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The Crazy Old Man Upstairs/Mr. Bobo
The other crazy old man upstairs is an alternate-universe approximation of the “real” crazy old man upstairs—but, as with everything in the other mother’s world, her version of the man has been twisted and perverted. Whereas the crazy old man upstairs in Coraline’s world is an eccentric loner who is excitedly training a mouse circus, the crazy old man in the other mother’s world is a shut-in whose body is made entirely of malevolent rats.
The Other Crazy Old Man Upstairs Quotes in Coraline
The Coraline quotes below are all either spoken by The Other Crazy Old Man Upstairs or refer to The Other Crazy Old Man Upstairs. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 10 Quotes
Coraline sighed. “You really don’t understand, do you?” she said. “I don’t want whatever I want. Nobody does. Not really. What kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted? Just like that, and it didn’t mean anything. What then?”
“I don’t understand,” said the whispery voice.
“Of course you don’t understand,” she said, raising the stone with the hole in it to her eye. “You’re just a bad copy she made of the crazy old man upstairs.”
“Not even that anymore,” said the dead, whispery voice.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Other Crazy Old Man Upstairs Character Timeline in Coraline
The timeline below shows where the character The Other Crazy Old Man Upstairs appears in Coraline. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...towards the door. Coraline turns to look at where they’re running to and sees that the other crazy old man from upstairs has materialized in the doorway—the rats scamper up into his clothes, and the...
(full context)
Chapter 10
Coraline heads up the stairs on the side of the building to the other crazy old man ’s flat. She is full of fear as she ascends but reminds herself that she’s...
(full context)
...bedroom. Coraline makes her way to the door of the room and peers in—she sees the other crazy old man upstairs sitting in the dark, bundled in his coat. He speaks to Coraline and urges her...
(full context)
The other crazy old man sadly states that he’s “not even [a copy] anymore.” Coraline looks through the stone and...
(full context)
