Post#2 Coraline

Question: Why does Coraline constantly go to the flat of Miss April Spink and Miss Miriam Forcible, her neighbors, if they are so elderly compared to her? Shouldn't there be plenty of children in the neighborhood since her mother is preparing her to begin school? Coraline seems friendly, so why doesn't search for friends in her new neighborhood?

Comment: I think that the plot of the story is quite intriguing. The fact that Coraline has a different mother and father that no one is aware of is a great twist to the story. Coralines' other parents are well aware that she has a different set of parents and even refer to each other as her "other mother" and "other father" in such a happy way. The author imagination in creating a completely different family really fascinated me because he created this family to really satisfy Coraline when it came to her taste in food and even bedroom decor. I like the fact that her "other parents" look similar to her biological parents, yet they are easily distinguished by particular features.

Critique: I don't understand the point of having children without being able to give them your all. Coralines' biological parents are always either too busy working to play with her or just aren't paying attention to her. When Coraline asks her father a question, he simply doesn't even look up from his work and when her mother looks in the fridge, all she sees is cheese with mold on it. I think its very irresponsible to bring a child into this world if you are financially and emotionally unable to handle the ability to take care of the child responsibly. A kid needs care, love and attention and without it they could find themselves getting into trouble kind of like Coraline does with her new discovery in the "drawing room"

Post#1

Question: Beli was once mistreated by a family that took her in after her family had died. Then La Inca found out that her and Beli were distant relatives and took her in. Why is Belis' behavior toward her children so mean considering the fact that she knows what being mistreated feels like?

Comment: Being that Yunior is not part of the De Leon family, I don't see why he knew so much about the family. Families can be very open and with that I agree, but Yunior knew a lot of private details about the family. Even though Yunior and Oscar were roommates at Rutgers University, I don't recall Oscar sharing much of his personal issues with Yunior. Yunior is very comfortable with pushing Oscar around when basically forcing him to exercise when Oscar repeatedly refuses which to me is a little over top considering the fact that they are not related.

Critique: I do not like the fact that the story is constantly moving to different points of view and people talking about one another in different person. I found the jumping around from different time to time in the book to be extremely confusing considering the fact that the story starts in the present and the next thing you know it's the year 1955. If the story was just told by the narrator, Yunior, I believe it would've made a lot more sense.