“Coraline"
In the book “Coraline “ by Niel Gamin, I consider the main character to be on a hero's quest. The First typical elements of a hero's journey that Joesph Campbell identified are seen in the first chapter of the the novel . Coraline Moves into a new home with her parents , she visits her new neighbors Miss Spink and Miss Forcible then she meets the old man that is training a mouse circus . Her parents are always very active and hardly have time to spend with her , she finds herself bored and desires to explore . She visits her neighbors Miss Spink and Miss Forcible then she meets the old man that is training a mouse circus. After exploring the outside of her new home she starts feeling bored again . Together with her mother she finds “a string of keys from the top of the kitchen door frame” (8). In this string of keys she discovers an old black key that captivates her attention more than the other keys. “They went into the drawing room. She unlocked the door with the key ....the door didn’t go anywhere it opened to a brick wall”(9). That night in the middle of the night “Coraline” heard a strange noise in her room . It was a shadow she decided to follow where the shadow , it led her to the drawing room where the door that had the brick wall was. The door was mysteriously somewhat opened . This was a clear invitation to enter the door but it had a wall of bricks.
Her calling to adventure began that night she dreamt of black shades singing to her “ We are small but we are many ,we are many we are small, we were here before you rose, we will be here when you fall.”(12). Her unconscious was seduced by the black shades showing her the slightly opened door.
In chapter two she has a conversation with the old man he tells her the mice have a message for her “Don’t go through the door”(16). Her curiosity to go through the door is motivated but she decides to go around the house and explore a little more . She visits Miss Spink and Miss Forcible , her neighbors had clairvoyant powers they saw that she was in danger by looking at the black tea ,they were drinking. She receives her magical amulet the stone with the hole in it, from Mis spink and Miss Forcible.
Her first threshold takes place in this chapter she goes through the door the brick wall disappears allowing her to enter the other world . She has her first meeting with the Goddess of that world when she gets greeted by her other mother . She goes back to her real home to find her parents have disappeared. A black cat tells her where her parents are .
She then receives advice from her protector “the black cat” when he accompanies her on her second entrance to the other world looking for her parents that are trapped in the other world. The black cat tells her she should challenge the other mother ,in this way she would have the ability to find her parents and get them back, in this quest she found three children that were trapped as well she promises to help them too.
She challenges the other mother in a game if she loses she stays in that world forever and if she wins she gets to leave with her parents and the three children. She goes on a hero's quest to find the lost souls of the children and her parents that are alive but trapped. She is successful in finding two souls on the third souls she receives the ultimate boon when the black cat helps her recover the last soul that was in the grip of a rat. Identifying the hero's journey elements helps the readers understand the why the hero needs to find the elements that make the story uplifting. We should care as readers because we can get into the adventure with motivation.
Works Cited:
www. mythichero.com
“Coraline” Niel Gaiman
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