; her activeness models her into a dynamic character (Gaiman). In addition, Coraline has frustrations and anxieties in her new environment. She feels lonely, but her parents do not give her attention. She is motivated to go to the other universe where she would love to explore.
Scope
This essay aims to answer the research question on how the author of the book, Coraline, creates an independent child hero through the exposition of the socio-cultural context. The researcher aims to find the answer to the research question by conducting a practical analysis that will help the researcher discuss the answer to the research question. The first section of this essay outlines the introduction of the paper. The introduction outlines what the article is about by stating more on how this essay mainly focuses on courage among children, as depicted by Coraline in the book Coraline.
The introduction also highlights how the author of the book Coraline creates an independent child hero through the exposition of the socio-cultural context. The second section of this essay explores the courage context used in the book Coraline, where courage is a vital element that enables people to overcome fear and attain desired goals. This section has explored how fear exists among every individual, and no hero or any specific heroic figure has courage without fear. Courage does not need fear; an individual must look beyond fear to possess courage as their outstanding quality. Some risks include when an individual overcomes fear and goes against the culture of society.
The third part of this essay outlines the argument depicting that scary tales are used to know how independent a child is by observing how a child reacts or how courageous the child is when in danger. Some people use scary tales to reveal how much children are dependent and fearful, which is evident in Coraline’s courage. Courage is among the themes that define Coraline. She is an adventurous and proactive person, a significant factor determining her capability to overthrow the ‘other mother’ and get out of that world. The fourth part of this essay depicts the importance of learning or researching more about Coraline. The fifth part provides the book’s background information, including the author and the general outline of the text concerning the girl who lacked attention from her parents but received attention from people she was not relating to by blood. The last part of this essay outlines the research methodology, including how data was researched and collected, analysis, findings, discussion, and the conclusion.
The worthiness of the research
This research is more important to the researcher because it will help the researcher know why Neil Gaiman pushed the genre’s boundaries and made a. female protagonist. This research will help the researcher understand the challenges people face and maximize public awareness by educating people on challenges experienced in life. Through this study, the researcher will succeed in their research by comprehending the contents taught in class concerning how research should be conducted by other researchers, data collection, and analysis. The researcher will seize, gauge, and find new opportunities through this research. The researcher will gain the necessary skills required when conducting research, which may also open career opportunities for the researcher.
Background
Coraline is a storybook written by Comic and Novelist book writer Neil Gaiman (the 2007 imaginary film “Stardust” is a version. Coraline talks about a young girl about 11 years, a sole child who migrated to an undeveloped living home with her editors/freelance writer parents. The grown-ups migrate far because a gardening set they generate is too occupied with offering Coraline attention or preparing her for a good meal. Coraline entertains herself because no one is interested in engaging her (Gaiman). However, Coraline later moves to a new apartment with her parents, where she spends her first weeks studying the grounds and the house. Coraline meets two old ladies named Miss Forcible and Miss Spink, the next neighbors living beside Coraline’s family.
Coraline also meets Mr. Bobo, an old male who stays above Coraline’s parents and asserts to be teaching mice. “The reason you cannot see the mouse circus is that the mice are not yet ready ad rehearsed” (Gaiman 12). Coraline establishes a door next to the drawing-room of their apartment one afternoon. Coraline’s mother unlocked the door using an iron key to signify that the passageway was bricked. Later in the evening, Coraline heard music and noises, which attracted her to follow strange shadows that seemed to disappear to the doorway. The following day, Miss Forcible and Miss Spink read Coraline’s fortune and told her that the tea leaves indicated that she was in danger. Miss Forcible and Miss Spink also gave Coraline an extraordinary stone that had a hole as a sign of wishing her good luck.
The Other Apartment
Coraline decided to open the door when her parents were away after some days. During this period, the passageway was not bricked up, and Coraline entered an apartment that resembled theirs. Coraline saw a woman who resembled her mother; the only difference is that she was skinny and tall with huge fingernails (Gaiman). Coraline investigated the whole of the building and came across a similar black cat to the one she had seen around her apartment. The only difference is that this cat was talking, and the cat in their apartment was not talking. Coraline also realized that the neighbors looked similar but were not identical to her neighbors. Coraline’s other parents seemed to have more interest in her and showed her lots of attention. Coraline’s other father and mother told her to stay with them if she was willing to have dark buttons on her eyes, but Coraline refused the offer.
Coraline went back via the doorway and found that the passage broke up, forcing her to go back. When Coraline returned to her other apartment, she found her biological parents missing. The dark cat she had befriended in her “other home” told her about how her other mother had trapped her parents. “Where are they?” Coraline asked the cat (Gaiman 16). Hence Coraline decided to build her courage and to go back to the unblocked door again. She was angry with her other mother, which made her other mother lock her in a separate room and took the iron keys from Coraline. Coraline meets the souls of dead children who the “other mother” had imprisoned in this room. Nevertheless, Coraline agrees to rescue her parents and the children once she was out of the tiny room.
Revenge and Escape
Coraline suggested playing a game with the “other mother” the following day, Coraline’s mouth sprinkled. “You like games,” she said, “That’s what I’ve been told.” The other mother’s black eyes zoomed. “Everybody likes games” (Gaiman 26). She proposed that if she found the three souls of the children and located her parents, the other mother would allow her parents and the three children to go home freely. Coraline used the story she was given to finding where the three children trapped in marbles were. Coraline also discovered that her parents were trapped in a giant slow sphere on the drawing-room mantle (Gaiman). Coraline used the black cat to interfere with her other mother and went to the open door, the keys, the snow sphere, and the marbles. Her other mother tried opening the door, but Coraline pulled the door and locked it. Coraline was awakened by a sound from her mother, who was looking for the keys.
Methodology
The researcher used a literature review of secondary source material to answer the research question on how the author of the book Coraline creates an independent child hero through the exposition of the socio-cultural context. Literature review of secondary source material involves reviewing what has been quoted by other authors in secondary sources concerning particular literature or topic. Secondary sources refer to the sources that have been written concerning primary sources. Secondary sources include summaries written in newspapers, magazines, and textbooks. Other secondary sources may consist of critical studies and biographies of a scholar’s work. Secondary sources provided the researcher with an overview of the book Coraline. Hence, the researcher was able to find the appropriate words that answered the research question and the proper reference for further reading to facilitate the easy answering of the research question.
Analysis
Analysis was conducted using secondary source analysis which involved the researcher using information collected by somebody else to answer the research question. Researchers use secondary data analysis to answer a research question or examine alternative perspectives on the original questions of previous studies. The researcher ensured that the applicable analytical skills were available before analyzing the information retrieved from secondary sources. Data collection methods were appropriately implemented for easier retrieval and analysis of data. The researcher selected a topic that was relevant to the research question before conducting the research. The researcher used updated sources that consider the current research topic, including online books, to review the book Coraline. The researcher also used the author’s arguments to seek more information and content that answers the research question. Secondary source analysis is vital to researchers conducting further research concerning a relevant research question. Using secondary data analysis was more economical for the researcher because the researcher was not necessarily required to travel to the field or anywhere else to conduct the research. Hence, the researcher had no reason for devoting resources, energy, and time to complete the study.
Findings
In factual history, escapade novels have been using the boy child to overcome challenges with ease. Nevertheless, in using a girl as the protagonist of the story, Neil Gaiman pushes the boundaries of the genre to evaluate how the female gender is an essential aspect of the story. Caroline is unconventionally explorative and curious; she is fearless and approaches challenges with grace and confidence. Caroline comes up with a solution throughout each challenge she faces. This is important because Coraline reveals that she is independent and capable. Although Coraline commits faults, her mistakes are human and understandable.
Strength and power are highlighted when Coraline gets out of the tricky circumstances. Neil Gaiman pushed the genre’s boundaries and made a. female protagonist reveal to readers that fledgling girls can sponsor for their success. A person’s gender is not supposed to hinder them but should open more doors for opportunities. The book Coraline recommends that girls have a probability of emerging victorious and competent without needing a male to salvage them. Neil Gaiman’s pushing of the boundaries of a genre and using a female character also served as a motivation to females to be self-reliable.
According to the data collected and the researcher’s analysis, scary tales have enabled the author of the book Coraline to create an independent child hero through the exposition of the socio-cultural context. After Coraline decided to open the door when her parents were away after some days, she saw a woman who resembled her mother. The only difference is that the woman was skinny and tall with huge fingernails (Gaiman). However, Coraline did not fear that the woman she saw may be a ghost. Neither did she scream for help from the neighbors, a clear indication of how independent Coraline was. Additionally, after Coraline investigated the whole of the building and came across a similar black cat to the one she had seen around her apartment, she did not fear or call her parents.
Coraline did not ask anyone to confirm whether the cat belongs to their initial apartment. This is a clear indication of Coraline’s courage and self-independency before involving the third party or yelling for attention or help. The talking of the cat in Coraline’s new apartment is a miraculous thing that rarely happens in everyday society (Gaiman). Coraline did not develop fear or involve any other person to ask more about the cat due to her courage and self-reliance. Coraline’s realization of the neighbors’ similarity to her neighbors did not frighten her to request more information about the neighbors. Coraline’s other parents seemed to have more interest in her and showed her lots of attention. Coraline’s other father and mother told her to stay with them if she was willing to have dark buttons on her eyes, but Coraline refused the offer.
The author has also used the scary tales of the souls of dead children who had been imprisoned by the other mother to test Coraline’s independence. As Coraline went back via the doorway, she found that the passage broke up, forcing her to go back (Gaiman). However, when Coraline returned to her other apartment, she found her biological parents missing. Coraline did not fear or call anybody to help her search for her parents. Instead, she searched for her parents all alone, a clear indication of her independence. The dark cat she had befriended in her “other home” told her about how her other mother had trapped her parents. Hence Coraline decided to build her courage and to go back to the unblocked door again.
Coraline’s other mother locks her in a separate room and takes the iron keys from her because she is angry with her other mother; this did not get Coraline offset. Coraline meets the souls of dead children who the other mother had imprisoned in this room. However, Coraline did not fear or seek help to get out of the room (Gaiman). Coraline agreed to rescue her mother and the souls of dead children once out of the tiny space without being helped by anyone. While experiencing all these scary incidences, Coraline conquered all challenges along, a clear indication of how the author has used scary tales to create an independent child hero through the exposition of the socio-cultural context.
Discussion
Scary stories can contribute to the effective cognitive and emotional development of a child. Scary stories give children life lessons; when fear is confronted in a terrifying tale, excitement enables individuals to explore and experience anxiety from far. Listening to and reading scary stories helps young people know how to react when they face frightening circumstances. Adults often minimize the advantages in improved self-identity that teenagers feel when under fear. Other than scary stories enabling individuals to develop courage, they also would allow offspring to learn about being resilient. People succeed when they have skills on how to use their emotions when handling life experiences. With scary stories, broods can easily manage their stress because the tales keep their minds engaged.
In the book Coraline, the author uses scary tales, including “The Talking Cat, Souls of Dead Children, Skinny Women with Long Nails, and Parents like Her Parents.” The terrifying tales used enabled Coraline to know how to manage her fear. The creepy stories provided the girl with an extraordinary audacity of experiencing anxiety in an unknown place. Coraline learned that it is out of fear that individuals manage moving forward and developing courage. Children need terrifying tales because we live in a threatening world. Petrifying stories enable children to learn how they should deal with actual life circumstances. Acknowledging that life is never easy is one way for children to understand that it is good to be courageous. Additionally, learning or reading horror stories enables children to cope with their emotions hence building their confidence when facing dire circumstances.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the book Coraline is a beautiful gloomy story about a young girl who learned the obscure part of her wishes and conquered her dark side with selflessness and courage. Macabre is applied to create an impact in this book. For instance, “Other Parents, The Ghosts of the Children in The Mirror, The Cat,” and other concepts and characters known to be frightening but relate to child fear to impact the story. Replacing an individual’s household with a more happy family is common among children; children prefer interacting with people who give them attention. Positive attention from parents’ enables children to feel valued and secured hence building the development and self-image of the young individuals. This book carries a lot of weight concerning the benefits of parental relationships, the value of courage and children’s adventure, and how children’s choices impact their daily lives.
The author’s utilization of scary tales has been seen as creating an independent child character through the exposition of the socio-cultural context by instilling courage in children. Precisely, apart from scary stories impacting the self-reliability of children, they also enhance the child’s bravery; the young individual acknowledges that life is not always good. Parents should engage children in reading or listening to scary tales to build their courage and independence. In addition, parents should develop good parental relationships with their children by giving them attention when they need to be attended to. Good parental relationships enable children to feel loved and secure, giving them the courage to explore the universe, try new things, and learn new things.
Work Cited
Gaiman, Neil. Coraline. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012.