Dory Fantasmagory

Dory is the six-year-old protagonist of the novel, and the story is told entirely from her point of view. Dory is rambunctious, energetic, and perhaps most importantly, imaginative. Dory constantly imagines fantastical scenarios around her, constructing an imaginary friend, Mary, assigning different monsters to shadowy locations, and concocting little participatory games for herself such as when she pretends to be a dog. Dory commits to the rules of these self-created games, refusing to drop her imaginative scenario even when it causes her to get in trouble.

Dory yearns to play with her older siblings and often tries to involve them in her imaginary games, but they generally ignore or reject her. She tries various methods to win their attention, proposing new games and asking lots of questions. Sometimes, when her siblings give her a little bit of attention, Dory becomes overly excited and takes the game too far. For example, she fixates on Mrs. Gobble Gracker and constantly tries to use her as a means of connecting with her siblings, even when they have clearly lost interest in the game.

Since the book is rooted in Dory’s point of view, the imaginary characters and scenarios are presented in a matter-of-fact way, as if they are real, using