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Coraline’s Mother/Mrs. Jones
Coraline’s father is an intensely busy and hardworking man who appears to work as a writer of some sort. Like Coraline’s mother, he’s often too involved in his work to play with Coraline or even pay her much attention—but in spite of his aloofness, there is a warmth and a closeness between him and his daughter. Coraline’s father is always trying to cook fancy new recipes for dinner, dishes that Coraline balks at and refuses to eat because of their obscure ingredients. While Coraline feels that her father doesn’t understand her—and isn’t really interested in learning to do so—she also loves him very much, and one of her most potent memories of him becomes vitally important to Coraline as she sets out to retrieve both her parents from the other mother’s clutches. Coraline remembers her father saving her from a swarm of wasps while exploring together one day years ago—and then returning to the site of the wasps’ nest again to retrieve his glasses, which he dropped while outrunning them. This memory helps Coraline to understand what true bravery is—it’s not the absence of fear, but rather the willingness to soldier on in spite of one’s fear in order to do what’s right.
Coraline’s Father/Mr. Jones Quotes in Coraline
The Coraline quotes below are all either spoken by Coraline’s Father/Mr. Jones or refer to Coraline’s Father/Mr. Jones. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 5 Quotes
“And he said that wasn’t brave of him, doing that, just standing there and being stung,” said Coraline to the cat. “It wasn’t brave because he wasn’t scared: it was the only thing he could do. But going back again to get his glasses, when he knew the wasps were there, when he was really scared. That was brave.”
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Chapter 8 Quotes
“I think I like this game. But what kind of game shall it be? A riddle game? A test of knowledge or of skill?”
“An exploring game,” suggested Coraline. “A finding-things game.”
“And what is it you think you should be finding in this hide-and-go-seek game, Coraline Jones?”
Coraline hesitated. Then, “My parents,” said Coraline. “And the souls of the children behind the mirror.”
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Coraline’s Father/Mr. Jones Character Timeline in Coraline
The timeline below shows where the character Coraline’s Father/Mr. Jones appears in Coraline. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...Coraline is forbidden from exploring when a heavy rain begins to fall. Her mother and father tell her she must stay inside, and Coraline is cross with her parents for getting...
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Bored with the television, Coraline goes into her father’s office to talk to him. She asks him if she can go outside—he asks what...
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That night for dinner, Coraline’s father makes one of his gourmet “recipes”—a fancy stew which Coraline snubs in favor of a...
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Chapter 2
...the drawing room again and finds that it is locked. She goes to visit her father in his study, but he is too busy writing to talk or play with her.
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Chapter 3
...and Coraline’s mother takes Coraline into town to buy some new school clothes while Coraline’s father goes into London for the day. At the shop, however, Coraline’s mother won’t buy her...
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...and she explains that she’s Coraline’s “other mother.” She urges Coraline to fetch her “other father” for lunch. Coraline goes down the familiar hall towards her father’s study—the man she finds...
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...down the hall towards the front door, where she finds her other mother and other father waiting for her. They smile and wave at her and tell her to have a...
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Chapter 5
...Spink and Miss Forcible. They serve her some tea and ask how her mother and father are doing. Coraline explains that her parents are missing—she says they’ve “vanished under mysterious circumstances,”...
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...some groceries. When she returns home, she busies herself by writing a story on her father’s computer—something she’s normally not allowed to do—and taking a long bubble bath. Coraline puts herself...
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...She sees not only her reflection in it, but those of her mother and her father as well—they look “sad and alone,” and wave at her dejectedly. Coraline watches as her...
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...the door, she tells the cat a story about how, when she was younger, her father used to take her exploring at an old dump between their house and the shops....
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Coraline asks where her parents are—the other mother, gesturing towards the other father sitting in a nearby chair, insists Coraline has already found her parents. The other father...
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...mother bewitches the hall mirror to play a scene which shows Coraline’s real mother and father, relieved to be free of her, heading out on a summer holiday and saying how...
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...quickly does so. Coraline asks why the other mother doesn’t have her own key—the other father answers her, explaining that there is only one key for only one door. The other...
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