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THE WEATHER |
(Mist, rain, fog, storms, dark and gloomy skies, etc :) |
Weather in the Real World Prior to the Adventure
· On “day 1”, in accordance with the novel’s “timeline” the heavy rain that “threw”(p.5) itself down from the sky into the garden and converted it into a “muddy, wet soup” (p.5), seemed to symbolize that an impending occurrence of evil was to take place consequently, for it almost seemed as if the rain was the evil itself that struck the garden, its victim and destroyed/severely harmed it. The heavy rain seems to set the scene for the following plot sequences, since it creates an atmosphere of fear and insecurity, thus preparing the reader for a fictional Gothic adventure.
· The following day, fog seemed to encircle the large mansion-like home within which Coraline’s own apartment was situated, which seemed to produce an air of unpredictability: “The next day it had stopped raining, but a thick white fog had lowered over the house” (p.11) Fog often symbolizes confusion, a strong sense of which seemed to be present within the atmosphere of the story, since Coraline was not sure of what to do or where to go, but rather wandered about. Fog seemed to also rather “blur” the reader’s forethought, thus, also acted as a curtain that could never be properly opened for one to see behind it. As a consequence, an air of mystery seems to also take shape. Additionally, although the fog acts as a curtain for readers, its characteristic seems to enhance readers’ forethought, as a result of its unpredictability. Moreover, the narrator also underlines that the mist/fog was grey: “Coraline continued walking through the garden in the grey mist”(p.12), which seems to create an atmosphere that was dull and frightening. Later, the mist/fog seemed to have become thicker: “The mist hung like blindness” (p.15) and turned the outside of the house into a ”ghost world”(p.16), which seemed to further define the unpredictability and a sense of evil brewing within the atmosphere, while it also produced an environment that was supernatural.
· On the afternoon of the next day (chapter 3), “the sun was shining, although the day was cold” (p.19), which seemed peculiar since most sunny days are often pleasantly warm. Thus, the atmosphere seemed to again hold a strong sense of impending evil, since the cold seemed to obscure the heat of the sun. Even though the sun seemed to shine, the cold temperature of the day seemed to act as a veil of gloom that seemed to prevent the energy and excitement supplied by the sun from altering the atmosphere of the story. The cold temperature seemed to continue to keep the atmosphere of the story dull, which sparked within readers’ a belief that evil seemed to be brewing without Coraline’s notice.
Weather in the Other Mother ’s World
As Coraline travels to the Other Mother ’s world, the weather could not be deciphered well, for there not many descriptions of the weather could be found.
· On her first day in the Other Mother ’s world, Coraline perceived that the day was exactly as she’d left in the other world; a sunny, cold day (p.25). This seemed to be quite surprising, since it was another addition to the fact that the Other Mother ’s world was almost perfectly identical to Coraline’s world.
· The vaguely stated that the earlier parts of Coraline’s second day at the Other Mother ’s world was sunny: “Coraline was woken by the mid-morning sun” p.47. Although the sun may usually create an atmosphere of excitement and joy, it instead produced an atmosphere that caused discomfort in the Other Mother ’s world.
· During the later stages of the second day of her visit to the Other Mother ’s world, Coraline went “exploring” when the Other Mother had ventured out of the “other house”. During her “exploration”, Coraline crossed the boundaries of the areas of the world “re-moulded” by the Other Mother to discover what she believed was “mist”. Although this was the case, the narrator states: “It was not damp, like a normal fog or mist. It was not cold, but it was not warm” (p.50) and that: “The world she was walking through was a pale nothingness, like a blank sheet of paper…”(p.50), while the narrator again states that Coraline thought that it certainly wasn’t mist: “ ‘It certainly isn’t mist,’ thought Coraline” (p.50). Later, the narrator once again states that Coraline could see the house she’d just left in the “mist” again: “And then it took shape in the mist: a dark house…” (p.51). Thus, it seems quite ambiguous whether there was mist. Thus, a difficulty occurs for the reader during their imagination of the atmosphere within that aspect of the story, confusing the reader.
· On the third day of Coraline’s visit to the Other Mother ’s peculiar world, the narrator indicates that a gust of wind stung Coraline’s cheeks and face with invisible sand, ”sharp as needles or glass”(p.67) as she entered the other Miss Forcible and Miss Spink’s residence during the “challenge”, which instantly disappeared when Coraline shouted “Play fair” (p.67). Hence, it was conveyed to the reader that the wind was another creation of the Other Mother , while the wind seemed to create an atmosphere of malicious chaos. The reader acquires an understanding of the extent of the Other Mother ’s powers, and is indeed quite amazed.
The Weather in the Real World after Coraline’s “Visit”
· Although it was initially perceived that the corridor in the Other Mother ’s house was similar to her home, with the exception of certain features such as its appearance, it was deciphered during Coraline’s escape that there was a sort of windy weather within it: “Winds howled in the dark” (p.92), creating an atmosphere of haste, panic and distress. The winds almost represented the Other Mother ’s screams of pain as the cat landed on her, which also added monstrous quantities of horror to the atmosphere. Such an environment within the narrative resulted in the reader to yearning to assist Coraline, and ignited a feeling of anxiety within the reader.
The Weather in the Real World after Coraline’s “Visit”
The weather in the real world was not well-described, and thence, not many descriptions could be discovered:
After Coraline entered the corridor between the Other Mother ’s and Coraline’s worlds, the narrator validated that the light that came through the picture window was “golden afternoon daylight” (p.93), and that “the sky was a robin’s-egg blue”(p.93), which implied that the weather was nice and sunny, thus creating a feeling of warmth and comfort, while it relaxed the reader, for they too had partially “experienced” Coraline’s adventure.
· On “day 1”, in accordance with the novel’s “timeline” the heavy rain that “threw”(p.5) itself down from the sky into the garden and converted it into a “muddy, wet soup” (p.5), seemed to symbolize that an impending occurrence of evil was to take place consequently, for it almost seemed as if the rain was the evil itself that struck the garden, its victim and destroyed/severely harmed it. The heavy rain seems to set the scene for the following plot sequences, since it creates an atmosphere of fear and insecurity, thus preparing the reader for a fictional Gothic adventure.
· The following day, fog seemed to encircle the large mansion-like home within which Coraline’s own apartment was situated, which seemed to produce an air of unpredictability: “The next day it had stopped raining, but a thick white fog had lowered over the house” (p.11) Fog often symbolizes confusion, a strong sense of which seemed to be present within the atmosphere of the story, since Coraline was not sure of what to do or where to go, but rather wandered about. Fog seemed to also rather “blur” the reader’s forethought, thus, also acted as a curtain that could never be properly opened for one to see behind it. As a consequence, an air of mystery seems to also take shape. Additionally, although the fog acts as a curtain for readers, its characteristic seems to enhance readers’ forethought, as a result of its unpredictability. Moreover, the narrator also underlines that the mist/fog was grey: “Coraline continued walking through the garden in the grey mist”(p.12), which seems to create an atmosphere that was dull and frightening. Later, the mist/fog seemed to have become thicker: “The mist hung like blindness” (p.15) and turned the outside of the house into a ”ghost world”(p.16), which seemed to further define the unpredictability and a sense of evil brewing within the atmosphere, while it also produced an environment that was supernatural.
· On the afternoon of the next day (chapter 3), “the sun was shining, although the day was cold” (p.19), which seemed peculiar since most sunny days are often pleasantly warm. Thus, the atmosphere seemed to again hold a strong sense of impending evil, since the cold seemed to obscure the heat of the sun. Even though the sun seemed to shine, the cold temperature of the day seemed to act as a veil of gloom that seemed to prevent the energy and excitement supplied by the sun from altering the atmosphere of the story. The cold temperature seemed to continue to keep the atmosphere of the story dull, which sparked within readers’ a belief that evil seemed to be brewing without Coraline’s notice.
Weather in the Other Mother ’s World
As Coraline travels to the Other Mother ’s world, the weather could not be deciphered well, for there not many descriptions of the weather could be found.
· On her first day in the Other Mother ’s world, Coraline perceived that the day was exactly as she’d left in the other world; a sunny, cold day (p.25). This seemed to be quite surprising, since it was another addition to the fact that the Other Mother ’s world was almost perfectly identical to Coraline’s world.
· The vaguely stated that the earlier parts of Coraline’s second day at the Other Mother ’s world was sunny: “Coraline was woken by the mid-morning sun” p.47. Although the sun may usually create an atmosphere of excitement and joy, it instead produced an atmosphere that caused discomfort in the Other Mother ’s world.
· During the later stages of the second day of her visit to the Other Mother ’s world, Coraline went “exploring” when the Other Mother had ventured out of the “other house”. During her “exploration”, Coraline crossed the boundaries of the areas of the world “re-moulded” by the Other Mother to discover what she believed was “mist”. Although this was the case, the narrator states: “It was not damp, like a normal fog or mist. It was not cold, but it was not warm” (p.50) and that: “The world she was walking through was a pale nothingness, like a blank sheet of paper…”(p.50), while the narrator again states that Coraline thought that it certainly wasn’t mist: “ ‘It certainly isn’t mist,’ thought Coraline” (p.50). Later, the narrator once again states that Coraline could see the house she’d just left in the “mist” again: “And then it took shape in the mist: a dark house…” (p.51). Thus, it seems quite ambiguous whether there was mist. Thus, a difficulty occurs for the reader during their imagination of the atmosphere within that aspect of the story, confusing the reader.
· On the third day of Coraline’s visit to the Other Mother ’s peculiar world, the narrator indicates that a gust of wind stung Coraline’s cheeks and face with invisible sand, ”sharp as needles or glass”(p.67) as she entered the other Miss Forcible and Miss Spink’s residence during the “challenge”, which instantly disappeared when Coraline shouted “Play fair” (p.67). Hence, it was conveyed to the reader that the wind was another creation of the Other Mother , while the wind seemed to create an atmosphere of malicious chaos. The reader acquires an understanding of the extent of the Other Mother ’s powers, and is indeed quite amazed.
The Weather in the Real World after Coraline’s “Visit”
· Although it was initially perceived that the corridor in the Other Mother ’s house was similar to her home, with the exception of certain features such as its appearance, it was deciphered during Coraline’s escape that there was a sort of windy weather within it: “Winds howled in the dark” (p.92), creating an atmosphere of haste, panic and distress. The winds almost represented the Other Mother ’s screams of pain as the cat landed on her, which also added monstrous quantities of horror to the atmosphere. Such an environment within the narrative resulted in the reader to yearning to assist Coraline, and ignited a feeling of anxiety within the reader.
The Weather in the Real World after Coraline’s “Visit”
The weather in the real world was not well-described, and thence, not many descriptions could be discovered:
After Coraline entered the corridor between the Other Mother ’s and Coraline’s worlds, the narrator validated that the light that came through the picture window was “golden afternoon daylight” (p.93), and that “the sky was a robin’s-egg blue”(p.93), which implied that the weather was nice and sunny, thus creating a feeling of warmth and comfort, while it relaxed the reader, for they too had partially “experienced” Coraline’s adventure.