International Journal of Research in Arts and Science
ISSN: 2394-9759 | Frequency: 4 Issues/Year
Impact Factor: 0.387 | International Scientific Indexing(ISI) calculate based on International Citation Report(ICR)
Alluring Childhood: Vitality, Control and Cannibalistic Motherhood in Neil Gaiman’s Coraline
Abstract:
Depicting childhood through gothic narratives can take the form of portraying fear, curiosity, and development on a psychological level. As the concept of motherhood is usually linked with caring and nurturing actions such as feeding, motherhood in both reality and fiction tends to represent a loving person who feeds her child with food and affections. Hence, through the use of food symbolism as well as temptations and authoritative behaviors, the analysis rejects the notion of motherly possessiveness while at the same time discussing the difficulties that a child may face in the process of attaining autonomy and identity. Moreover, the discussed topic is consistent with the aim of Good Health and Well-Being since this goal is focused on promoting children's health and well-being. Through Coraline's struggles for independence and power, the author manages to demonstrate the importance of encouraging childhood development and ensuring supportive conditions for growing up. Within this wider literary context, the novel "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman creates the horrific character of the Other Mother, who employs food and affection as tools of deceit to lure Coraline into a controlling environment. It is in this context that this study examines the theme of appetite, control and cannibalistic motherhood embodied by the character of the Other Mother. Through a contrast between the real parents and the deceptively loving Other Mother, the text explores how childhood agency is acquired as a response to manipulation and deception. This study explores how Gaiman combines fantasy and horror to criticize the unrealistic notions of motherhood in order to show how children operate in power dynamics within the family setting. Childhood is therefore depicted as an age of acquiring courage and developing judgment.
Keywords: Childhood, Motherhood, Power, Control, Fantasy, Identity.
Volume: 12 | Issue: 1
Pages: 5-8
Issue Date: June , 2026
DOI: 10.9756/IJRAS/V12I1/BIJ26006
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