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Coraline Jones
Coraline’s other mother is an evil shapeshifting entity and the novel’s main antagonist. She is sometimes referred to by the trio of lost children she keeps captive as “the beldam,” another word for witch. The other mother, as her name suggests, appears at first as a copy of Coraline’s real mother, Mrs. Jones. When Coraline uses an old key to open a mysterious door in her family’s new home, Coraline finds herself in a parallel world that mirrors her own—a world of which the other mother is, without a doubt, the ruler. Coraline recognizes a few differences between the other mother and her real mother—the other mother’s fingers are longer and thinner than her real mother’s fingers, and the other mother has black buttons where her eyes should be—but the other mother has created a convincing-enough facsimile of Mrs. Jones in order to make Coraline feel safe. The other mother wants to keep Coraline in her world forever and tries to entice her with delicious food, remarkable toys, and the promise that Coraline can live by her own rules. When Coraline refuses to stay, however, the other mother becomes incensed, kidnapping Coraline’s parents and locking Coraline in a closet with the ghosts of the other children she’s kidnapped. Taking the advice of her new friend the cat, Coraline challenges the other mother to a game. As Coraline begins winning the hunt to collect the lost children’s souls, the other mother begins tearing the world she’s created apart out of anger—and her own appearance changes, too. The other mother becomes spiderlike, and the cat even refers to her world as a kind of “web.” As the other mother’s appearance and behavior become more and more horrific, Coraline becomes determined to vanquish her. Tricky, seductive, and yet fatally unable to resist a challenge, the other mother’s origins and motives are never explained, but the narrative suggests that along with her minions, the rats, she seeks to possess and feed upon the souls of all the children who come to live in the house.
The Other Mother Quotes in Coraline
The Coraline quotes below are all either spoken by The Other Mother or refer to The Other Mother . 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 3 Quotes
“Coraline?” the woman said. “Is that you?”
And then she turned around. Her eyes were big black buttons.
“Lunchtime, Coraline,” said the woman.
“Who are you?” asked Coraline.
“I’m your other mother,” said the woman. “Go and tell your other father that lunch is ready,” She opened the door of the oven. Suddenly Coraline realized how hungry she was. It smelled wonderful.
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[Coraline’s] other parents stood in the kitchen doorway as she walked down the corridor, smiling identical smiles, and waving slowly. “Have a nice time outside,” said her other mother.
“We’ll just wait here for you to come back,” said her other father.
When Coraline got to the front door, she turned back and looked at them. They were still watching her, and waving, and smiling.
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Chapter 4 Quotes
The three of them walked back up to Coraline’s other house together. Coraline’s other mother stroked Coraline’s hair with her long white fingers. Coraline shook her head.
“Don’t do that,” said Coraline.
Her other mother took her hand away.
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“If you want to stay,” said her other father, “there’s only one little thing we’ll have to do, so you can stay here for ever and always.”
They went into the kitchen. On a china plate on the kitchen table was a spool of black cotton, and a long silver needle, and, beside them, two large black buttons.
“I don’t think so,” said Coraline.
“Oh, but we want you to,” said her other mother. “We want you to stay. And it’s just a little thing.”
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Chapter 5 Quotes
“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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Chapter 6 Quotes
“If you won’t even talk to me,” said Coraline, “I am going exploring.”
“No point,” said the other father. “There isn’t anywhere but here. This is all she made: the house, the grounds, and the people in the house. She made it and she waited.” Then he looked embarrassed and he put one finger to his lips again, as if he had just said too much.
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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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Chapter 7 Quotes
And then [Coraline’s] hand touched something that felt for all the world like somebody’s cheek and lips, small and cold; and a voice whispered in her ear, “Hush! And shush! Say nothing, for the beldam might be listening!”
Coraline said nothing.
She felt a cold hand touch her face, fingers running over it like the gentle beat of a moth’s wings.
Another voice, hesitant and so faint Coraline wondered if she were imagining it, said, “Art thou—art thou alive?”
“Yes,” whispered Coraline.
“Poor child,” said the first voice.
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Chapter 8 Quotes
[The other mother] picked Coraline up, just as Coraline’s real mother had when Coraline was much younger, cradling the half-sleeping child as if she were a baby.
The other mother carried Coraline into the kitchen and put her down very gently upon the countertop.
Coraline struggled to wake herself up, conscious only for the moment of having been cuddled and loved, and wanting more of it, then realizing where she was and who she was with.
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“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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Chapter 9 Quotes
Outside, the world had become a formless, swirling mist with no shapes or shadows behind it, while the house itself seemed to have twisted and stretched. […]
The other mother was waiting for [Coraline], standing on the grass with her arms folded. Her black button eyes were expressionless, but her lips were pressed tightly together in a cold fury.
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Coraline nodded. It was true: the other mother loved her. But she loved Coraline as a miser loves money, or a dragon loves its gold. In the other mother’s button eyes, Coraline knew that she was a possession, nothing more. A tolerated pet, whose behavior was no longer amusing.
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Get the entire Coraline LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Other Mother Character Timeline in Coraline
The timeline below shows where the character The Other Mother appears in Coraline. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...buttons. Coraline asks the woman who she is, and she explains that she’s Coraline’s “ other mother .” She urges Coraline to fetch her “other father” for lunch. Coraline goes down the...
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At the kitchen table, the other mother serves a huge roasted chicken with delicious sides. Coraline eats hungrily. As Coraline shovels food...
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Coraline walks 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...
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Chapter 4
...their faces. They bring her back up to the house, and as they walk, Coraline’s other mother strokes Coraline’s hair. Coraline tells her to stop, and she does. Coraline’s other father asks...
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...small, simple thing. He brings her into the kitchen—on a nice plate, he and Coraline’s other mother have laid out a set of black buttons. They insist her that changing her eyes...
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Chapter 5
...goes out. Frightened, Coraline runs down the hall and right into the waiting arms of the other mother .
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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...
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Coraline tells the other mother she doesn’t believe her. In response, the other mother bewitches the hall mirror to play...
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The other mother summons a rat to her side and orders it to retrieve the black key from...
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...sits on the stoop. The cat approaches Coraline and rubs against her. Coraline asks why the other mother wants her to stay—the cat replies that the other mother “wants something to love” or...
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Coraline asks the cat what he suggests she do. The cat tells Coraline to challenge the other mother to a game—“her kind of thing,” he says, “loves games.” Coraline asks the cat what...
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Chapter 6
...her other father’s study and finds him sitting inert at the desk. Coraline asks where the other mother is, and the other father says she’s dealing with a “vermin problem.” When Coraline asks...
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...Coraline wanders through the woods, the trees become more shapeless with each step—Coraline realizes that the other mother didn’t “bother” with this part of the world, since she assumed it would never be...
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The cat appears beside Coraline and tells her she’s wasting her time, as the other mother didn’t fill in this part of the world. Coraline again asks the cat what the...
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Coraline 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...
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...to the hall mirror. She looks in it and sees only herself—but she soon feels the other mother ’s hand on her shoulder. She is shocked to realize the other mother’s reflection does...
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In the living room, the other mother sits on the sofa and takes out a paper bag. She extends it to Coraline—believing...
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Chapter 7
...imprisoned them in the dark. The three children all have similar stories of finding their other mother waiting for them on the other side of a door in their house. One of...
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...her parents back from “the beldam,” she could also win back the lost children’s souls— the other mother has hidden them throughout her little world. Coraline asks what will happen to her if...
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Coraline offers to bring the children with her when the other mother lets her out of the mirror-room, but the others reply that they’d shrivel in the...
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Chapter 8
Coraline wakes to find herself being carried— the other mother is carrying her to the kitchen as Coraline struggles to rouse herself fully. The other...
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Coraline asks the other mother if she is planning on turning Coraline into a “dead shell” like the other children...
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The other mother sets Coraline’s breakfast down on the kitchen table and asks what kind of game Coraline...
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...know what souls look like, how big they are, or where they might be hidden. The other mother smilingly watches Coraline search for a while, then vanishes. Coraline leaves the kitchen and wanders...
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...her face. One of the lost children’s voices is in her ear warning her that the other mother is angry. Coraline shouts out, calling for the other mother and ordering her to play...
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Chapter 9
Outside, Coraline realizes that the world has become covered in mist. The other mother is on the lawn wearing a cross expression on her face. When Coraline tells the...
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...her ear warns her not to go in—the lost children try to tell Coraline that the other mother would never help her. Coraline agrees with them but goes inside anyway. The apartment looks...
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...him. One of his button eyes falls out. Coraline apologizes to the creature, realizing that the other mother must have punished him for telling Coraline too much by placing him down here to...
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The creature tells Coraline she needs to run— the other mother is “pushing” it to hurt Coraline. Coraline begs the thing to be strong and brave...
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Chapter 10
...marble and hears one of the lost children call to her—the child warns Coraline that the other mother is furious and will never let her leave. Coraline, however, is determined to complete the...
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...up. The cat warns Coraline that the world has gone “flat” all of a sudden— the other mother has sealed up the ways in and out of her world. Coraline promises she’ll get...
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Chapter 11
...“other” flat more or less 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,...
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The other mother follows Coraline into the drawing room and stands between her and the mantelpiece. Coraline notices...
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The other mother asks where Coraline thinks her parents are. Coraline says she doesn’t believe they’re hidden in...
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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. While the cat...
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Chapter 12
...girl says that Coraline’s trials aren’t yet finished. The tall girl states that even though the other mother swore to let Coraline go, she lied. The children can’t tell Coraline what’s coming for...
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...the gray light of dawn. Soon, the thing scuttles past Coraline—it is, to her horror, the other mother ’s right hand, severed when Coraline slammed the door on it on her way back...
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Chapter 13
...by, it seems to Coraline that her parents have no recollection of being trapped in the other mother ’s world—she isn’t even sure if they are aware that they lost two days of...
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...nervous as she heads back to the meadow but remains determined to get rid of the other mother once and for all. She sits down with her dolls, announces she’s brought her “lucky...
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