--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Why does she want me?\" Coraline asked the…" description: "\"Why does she want me?\" Coraline asked the cat. \"Why does she want me to stay here with her?\" \"She wants something to love, I think,\" said the cat. \"Som..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/neil-gaiman-29_animals_why-does-she-want-me-coraline-asked-the_2370567.jpg" --- # Why does she want me?" Coraline asked the cat. "Why does… ![“Why does she want me?" Coraline asked the cat. "Why does she want me to stay here with her?" "She wants something to love, I think," said the cat. "Something that isn't her. She might want something to eat as well. It's hard to tell with creatures like that.” quote by Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/neil-gaiman-29_animals_why-does-she-want-me-coraline-asked-the_2370567.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/neil-gaiman-29_animals_why-does-she-want-me-coraline-asked-the_2370567.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/neil-gaiman-29_animals_why-does-she-want-me-coraline-asked-the_2370567.jpg) > “Why does she want me?" Coraline asked the cat. "Why does she want me to stay here with her?" "She wants something to love, I think," said the cat. "Something that isn't her. She might want something to eat as well. It's hard to tell with creatures like that.” [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A child's fear of being unwanted is expressed; the cat suggests love and need drive the ghost's desire to keep her. **In simple terms:** Fear of being needed leads to longing for love. Key Takeaway Acknowledge the need for love in others. Themes loneliness need love ghosts Mood empathetic melancholic Type literary psychological When to use this quote - talking to a child about belonging - exploring supernatural motives - writing empathetic dialogue Key Concepts psychology fantasy literature Questions to Reflect On - What does the ghost truly want? - How can we reassure those who feel unwanted? A Different Perspective The cat's explanation may oversimplify complex emotions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) [Cat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cat/) [Cats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cats/) [Coraline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coraline/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [What's your name,' Coraline asked the cat. 'Look, I'm Coraline. Okay?' 'Cats don't have names,' it said. 'No?' said Coraline. 'No,' said the cat.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/what-s-your-name-coraline-asked-the-cat-look-i-m-coraline-okay-cats/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“What," asked Mr Croup, "do you want?" "What," asked the Marquis de Carabas, a little more rhetorically, "does anyone want?" "Dead things," suggested Mr…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/what-asked-mr-croup-do-you-want-what-asked-the-marquis-de-carabas-a/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [But how can you walk away from something and still come back to it?" "Easy," said the cat. "Think of somebody walking around the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/but-how-can-you-walk-away-from-something-and-still-come-back-to-it-2/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [You know that I love you." And despite herself, Coraline nodded. It was true. The other mother loved her. But she loved Coraline as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-know-that-i-love-you-and-despite-herself-coraline-nodded-it-was-2/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Now Coraline," said Miss Spink, "what's your name?" "Coraline," said Coraline. "And we don't know each other, do we?" Coraline looked at the thin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/now-coraline-said-miss-spink-what-s-your-name-coraline-said-coraline/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Mirrors,' she said, 'are never to be trusted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/mirrors-she-said-are-never-to-be-trusted/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Cats don’t have names,” it said. “No?” said Coraline. “No,” said the cat. “Now, you people have names. That’s because you don’t know who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/cats-don-t-have-names-it-said-no-said-coraline-no-said-the-cat-now/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [She smiled at Coraline, as if it had been a very long time since she had smiled and she had almost, but not quite,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/she-smiled-at-coraline-as-if-it-had-been-a-very-long-time-since-she/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [I have no plans to love you," said Coraline. "No matter what. You can't make me love you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-have-no-plans-to-love-you-said-coraline-no-matter-what-you-can-t/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [You know that I love you." And despite herself, Coraline nodded. It was true. The other mother loved her. But she loved Coraline as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-know-that-i-love-you-and-despite-herself-coraline-nodded-it-was/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [For tea she went down to see Misses Spink and Forcible. She had three digestive biscuits, a glass of limeade, and a cup of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/for-tea-she-went-down-to-see-misses-spink-and-forcible-she-had-three/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“And then, in a skittering, chittering rush, it came. 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No, I am brave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-will-be-brave-thought-coraline-no-i-am-brave/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [It seemed to Coraline that it was crouching, and staring down at her, as if it were not really a house but only the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/it-seemed-to-coraline-that-it-was-crouching-and-staring-down-at-her/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) ## More by Neil Gaiman > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Like all sentient beings, Fat Charlie had a weirdness quotient. 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Nothing dates harder and faster and more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-can-tell-the-date-of-an-old-science-fiction-novel-by-every-word/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“The quickest way is sometimes the longest.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/the-quickest-way-is-sometimes-the-longest/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“They were spells, spelled with words to make worlds, waiting for me, in the pages of books.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/they-were-spells-spelled-with-words-to-make-worlds-waiting-for-me-in/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Finish what you're writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/finish-what-you-re-writing-whatever-you-have-to-do-to-finish-it/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [What do stars do? They shine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/what-do-stars-do-they-shine/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“What," asked Mr Croup, "do you want?" "What," asked the Marquis de Carabas, a little more rhetorically, "does anyone want?" "Dead things," suggested Mr…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/what-asked-mr-croup-do-you-want-what-asked-the-marquis-de-carabas-a/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [You get on with your own life. Lettie gave it to you. You just have to grow up and try and be worth it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-get-on-with-your-own-life-lettie-gave-it-to-you-you-just-have-to/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Eyes will not see you. Minds will not hold you. 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The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It’s a small thing to help one animal, but to that one animal it’s a big thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-baur/it-s-a-small-thing-to-help-one-animal-but-to-that-one-animal-it-s-a/) [Gene Baur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-baur/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“All these creatures spend their time explaining, realizing happily that they agree with each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/all-these-creatures-spend-their-time-explaining-realizing-happily/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [We're not very dangerous animals; we don't have a horn like a rhino or quills like a porcupine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fisher/we-re-not-very-dangerous-animals-we-don-t-have-a-horn-like-a-rhino-or/) [Helen Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fisher/) > [We need, in a special way, to work twice as hard to help people understand that animals are fellow creatures, that we must protect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/we-need-in-a-special-way-to-work-twice-as-hard-to-help-people/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [“Plenty of animals had pets, but few were more devoted than the mouse, who owned a baby corn snake—“A rescue snake, she’d be quick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/plenty-of-animals-had-pets-but-few-were-more-devoted-than-the-mouse/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [No creature can attain a higher grade of nature without ceasing to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananda-coomaraswamy/no-creature-can-attain-a-higher-grade-of-nature-without-ceasing-to/) [Ananda Coomaraswamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananda-coomaraswamy/) > [Most people are sensitized to animals through their cats and dogs, but for me it was a flounder. 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