What's your name,' Coraline asked the cat.....
'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 you are. We know who we are, so we don't need names.”
There is one hazard in Gaiman's world he may not be aware of. And that is the conjuratory power of prose cats. Like some metaphysical concepts, or some dashboard lights, the use of 'cat' in a series of somethings functions as a pivot, regardless of whether there is really anything to pivot on.
And here is a Gaiman cat story to read, called, "The Price." It is fun, though I daresay it illustrates my point. Something unearned is involved. Judge for yourself.
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