The other mother seems to run off of control and manipulation. Throughout the story, she shows signs of manipulation tactics by doing things for Coraline such as sweet talking her, giving her exactly what she wants, and even blatantly lying to her. She tells Coraline kind things about how much she loves her. She made the house and painted the walls just for Coraline. After all of these acts of “love”, the other mother lies to Coraline about getting her real parents back and leaving to the other world. 

    The other mother is good at using many manipulation tactics, but the one she uses most is sweet-talking Coraline. From the moment they met, the other mother was kinder to Coraline than her real mother, so why would she want to go back? She even tries to tell Coraline that if she can not find her parents, “‘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.’” (Gaiman 60) Trying to convince Coraline to stay with her, the other mother tells Coraline that her real parents do not want her anymore, and reassures her about her intention to keep Coraline safe forever. Another example of this sweet-talk is the other mother constantly telling Coraline that she loves her. Though she is bombarded by love, Coraline sees through these words, and does not fall for it. “‘I love you. I will always love you.’” (Gaiman 88) the other mother tells Coraline, after taking her out of a time out inside of the mirror. The other mother is trying to make Coraline believe she is a loving mother again, after losing her temper. But again, Coraline does not fall for this. The other mother uses kind words and fake love to try and keep Coraline around and happy. 

    In a conversation with her other father, Coraline learns that her other mother created their entire world and waited for Coraline to show up. When Coraline tries to tell her father that she is going to explore, he tells her “No point… There isn’t anywhere but here. This is all she made: the house, the grounds, and the people in the house. She made it and she waited.’” (Gaiman 69) It seems as if Coraline’s other mother’s entire existence is based around Coraline. When Coraline goes to investigate, she gains evidence that what her other father said was true, and he gets punished by the other mother for saying too much. On top of creating an entire world for Coraline, she created it according to everything Coraline likes in her regular world. Her walls are painted green after she asks her real mom for green gloves, and her other parents pay much more attention to her after she is upset by her real parents ignoring her. This tactic used by the other mother barely worked, as Coraline was excited about the world at first, but shortly realized its bad intention. Through constructing the other world, the other mother created an environment that she believed Coraline would never want to leave.

    The third tactic that the other mother uses to manipulate Coraline is lies. In fact, the other mother may not have ever told the truth. She tells Coraline she loves her, she tells Coraline she will play fair, and she swears to keep her word to set Coraline’s parents free. Coraline quickly realizes that she should not believe anything that the other mother tells her. But, Coraline has no choice but to trust her when she says she will release her parents if Coraline finds the three souls. Not to her surprise, the other mother plans on trapping Coraline, which is clearly a wicked act - not one done out of motherly love. It was done out of greed and heartlessness. The only thing the other mother was interested in was keeping Coraline all to herself. And, in lying to Coraline about everything, she tried to trick Coraline into believing that the other world was the best one to stay in, since it was made for her.