In most fairy tales, there is a quest structure that the protagonist follows. The typical structure of the quest is: ideal happiness, disruption of ideal happiness, tasks to restore happiness, and finally restoration of happiness. The cycle is never broken. In Neil Gaiman's Coraline, this quest structure is abandoned. Unlike the typical quest structure, the protagonist, Coraline, undertakes a coming-of-age quest in which the quest structure deviates from the typical structure. Coraline's quest means that she comes of age when she overcomes what Freud calls her "infantile complexes", which then allows her to break the typical quest structure by abandoning her childhood and embracing her adulthood. The typical quest structure that the protagonist follows in the majority of fairy tales consists of distinct stages. The stages (ideal happiness, disruption of ideal happiness, tasks to restore happiness, and restoration of happiness) are cyclical. The quest narrative is always present in one form or another and the cycle is never broken. The typical quest structure allows the story to achieve absolute resolution to the threat of happiness. The cycle allows the return to the “original status” which is the ultimate goal of the protagonist. It allows for victory without significant change and a return to ideal happiness. In Coraline, it becomes apparent that Coraline's quest structure does not follow the typical beginning structure based on the relationship between Coraline and her parents. In Coraline, Neil Gaiman makes it clear that Coraline's family is anything but the ideal, happy family. Gaiman states: "Both of her parents [Coraline] were working, doing things on computers, which meant... middle of paper ......o adulthood and how they led to her inner change, which deviates from the typical quest where the protagonist doesn't change and simply returns to their "original status". In essence, Coraline is presented as being the opposite of the typical quest structure. Coraline begins with an unhappy family, a disruption in the form of desire (Coraline's ideal happiness), and the return to Coraline's world with a significant character change. Not only does this contradict typical quest structure, but Coraline's quest focuses on the character change aspects of the quest. The coming-of-age quest is used to emphasize the changes Coraline undergoes during the quest. As a final act of liberation from her childhood, Coraline buries the other mother's hand in the real world. Coraline finally cuts all ties with her childhood and the other world with this act.