Symbolism In The Tracker

The movie Coraline and the book The Tracker are connected in the idea that the protagonists will undergo journeys of self discovery into maturity/adulthood that are represented using a wide variety of symbols that convey different tones and moods the author/director wants to convey to its audience. Throughout the movie Coraline many allusions using symbolism are made to represent the quest Coraline is going through and events to come. A very big symbol not many would notice is simply how Coraline is represented and how she contrasts her environment. Her constant relation to blue, yellow, and orange which represent her personality and feelings that constantly contrast her surroundings. Elizabeth Eberly states that “Yellow is a joyous, intellectual

John lives with his grandparents after his parents passed during a plane crash.John lives on his grandparents farm, it is described as a very welcoming environment with colors like orange, brown, red-orange, etc.. He and his grandfather go on annual hunting trips to provide food for the family. Although they go together John has never actually shot a deer himself, this becomes an issue when his grandfather gets diagnosed with cancer and is only given a few months to live. John must take up this tradition of hunting and continue providing for the family. On his attempt to hunt he comes across a doe, but he is unable to end its life. He believes that this doe has supernatural powers that could heal his grandfather. Tracking the doe for 2 days leads to it dying from complete exhaustion however this isn’t just about how John killed a doe by tracking it down. When John finally returns home his grandfather was so astonished from this feat he stated “I can’t believe it, my boy walked one down”(Tracker Paulsen) This story represents John’s transition into adulthood and the challenge he faces with accepting his grandfather’s inevitable death. In the book John is more of an introvert and is associated with the same variety of colors. John’s constant inner conflicts from losing his parents and soon his grandfather at such a young age cause him to become impulsive. When off on his hunting trip in the snowy

However the way these are represented in the story are almost exact opposites. Coraline goes from a dull setting that seems repulsive and unwelcoming to the welcoming environment of the other world, but in the end this was just a trap. While in The Tracker it goes from the warm environment of Johns grandparent’s house to the unwelcoming harsh winter forest. However it isn’t truly meant to be perceived this way, it’s meant to be a place of rebirth and new beginnings for John. It’s the same use of color yet meant to symbolize completely different things. You can see from these two works how the symbolism in literature can be used in different contexts, yet still be used in to help represent the same