Hipolito 1

Hipolito, Keith
Professor Kimberly Lewis
English 115
23 October 2015
A Dream within a Dream
In Henry Seliks film adaptation of Neil Gaimans novel, Coraline, the director
and the author both do a spectacular job in creating the image of the two dimensions: the
real world and the other world. As Coraline travels back and forth from the real world
to the other world, we begin to see the differences of the two parallel worlds. The
other world is a world in which Coraline is able to fantasize and conjure up reflecting
on her desires. It is a small world in which alter egos of parents and her neighbors dwell.
The other world is also a world in which whatever Coraline wants, she gets. It is
everything that lacks from her very own reality. However the only characters that can
come back and forth are Coraline and a black cat that guides her. In this other world,
Coraline has an alter ego for both of her parents known as the other parents. These
parents are more loving; as shown through their willingness to pay attention to Coraline
and cater to her wants and needs. On the other hand, in the real world, Coraline is treated
as a nuisance and is perceived as a burden that only hinders them from their work and
daily errands. According to one of Freudians theory of psychoanalysis, dreams are a
gateway to ones wishes and desires. This theory can be applied to the story of Coraline
as she herself experiences her wishes coming true of what she yearns for in her parents
and overall, her reality. This is known as a wish-fullfillment dream. There are three
stages in Freuds dream psychoanalysis: condensation, displacement, and secondary
elaboration. In this essay, I will apply Freudians dream theory to the story of Coraline,

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proving that Coralines experience was only but an underlying wish that manifested into
what is known as the other world.
There were many moments in which Coraline would experience an event at first
hand, process it in her memory, and is later having it revealed in the other world. This
process is known as condensation. The meaning of condensation is the process of
joining two or more ideas and images into one (McLeod). Coraline experiences the
second stage during the scene when Coralines mother exposes the brick wall behind the
little door. However, Coraline was displeased after discovering that there was nothing
worthwhile behind the door and decided to check again three more times. This scene
displayed how Coralines curiosity cannot be ceased and will do anything to seek out
adventure. That same night, Coraline experiences her first entrance to the other world
as she wakes up to the sound of the scurries of black rats. We can see that Coraline starts
to dream, as the rats are distorting and transforming into jumping mice, similarly to Mr.
Bobos circus mice. Prior to this event, Coraline met her neighbors Ms. Forcible and Ms.
Spink including Mr. Bobo when he spoke about his circus mice. Coraline was then able
to process these events that happened in reality into her memory and recreate these
figures into her dream. As a result, Coraline was able to conjure up the other world
based on her real-life daily experiences, in which she reimagines in her dream.
Coraline realizes that the gateway through the corridor had led her back to the
same old house except the house she entered was well renovated and more comfortable.
In the scene where she enters the other world, the camera pans out to see what seems to
be the old drawing room, but this time the lighting was dim and the colors were warm.
The fireplace was also lit. This symbolizes the warmth and the coziness of a welcoming

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home, which are portrayed as one of the underlying wishes of Coralines. Coraline soon
becomes well acquainted with her other parents and begins to become fond of them
over a grand delicious dinner. With the sight of mashed potatoes, a hot roasted turkey,
mango milkshakes served through a chandelier, a welcome home cake and not to mention
the gravy choo-choo train, it is no wonder how Coraline was easily swayed to visit the
other world again. As soon as Coraline finishes eating dinner, surprisingly Coraline
does not go back home through the little door where she came from, and instead goes
back to sleep in her new bedroom and wakes up back to her old bedroom.
The transition from the first stage to the second stage begins to take place as
Coraline continues to journey again to the other world. The more Coraline visits the
other world, the further she is into the stages of sleep. The second stage in Freuds
dream psychoanalysis is known as displacement. Displacement takes place when we
transform the person or object we are really concerned about to someone else. (McLeod)
Throughout the dinner scene, we begin to see what Coraline looks for in her parents. In
the real world, Coralines mother justifies why she does not cook, because Coralines
father cooks while she does the cleaning. However, Coraline does not appreciate nor does
she find her fathers recipes tasteful and continues to insist that her mother cooks. Also
we can see that Coraline does not get the basic nutrition for a child since the mother does
not pay attention to groceries nor cares for the quality of food. Coralines mother also
stated that if she were to cook it would be through heating up frozen packaged food. Due
to the neglect and lack of attention Coraline receives from her real parents, Coraline is
able to recreate other parents that can cater to Coralines wants and needs. Coraline is
also able to decide whatever she wants in the other world. In the real world, Coraline

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was not able to go outside in the rain because she can end up getting mud in the house.
However, Coralines other mother does not mind the mud, in fact loves the beneficial
factors of mud. In the movie, Coraline questions her other mother's agreement of
playing in the mud, and quickly reasons there is no rain to begin with. As soon as
Coraline says that there was no rain, a strike of thunder is blasted down from the sky.
This shows that whatever Coraline wanted to do or even tried doing, was able to come
true in the other world.
Wybie also gives a doll to Coraline that looks identical to her from her physical
appearance to her clothes. Although the doll was not mentioned in the book, Coraline
uses the doll as a form of displacement in which the doll acted as the other mother eyes
and ears. Everywhere Coraline went, the doll was also there. This was also how the
other mother was able to spy on Coraline and be able to cater to Coralines wants and
needs in the real world. Also the doll symbolizes as a version of Coraline in which her
wishes are able to come true. In the scene where one of the ghost children tried warning
Coraline about the Beldam, the young ghost boy said that the beldam only targets kids
who find their lives sad. According to an online dream dictionary, a doll in a dream
symbolizes childhood innocence. It also serves as a means to act out your wishes.
Coraline is dreaming about the other world because her reality is too tragic for her live
in. She becomes invested in this other world that she becomes cut off with reality. We
can see the other world leaking out into Coralines reality in the scene where Coraline
and her mother go shopping for school clothes. Coraline insists on buying yellow gloves,
however Coralines mother refuses to buy it because it was unnecessary. As a response,
Coraline stated that her other mother would have bought it for her. Coralines mind is

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slowly leaving reality and wanting to stay in the other world due to the unhappiness she
experiences in her reality.
Coraline transitions through the third stage as she begins to meet the altered
versions of her neighbors and their dreams. Samuelson states, Another indication that
Coraline is dreaming and things have been altered is when she goes to explore the rest of
the other world, and meets altered versions of the other tenants in the house. This is
known as secondary elaboration. The second stage, also known as secondary
elaboration, occurs when the unconscious mind strings together wish-fulfilling images
in a logical order of events, further obscuring the latent content (McLeod) Coraline is
not aware that her experience in watching her neighbors performance in the other
world are actually their hopes and dreams. During Ms. Spink and Ms. Forcibles
performance, they introduced the two characters as their real selves bickering and arguing
who has the spotlight and later revealing their beautiful and younger selves, performing
in unison. On the other hand, Ms. Forcible and Ms. Spink in the real world are always
arguing, and always have opposite viewpoints in everything. Another example is shown
through their upstairs neighbor, Mr. Bobinksi as Coraline and Wybie watch his
performance with his dancing mice. His dancing mice were able to sing and dance in
sync the way Mr. Bobinski in real life had wanted. On the other hand, the real world Mr.
Bobinski complains how his dancing mice do not sing in tune and that they have not met
his expectation of performing.
Although the aim of my essay is to argue that Coraline dreamt of her experience
in the other world, there are still a few grey areas that can still be questioned. I have
stated that Coraline does not go back through the little door in order to go back to the real

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world but ends her night by sleeping in her bed in the other world. However, on the
third night that Coraline sleeps, she wakes up having to still be in the other world and
the only way to escape the other world is to save her parents as well as three ghost
children. On the other hand, it can be argued that Coraline is entering a realm of deep
sleep in which she cannot escape her dream, also known as a coma. Coraline has spent
too much in her dream that she is not able to wake up from it anymore resulting into a
nightmare.
In conclusion, the story of Coraline is a dream not only because I have analyzed
her experience based on Freudians dream analysis but because the only person who truly
remembers what happened is and only Coraline and the unnamed cat. The cat however
cannot speak on behalf of Coraline, nor convince anyone else. As soon as Coralines
parents came home, the snow from the other mothers trap begins to melt off and the
parent too do not remember. The snow melting represents a renewal or a rebirth of
Coraline and the parents. Not only Coraline grew up, but also we can see a change in
Coralines parents towards the ending of the garden scene. Coralines mother also ends up
buying Coraline the gloves she had wanted. Coraline had created a world in which she
can escape the problems of her own reality. No character can recall or can be used, as
evidence to prove that Coralines experience in the other world was real.

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Works Cited
Coraline. Dir. Henry Selick. Perf. Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders,
Dawn French. Focus Features 2009. Film
Gaiman, Neil. Coraline. New York. Harper, 2012. Print.
McLeod, S. A. Sigmund Freud. Simple Psychology. 2013. Web. 20, October 2013.
Samuelsson, E. A Psychological Approach to the Wicked Women in Lewis Carrolls Alice
in Wonderland and Neil Gaimans Coraline. Lund University.