In “Coraline” by Joseph Campbell he displays his main character Coraline as a hero. He uses many examples and elements that makes it easy to identify her archetype as a hero but more specifically as a Tycoon hero. A tycoon hero is someone who at first is isolated and jaded in the novel only to end up happy and enjoying life by the end of the novel. Some elements that usually define a character as a hero is they must face trails and enemies on their journey, they must complete the final task alone, and after the final task is complete the hero returns home as the leader of his/her people.
Coraline is a tycoon hero because when the novel starts out Campbell describes how Coraline spend most of her days alone and she always got bored of things quickly. For example “ Coraline had watched all the videos. She was bored with her toys, and she’d read all her books” .(Pg 7) As you can tell by this quote nothing held her interest to long but all of this changes at the end of the novel when she starts appreciating the small things in life. For example “ Then she looked down at her lap, at the way the rich sunlight brushed every hair on the cat’s head, turning each white whisker to gold. Nothing, she thought had ever been so interesting” .(Pg 165) Now you can see how drastically Coraline’s attitude changed towards life and what it has to offer you.
The three elements that was listed above to identify a character as a hero is all present in “ Coraline”. Campbell did an exactly job at presenting Coraline as a hero using those elements. The first element being the hero must face trails and enemies on their journey. Coraline faces a lot of those on her journey to save her mother, father, and the three children from the “Other mother”. The main enemy in the story is the “ Other mother”. In order to get her parents back and free the three children souls she had to make a deal with the” Other mother” that if she found everyone they would all be set free if not she would stay with the “ Other mother’ forever and get buttons sewed in as her eyes. On the journey looking for everyone Coraline had to face many scary creatures for example “ Without warning, one of the creature’s hands made a grab for Coraline’s arm. its fingernails scarped her skin..” ( pg123) and again “ Run child. Leave this place. She wants me to hurt you, to keep you here forever, so that you can never finish the game and she will win.” ( pg 135). These are two examples of the enemies that she had to defeat in order to achieve her goal of finding her parents and the children. At first Coraline had the help of the cat in defeating the “Other man” and the cat giving her advice. The cat helped Coraline escape once she had found her parents and the children. “ Now”, the other mother said “ You’re going to stay here for ever and always” “No” said Coraline “I’m not” And, hard as she could, she threw the black cat towards the other mother. ( Pg 158) Well the cat was scratching and clawing at the other’s mother face this allowed Coraline and the cat a chance to escape. But in order to be a hero the final task has to be done alone.
Even though Coraline had escaped the other mother, a piece of the other mother entered into Coraline’s world which was the other mother’s hand. The other mother wanted the key that Coraline had stolen for her. So Caroline had set up a plan to trap the other mother in a extremely deep well that she could never escape from. Which Coraline was successful in this plan. “ I brought the lucky key to make sure we have a good picnic”. (189) She placed the key on the tablecloth which was on top of the well and when the other mother’s hand went to grab it they both fall into the well. Coraline successful defeated and got rid of the other mother for good.
The last element that was needed to make Coraline a hero was to return home as a leader of her people. Which she did, “ the cat walked over to her jumped up onto the plants that covered the well. Then, slowly it winked one eye at her. … in front of her, and rolled over onto it back, wiggling about ecstatically. ( pg192). This last quote shows that they cat looks at Coraline as a hero by laying on his back its showing that he feels Coraline is superior to him.
All of the elements listed above prove that Coraline archetype was a hero. Campbell established her as a good hero by using all of the elements.
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