Original artwork, not a still
Coraline • 2002
Cats don't have names. Now you people have names. That's because you don't know who you are.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The Cat is the book's coolest customer, and this is his calling card: a creature so sure of himself that he sees names as a human weakness. Coraline bristles at it, but the idea stuck, and it gets shared whenever someone wants to say that self-knowledge beats a label. It also sets up why the Cat can be trusted when the Other Mother cannot.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for CoralineShow the scene
In Neil Gaiman's novel, Coraline has slipped through the little door into the Other World, a copy of her own home where everything is brighter and the Other Parents have buttons for eyes. As she explores, she meets the black cat she has seen prowling around the real house, and discovers that on this side of the door it can talk. She asks its name and offers her own. The Cat says cats do not have names, because only people need them: people do not know who they are, while cats know exactly who they are. Coraline finds this smug, and the Cat goes on to warn her about the place.
Sources (3)
- Wikiquote, Neil Gaiman (Coraline quotations)Coraline section, the Cat's exchange about namesReference checked
- Coraline Wiki, The CatDifferences from the filmReference checked
- Wikipedia, Coraline (novella)PlotReference checked
Context reviewed
