Only her fingers were too long, and they never stopped moving, and her dark red fingernails were curved and sharp. Adding to the other mother's creepiness is her lack of a solid identity. All we know for sure is that she's super old; after all, the three children who Coraline meets in the beldam's world have been there for years.
Let's face it, people haven't been saying "art thou" for quite a while, so she must have kidnapped them forever ago. Other than her age, though, the other mother is a total mystery. To be honest, we don't even know what she looks like or where she lives! Sure, she looks like Coraline's mom now, but in order to trap the other children, she probably looked like their parents but with button eyes, of course. And she currently lives next door-ish to Coraline, but we know that she made that world herself: she's probably been hopping from place to place, looking for vulnerable children.
If there's anything else definite about the other mother's identity, we don't really hear about it. Even the know-it-all black cat doesn't know about her or at least won't say :. Our brilliant author, Gaiman, wasn't just feeling tired when he opted not to answer questions about the other mother. The mystery actually makes her even scarier: we're afraid of her because we don't know who or what!
Adding to the mystery of the other mother is that she's pretty much two-faced. One side of her is the kind, breakfast-making type. She buys Coraline awesome toys and clothes, and unlike Coraline's real mother, she pays attention to Coraline and offers to play games with her. But this is all too good to be true. The other side of the other mother is downright terrifying and completely manipulative. Most importantly, she tries to trick Coraline into staying with her, and she's pretty convincing:.
If they left you, Coraline, it must be because they became bored with you, or tired. Now, I will never become bored with you, and I will never abandon you. As Coraline continues to fight back against the other mother, we get to see the real beldam. And the fact that Coraline doesn't buy into the other mother's manipulations shows us just how smart and mature Coraline herself is.
And, despite herself, 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. Love can mean a lot of different things. We at Shmoop love our moms, but we also love a good piece of chocolate cake. The other mother doesn't want the mushy kind of a love, she wants the "it's mine to enjoy" kind of love.
She looks at kids, and everyone around her, as objects to control, and this type of love ends up destroying people. Shortly thereafter, the three of them enjoy a full-course meal, topped with a gravy boat and chandelier smoothie dispenser. The Beldam herself does not eat and ensures it goes unnoticed. The Beldam suggests playing hide-and-seek in the rain.
This sparks concern in Coraline as Coraline's real mother despises rain and has no history of playing games with her daughter. Coraline becomes frightened by The Beldam's eerie behavior, and requests to go to bed. To prevent scaring Coraline off any further, The Beldam agrees to Coraline's wishes and shows Coraline her updated and colorful room. The Beldam rubs mud on Coraline's hand to heal the poison oak she contracted earlier that day, then her and the Other Father tuck her into bed and wish her a good night.
Coraline wakes up in the real world the following morning. The Beldam sends Coraline off to fetch the Other Father, who is working in the garden. They later have a dinner-breakfast meal, who The Beldam avoids eating again, until the Other Wybie arrives. He has been silenced by The Beldam.
After the performance, Coraline returns to the bedroom, where The Beldam kisses her good night. Coraline wakes up in the real world again.
When Coraline returns for a third visit, The Beldam was absent, but left food and new clothes for Coraline, and invites her to visit the Other Spink and Forcible downstairs. The Beldam returns once Coraline returns from the performance. She offers Coraline to stay in the Other World forever, on the condition that she must sew buttons into her eyes.
Horrified, Coraline quickly wants to go the bed, leaving The Beldam concerned. She offers to tuck Coraline in, but she rejects. Coraline goes to sleep but wakes up still in the other world. She demands Coraline to apologize for three seconds.
The Beldam begins transforming into her second form, a monstrous witch, in anger. With the help of the Other Wybie, whose lips have been tied into a smile by The Beldam, Coraline manages to escape the Other World before she arrives.
Coraline returns to the Other World once again after learning that The Beldam had kidnapped her real parents. The Beldam impersonates Mel Jones again before reverting into her second form. She then makes Coraline a meal, while she offers a game.
Coraline bets that if she can find the eyes of the Ghost Children and her parents, then The Beldam will set them all free. If not, Coraline will stay and allow her to sew buttons over her eyes. She also demands a clue to find the eyes and her parents.
The Beldams states that the ghost eyes are hidden in plain sight in each of the three wonders of the Other World. The Beldam is seen sitting in the living room again, now in her true humanoid-arachnid form, when Coraline returns with all the ghost eyes found. Coraline is warned by the Sweet Ghost Girl that even if she wins, the Beldam will never let her go. Using her wits, Coraline tricks The Beldam into unlocking the door for her, while she finds her real parents trapped in a snow globe.
The Beldam gloats, before Coraline throws the Cat at her face. Angered, she turns the entire room into a spider web, but Coraline manages to escape, with the help of the Ghost Children closing the door for her, Coraline returns to the real world and quickly locks the door in time.
Coraline then goes to the well to throw the key into it. While she is on her way to the well, The Beldam puts her metallic hand under the door and severs it off allowing her to control it in the real world like a robot. The real Wybie arrives and the pair were able to destroy the hand.
They throw it's remains and the key down the old well, ensuring that the Beldam will never find it again There are some theories that state that the well could be the original portal to the other world and that coraline actually gave the key and The Beldam's hand straight back to The Beldam, this is pretty much proven by the fact the well looks the door portal and also wybie said that at the bottom you can see stars like it's the other world. After Coraline returns to the copy of her flat, the Other Mother offers Coraline the opportunity to stay in the Other World forever, but in order to do so, Coraline must allow buttons to be sewn into her eyes.
Coraline is horrified and returns through the door to her home. Upon return to her apartment, Coraline finds that her real parents are missing. They do not return the next day, and the black cat wakes her and takes her to a mirror in her hallway, through which she can see her trapped parents. They signal to her by writing "Help Us" on the glass, from which Coraline deduces the Other Mother has kidnapped them. Part of that was the power of its villain, the Other Mother, who lures children into her strange mirror universe before claiming their souls.
The monster was an original creation of the author, but he drew upon a deep tradition of legends and fairy tales to craft her. Moreover, he gave her a name — the Beldam — which speaks volumes about what kind of creature she is. The specifics are informative but unnecessary. The Beldam stems from countless mythic monsters before her, which Gaiman and Selick both tapped into in unique and creative ways. A Beldam was said to dwell in distant hidden houses, much like the gingerbread house of Hansel and Gretel's witch , and often possessed the power to change her shape.
She particularly sought young victims, such as children or young lovers who could be easily induced to lower their guard by a pleasing or trustworthy face.
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