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.
In John Connolly’s novel, The Book of Lost Things, he writes, “for in every adult there dwells the child that was, and in every child there lies the adult that will be”. Does one’s childhood truly have an effect on the person one someday becomes? In Jeannette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle and Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, this question is tackled through the recounting of Jeannette and Amir’s childhoods from the perspectives of their older, more developed selves. In the novels, an emphasis is placed on the dynamics of the relationships Jeannette and Amir have with their fathers while growing up, and the effects that these relations have on the people they each become. The environment to which they are both exposed as children is also described, and proves to have an influence on the characteristics of Jeannette and Amir’s adult personalities. Finally, through the journeys of other people in Jeannette and Amir’s lives, it is demonstrated that the sustainment of traumatic experiences as a child also has a large influence on the development of one’s character while become an adult. Therefore, through the analysis of the effects of these factors on various characters’ development, it is proven that the experiences and realities that one endures as a child ultimately shape one’s identity in the future.
Children can identify themselves with fairy-tale characters; they imagine themselves as heroes, who are capable of killing dragons, or simpletons, who demonstrate the superiority over clever people. Fantasies based on the fairy tales are extremely important part of the children’s lives, and this is not only because they describe threatening situations that resemble main fears of a young child such as the fear of getting lost, fear of wrong decisions, fear of monsters or evil animals. Happy endings, which are always present in fairy tales, give children the confidence that despite all their fears they will be able to win in the end. This knowledge helps them to prepare for the difficulties of life, regardless whether they are real or imagined (Doughty, 2006).
Similar to the above conversation, one must take these tales with a grain of salt, and keep in mind the time period in which they were written. For the purpose of this paper, the focus will only be on what the tale is striving to teach those who read it. Similar to Lurie’s opinion on “The Light Princess,” readers of “Sleeping Beauty” may come away from the story thinking the best was to grow up or be helped is to fall in love; let the man (prince) solve the problem (Lurie 360). This thought is further echoed by Martin Hallett and Barbara Karasek, the authors of “Folk and Fairy Tales,” as they describe the story “as a metaphor for growing up: the heroine falls asleep as a naïve girl and awakens as a mature young woman on the threshold of marriage”
In conclusion, the story describes that life changes, and nothing stays the same throughout it. It is in the hands of the people to decide that how they want their life to be. They can make it as beautiful as they want to and they can also make it worse than it has ever been
Everyone knows and loves the enchanting childhood fairytales of magic, princes, and princesses, but very seldom are privy to the detrimental impacts of “happily ever after” on the developing youth. Fairy tales are widely studied and criticized by parents and scholars alike for their underlying tone and message to children. Peggy Orenstein, feminist author, mother, and fairy tale critic, has made it her personal mission to bring these hidden messages to the surface. In the article, “What’s Wrong with Cinderella?” Orenstein dissects the seemingly innocent tale of love and magic, and the princess many know and love, and points out its flaws and dangers. Fairy tales, Cinderella in particular, are not suitable for children because upon deeper evaluation,
As the story comes to a close, we see how Coraline begins to learn from mistakes and changes as a character. In the scene on pages 140-141 in which Coraline is finally reunited with her family, Coraline is finally learning from her mistakes; she finally realizes how her actions affect others. Also, on page 160, Coraline is shown taking initiative in watching her neighbor’s shows. “‘You must come up and watch them…’” and “‘I would like that very much,’ said Coraline.” During this, the original ideas of appreciation and care are coming back in the story, but in a different way. At first, Coraline wasn’t very appreciative of her life, however after facing consequences for selfishness, she is taking what she has and showing compassion and appreciation for it. Through this we can see that the original theme has sprouted into multiple directions such as: self-reflection and regret. This now shows a new and final theme idea that after being selfish, people should take a moment and reflect on their behavior and if they take action in fixing that behavior, there will always be a positive outcome in the
All in all, Jeannette’s character development through the course of the novel is immense. Her personality begins to ripen, and she starts to discover the truth about her life and family. Numerous instances occurred in the novel; firstly she discovers the truth about her parents and realizes that she misperceived their personalities. To continue, Jeannette begins to learn a bit more about the issues the Walls face. The life of adventure began to seem dangerous and unstable. Lastly Jeannette starts to develop her own personality and focus on her future. She never had these thoughts previously; she always concerned herself with the dilemmas of others. Throughout Jeannette develops tremendously, she begins to see the world through her own eyes and no longer has a barrier of youth to protect her.
“The fairy tale, which to this day is the first tutor of children because it was once the first tutor of mankind, secretly lives on in the story. The first true storyteller is, and will continue to be, the teller of fairy tales. Whenever good counsel was at a premium, the fairy tale had it, and where the need was greatest, its aid was nearest. This need was created by myth. The fairy tale tells us of the earliest arrangements that mankind made to shake off the nightmare which myth had placed upon its chest.”(Walter Benjamin). For generations fairy tales have brought happiness to hundreds of people. Through childhood to adults, people still enjoy the mysteries of fairytales. In society, fairytales are a great way of connecting
In her famous short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” Joyce Carol Oates shows the transition from childhood to adulthood through her character Connie. Each person experiences this transition in their own way and time. For some it is leaving home for the first time to go to college, for others it might be having to step up to a leadership position. No matter what, this transition affects everyone; it just happens to everyone differently. Oates describes Connie's unfortunate coming of age in a much more violent and unexpected way than the typical coming of age story for a fifteen year old girl.
... not as they conceptualized. As adulthood is commonly linked with age, the shift from adolescence to maturity arises with experience. In Joyce’s “Araby”, the emotional journey for the narrator, begins with the infatuation with his best friend’s sister, and ends with his disillusionment for love. In Mansfield’s “The Garden-Party”, Laura acts as a tie between the brightness and wealth of the Sheridan’s contrasted with the darkness and sorrow of the Scotts. While struggling with inner confusion, she attempts to build a unique identity for herself. Her emotional journey culminates with the viewing of the deceased man, and her powerful realization of life, where her life is put into perspective of life on a universal level. Both main characters experience major changes in their personality, as well as their psychology, and these insights change both of them incredibly.
The fairy tales that we have become so familiar with are embedded with love, imagination and enchantment. In truth, these are just common archetypes; originally fairy tales had a much darker backdrop. They were once symbols of sexualisation and brutality as not everything ended happily ever after. Deriving from promiscuous and overlooked on goings from the 19th century (such as molestation), these ideas were later suppressed when they became children’s tales. John Updike described traditional fairy tales as ‘The pornography of their day’, hence they contained elements of wish-fulfilment and gratification such as rape, pleasure and attainment. This is true to a certain extent but they also consisted of violence, mutiny and injustice. An exploration
...the book, she has arrived at a full understanding of what is happening to her country. She has to leave her family to go to safety in another country. It is a big step for her like college is for me, but by the time she gets there I think her parents know she is ready. She is finally ready to go into the world alone and find her own way, like a teenager going off to college for the first time.
All stages of the heroes journey can be picked out of Coraline beginning with the ordinary world. The ordinary world for Coraline is an extremely bland place. It consists of two workaholic parents, detached from their daughter, an ancient home filled with dull furniture and washed out colors, and strange new neighbors. “ I almost fell down a well yesterday mom,” Coraline says. “uh-huh,” her mom replied. “I could have died,” Coraline states hoping for an actual response from her mother. “Thats nice,
We all grew up hoping that we were the princesses who met the dreamy prince and lived ‘happily ever after’ like in a fairytale.People debate over whether or not Disney fairytales are beneficial for children. Like Melissa Taylor the author of the piece ‘10 reasons why kids need to read non disney fairy tales’, I am against disneyfied fairy tales. In this essay I will argue on why kids should not only watch disney fairytales but also the real versions.
Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” is a twisted and broken fairytale.* Although this short story does embody some elements of fantasy, there is not merely enough evidence to support the claim that it is in fact a “ modern fairytale.” Fairytales often include themes such as enchantment, which is shown when the main character dreams, but is this really such an enchanting thing? Another theme found in fairytales is an encounter with the main struggle, in “The Necklace,” the main character also comes to face with a challenge, but this challenge does not accurately fit the characteristics of an encounter. A third example of an element of a fairytale is the presence of a weak male figure. In this case, there is a weak man but he does not remain weak throughout the story. One final characteristic of a fairytale is the journey that is taken, in “The Necklace,” the main character does take certain steps, but are these steps really considered a ‘journey’? As will be learned, none of these elements found in fairytales truly conform to “The Necklace,” therefore not making it a “modern fairytale.”+