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The Other Mother
Upon moving into her new home, Coraline explores the grounds surrounding it and comes upon a large, “haughty”-looking black cat. The cat sees Coraline, but avoids her and runs away from her, not wishing to be petted. To her great surprise, Coraline encounters the cat again after stumbling upon the other mother’s world. While Coraline is exploring the grounds surrounding the other mother’s approximation of her house, the cat approaches Coraline—and this time, it speaks to her clearly, in English. The cat’s voice, Coraline observes, sounds oddly like the one at the back of her own head. The cat is clearly knowledgeable as to the other mother’s origins and intentions, but it is just as “haughty” as Coraline believed it to be when she first saw it—it cryptically refuses to answer almost all of her questions about the other mother, and instead offers Coraline only the most basic advice and information she absolutely needs to survive (such as when it tells her that the other mother loves games and challenges.) The cat seems contemptuous of the other mother and sure that she can be defeated, and but when the other mother seals off the entrances and exits to her world—which the cat has, for time untold, used to pass between the two worlds with ease—the cat becomes deeply afraid of being trapped in the other mother’s “web.” Wise, mercurial, stealthy, and proud, the cat is Coraline’s companion in both worlds—though the cat never seems particularly attached to Coraline or desirous of her affection. The cat is, like the rats, perhaps an ancient entity simply taking the form of a cat for the time being—but whereas the rats are the other mother’s minions, the cat seems to be her opponent. The novel leaves interpretation of the cat’s past, motives, and mysteries up to the reader, just as it does in the case of the rats, the other mother, and Coraline’s house itself.
The Cat Quotes in Coraline
The Coraline quotes below are all either spoken by The Cat or refer to The Cat. 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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As Coraline prepares to return to the other mother’s world to retrieve her parents after the other mother kidnaps them, she is nervous and hesitant even as she dresses, packs, and prepares for the journey back. In this passage, she stands on the precipice of the door between the two worlds and talks to the cat about her motivation and inspiration for plunging headfirst once more into the other mother’s frightening realm. Coraline knows that true bravery isn’t defying fear or ignoring it—it’s facing one’s fear, embracing it, and doing the brave or right thing in spite of it. Coraline Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta
“Why does she want me?” Coraline asked the cat. “Why does she want me to stay here with her?”
“She wants something to love, I think,” said the cat. “Something that isn’t her. She might want something to eat as well. It’s hard to tell with creatures like that.”
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Back in the other mother’s world, Coraline takes a walk on the grounds beyond the house. The cat accompanies her and, in this passage, begins to explain just a little bit more about the other mother’s true origins and true desire. The cat never reveals the full truth about the other mother, and her exact history and purpose remains unclear throughout the novel, even at the very end. Yet in this passage, the cat does suggest that the other mother is a “creature” which feeds on the love—or the life force—of children. As Coraline continues to gather information about the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut al
Chapter 6 Quotes
The cat dropped the rat between its two front paws. “There are those,” it said with a sigh, in tones as smooth as oiled silk, “who have suggested that the tendency of a cat to play with its prey is a merciful one—after all, it permits the occasional funny little running snack to escape, from time to time. How often does your dinner get to escape?”
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In this passage, as the cat traps and plays with a sinister black rat—one of the other mother’s minions and spies—it talks to Coraline about playing with its food. This passage suggests that the other mother, too, is playing with her food—and Coraline is what she’s planning on eating. The cat seems either unable or unwilling to give Coraline direct information about this place or the other mother’s powers or origins, but in this brief monologue, he gives Coraline a major clue about the other mother’s motivations and Coraline’s own role in her world. The cat suggests that Coraline can Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis.
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The Cat Character Timeline in Coraline
The timeline below shows where the character The Cat appears in Coraline. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...and urged her to stay away from it. One afternoon, Coraline discovers a “haughty” black cat playing near the tennis courts. Though she tries to approach the cat and play with...
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Chapter 4
...begins walking. She hears a noise behind her and turns around to see the black cat from home sitting on the garden wall. The cat speaks to Coraline, wishing her a...
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The cat begins to walk away. Coraline asks the cat if it wants to be friends—the cat...
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Chapter 5
Coraline wakes with a start to find the cat batting at her face with its paws. Coraline asks the cat if it knows where...
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As Coraline prepares to open the door, she tells the cat a story about how, when she was younger, her father used to take her exploring...
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As Coraline and the cat open the door and walk back through the dark hall to the other version of...
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...other bedroom, so she walks out the front door and sits on the stoop. The cat approaches Coraline and rubs against her. Coraline asks why the other mother wants her to...
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Coraline asks the cat what he suggests she do. The cat tells Coraline to challenge the other mother to...
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Chapter 6
...When Coraline asks if there’s trouble with the rats, the other father says that the cat is the problem. Coraline notices that her other father’s face looks strange—it has grown “vague”...
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The cat appears beside Coraline and tells her she’s wasting her time, as the other mother didn’t...
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...says the other father told her that the other mother is trying to keep the cat out—the cat laughs at the other mother’s attempts to try to keep him away, insisting...
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Chapter 10
...a sound just in front of her. She opens her eyes to see that the cat has brought her the decapitated rat—which is still clutching the marble in its paws.
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Coraline notices that the cat has gone stiff and its fur is sticking up. The cat warns Coraline that the...
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Chapter 11
...the same as when she left it earlier that morning. The other mother, seeing the cat in Coraline’s arms, chides Coraline for bringing “vermin” into the house, but reminds Coraline once...
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...is pleased—she has been counting on the other mother’s need to gloat. Coraline holds the cat tight, and, as the other mother makes her way to the door, unlocks it, and...
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Coraline declares she isn’t wrong. In one swift motion, she throws the cat at the other mother’s head. The cat lands on her and claws at her face....
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...the hall, re-enters her flat, and locks the door behind her. Exhausted, Coraline gathers the cat in her arms and lies down on one of the fancy sofas in the drawing...
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Chapter 13
...picks up her remaining dolls and starts heading back toward the house, she notices the cat watching her from the bushes. The cat jumps onto the planks covering the well and...
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