Coraline - Increasing Terror - Chapters 11 & 12

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

I knew that when Emily suggested Coraline as a book to read, that I'd have quivers and shakes and shivers.

I was right.

Please remember to use spoilers for those bits of the story that you discuss, but said discussion might be giving the plot away to people who haven't read Coraline yet.

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Chapter 11 Discussion
Read the chapter and, below, discuss it. You may write of anything from Chapter 11 (or previous chapters, as they tie into Chapter 11)...

Drawing a blank on what to discuss? Or are there too many options and it's hard to choose? Try this:

"And, hard as she could, she threw the black cat towards the other mother."

What would you have done to attempt to escape? Would you have done that, or something else?

Chapter 12 Discussion

So, how did that chapter end? Did that spook you? (Yes, it did spook me. Neil Gaiman is awesome in his ability to terrify ....)

Or, write about anything in the chapter that you wish (or previous chapters, if they tie into Chapter 12, and how they do so).


^__^

Be sure to have at least 100 words in your discussions for each chapter to earn credit towards the awesome awards!



Remember that while there is no hurry to get this done, know that our Event ends and everything is due 11:59 PM, June 8th, HOL time.

*shivers*

[River Fenwick]

Chapter 11:
Chapter eleven was like a breath of fresh air in this book, as we finally have some hope in the midst of all the dread. Coraline is quite an intelligent little girl, knowing how to play mental games with the other mother to earn her freedom. The fact that the other mother fell so quickly into Coraline's trap shows how she is toxically driven by the need to be correct and win, to throw it in someone's face. I feel a bit bad for the cat for being thrown onto the other mother by Coraline to use as a distraction so they could escape, though I'm glad all seems well between the two when Coraline apologizes and explains herself.

Chapter 12:
And just as we thought we were in the clear, chapter twelve reminds us that it's not over until the other mother is truly over with. Coraline seems to unknowingly be one step ahead as of late, putting the black key on a string to tie around her neck. The dream with the three children whose souls she recused is now bittersweet, knowing that it was a goodbye party and that they warned Coraline that it wasn't over yet for her. It seems the other mother won't stop now, especially since someone finally beat her at her own game, which hasn't happened in a long time. It must've been creepy to see the other mother's right hand scurrying around since Coraline just had the dream where the children warned her that it wasn't over yet. Coraline must have felt such deep dread after seeing it, confirming that she had more work to do to eliminate the other mother from her life.

[Maeve Madden]

Chapter 11:
I think Coraline was really smart to do that, and I think in her position I would’ve done the same thing. We know that the Other Mother doesn’t like cats, and we know that the cat would be more than willing to scratch up the Other Mother to help Coraline and himself escape. Perhaps it would’ve been good for Coraline and the cat to discuss a bit of a plan before going to see the Other Mother, but the fact that the cat didn’t know what was going on either helped with the element of surprise. In her position, I would’ve done pretty much anything to escape.


Chapter 12:
Oh boy, was I spooked! Especially with that creepy drawing at the end of the chapter. We really thought that Coraline was safe and sound after the events of Chapter 11… but Mr. Gaiman tricked us! I really didn’t think that anything more was coming.
The imagery of the hand running out of the door is terrifying. The accompanying sound of the “tapping, clicking, scurrying feet” brings to mind the Other Mother tapping her fingers on the counter in previous chapters. What great foreshadowing! And the fact that the Other Mother swore on this very hand is, well… a heavy-handed metaphor (please forgive my pun).

[Dibyarup James Potter]

Chapter Eleven:
If I were in Coraline’s position, and I knew that once the Other Mother closed that door, it would never be opened again, and I had to make a choice between the black cat and my parents and my life, I would in the heat of the moment, throw the black cat toward the Other Mother, because I would have to make that decision in a split-second and wasting any time would mean the death of me, my parents, as well as the black cat, however, if I would throw the cat at her, I would at least be able to save my parents and my life, and with the cat being skilled, small, flexible, and most importantly angry, it would have a fair chance of escaping as well. So in my opinion, Coraline made the smart choice which would ultimately lead to her, her parents’, as well as the black cat’s escape.

Chapter Twelve:
Chapter 12 concluded with Coraline realizing that the danger was still present. Despite believing she had locked away everything from the Other Mother's world, she was woken up in the middle of the night by strange noises and discovered a creepy, five-footed, crimson-nailed entity, the colour of bone. She immediately recognized it as the Other Mother’s right hand, which had been reaching, clutching, snatching and, putting black beetles into the Other Mother’s mouth. The hand scuttled out of her house, likely searching for the black key. This revelation left Coraline frightened, knowing that the threat from the Other Mother still remained. Yes, it did spook me, as it showed that Coraline's struggle was far from over, maintaining the story's suspenseful and scary atmosphere.

[Dibyarup James Potter]

...
Chapter 12:
And just as we thought we were in the clear, chapter twelve reminds us that it's not over until the other mother is truly over with.
...

River, this is exactly the problem here. Whenever a problem seems to be solved, even in real life, there are often one or more loose ends to take care of, and before that, the problem will surely return. In Coraline's case, even though she took care of the key and locked it away (seemingly), but the Other Mother's hand is still out there, searching for the key. So who knows, at some point in time, the Bedlam might just catch up to Coraline, or if it takes her a couple more years to find the key, Coraline and her family might move elsewhere, and then the Bedlam might try to hurt someone else who moves into that house.

[Dibyarup James Potter]

Dibyarup wrote:

...
Chapter 12:
Oh boy, was I spooked! Especially with that creepy drawing at the end of the chapter. We really thought that Coraline was safe and sound after the events of Chapter 11… but Mr. Gaiman tricked us! I really didn’t think that anything more was coming.
The imagery of the hand running out of the door is terrifying. The accompanying sound of the “tapping, clicking, scurrying feet” brings to mind the Other Mother tapping her fingers on the counter in previous chapters. What great foreshadowing! And the fact that the Other Mother swore on this very hand is, well… a heavy-handed metaphor (please forgive my pun).

I agree! I was shocked when I learnt about the hand as well. The thing that scared me the most, however, was how sinister and relentless the Other Mother was. She was so fixated on getting Coraline, that she sent one of her hands to find the key. Not to mention the scary look of the hand itself, which adds to the creepiness of the entire situation. Neil Gaiman is possibly one of the best horror writers in my opinion. When I started reading the book, I didn't expect it to be this creepy. I expected there to be some ghosts or demons, but this is on another level. It is a sort of psychopathic demon, which makes the story even darker and scarier.

Dibyarup and Maeve and River

Oh! This is so much "Snap!"



"I didn't expect it to be this creepy" is precisely correct. I've read it before, too, and again was creeped out.

[Adeline Morior]

Chapter 11

One thing I think about this chapter is how Coraline tries to not give away what her intentions are by not looking at the dood or the mantle piece. This is not something easy when under duress. Something I would not have been able to do is to throw the cat at the other mother. I love cats and my heart felt so much when the cat was scared and cuddled up in her arms for safety and protection. Getting the trust of a cat isn’t something I take lightly so I have no idea what I would have done to distract the other mother, but throwing the cat at her would not have crossed my mind. Way too protective. Another thing is the beauty of how her mother’s words gave her strength and new hope. Lastly this freaked me out and made me wonder more about the origin of the corridor and worlds: “Whatever that corridor was was older by far than the other mother”.


Chapter 12

What I found beautiful was how she had a bigger appreciation for her parents and the life she was living. How she was bored with them and they tired of her bothering them and how it changed to loving kisses, missing you’s and family dinner. How she appreciated the odd food her dad made and dreamed about her new found friends. I loved the way she said to her dad that she misses him sometimes. Lastly, I do have to say that the thought of hand crawling around like a spider freaks me out so much as I am scared of spiders. I would not have been okay with just a locked door in the wall and would have felt scared she would find a way to get to me and my people. Knowing a part of her can crawl around in Coraline's world is really terrifying.

[Dibyarup James Potter]

Chapter 12

What I found beautiful was how she had a bigger appreciation for her parents and the life she was living. How she was bored with them and they tired of her bothering them and how it changed to loving kisses, missing you’s and family dinner. How she appreciated the odd food her dad made and dreamed about her new found friends. I loved the way she said to her dad that she misses him sometimes. Lastly, I do have to say that the thought of hand crawling around like a spider freaks me out so much as I am scared of spiders. I would not have been okay with just a locked door in the wall and would have felt scared she would find a way to get to me and my people. Knowing a part of her can crawl around in Coraline's world is really terrifying.

That is exactly what makes this so special. When she starts to appreciate the little things in life, even the ones that are not "the best". It proves that a good life is not one that has all the luxuries, but one where we have the love of our close ones. It also highlights the importance of not taking what we have for granted. For example, our parents, or the "basic" daily food, or other "normal" things that we often feel are not enough to make us happy. Coraline gained a good outlook from this incident which helped her feel good with her real parents. This can be mapped onto the real world where outlook matters a lot.