Dory Fantasmagory

Luke is Dory’s older brother and the middle child of the three siblings. At first, Luke follows Violet and rejects Dory’s attempts to play imaginative games. Though the story is told from Dory’s POV, some of the illustrations reveal key details about Luke’s perspective and his relationship with Violet. For example, Luke can be seen playing house with Violet and allowing Violet to paint his toenails. It appears Luke follows Violet, happy to be included in the games she designs for them. Luke ends up being one of the more dynamic characters in the novel, as his attitude toward Dory warms up and softens throughout the novel.

Luke and Dory have some shared understanding as they both look up to their older siblings and long to be included. Luke is the first sibling to soften a little bit toward Dory and acknowledge her. By the end of the story, Luke has become more of an ally to Dory, indulging in the game where she pretends to be a dog and pretending to be her owner. Through this game, the reader and Dory both learn that Luke loves dogs and would like to be a dog owner one day.

Violet is the oldest sibling and the most dismissive of Dory’s antics. Violet has a baby doll named Cherry that she takes around, caring for it and designing games built around the doll. Violet finds Dory irritating and constantly berates her for being messy, noisy, and immature. Rather than indulge Dory’s rambunctious and ridiculous games, Violet prefers to play house, assigning herself the role of mom, Luke the role of dad, and the doll the role of the baby, leaving Dory out entirely. Violet cleaves more closely to traditional gender roles in the way she plays and the scenarios she imagines.

Even though she looks down on Dory’s imaginary games, Violet demonstrates her ability to speak to Dory on her level when she invents the story of Mrs. Gobble Gracker, the evil 507-year-old thief who allegedly kidnaps children. While this game is intended to be a little bit mean and scare Dory, it actually lights up Dory’s imagination.

Dory’s parents are the least supportive of her imagination and remain fairly static throughout the novel. Dory’s father brushes her off as she clings to his leg on the way to work and never indulges in any of her playful games. In illustrations, he can be seen rolling his eyes at Dory and contributing to the general attitude that she is immature.

Dory’s mother finds her exasperating as she tries to dress Dory, encourage Dory to tidy up, or take Dory out into public. Dory’s mom comments on how embarrassing and rude Dory’s behavior is, focusing on the way Dory reflects badly on the family or on her parenting. Because the story is from Dory’s perspective, the reader only receives the information Dory chooses to share. The moments where Dory’s parents yell at her stick with her and become the reader’s only information about their parental relationship.

Mrs. Gobble Gracker is the primary antagonist of the story, though she is a figment of Dory’s imagination. She is a 507-year-old baby kidnapper who is searching for Dory to drag her to her cave lair and boil her in a huge pot. Violet and Luke invent Mrs. Gobble Gracker and warn Dory to behave more maturely so Mrs. Gobble Gracker doesn’t take her away. Dory expands on this original description and imagines Mrs. Gobble Gracker with black, needle-like teeth and pockets full of dirty tissues. Most elements of Mrs. Gobble Gracker are overtly abhorrent, like the fact that she hates ice cream and ate her cat. Dory also learns that Mrs. Gobble Gracker doesn’t have a cell phone but wants one, which is a more humorously relatable detail that Dory has probably picked up from her older siblings and family.

Dory transposes some qualities of her mother onto Mrs. Gobble Gracker. She imagines that Mrs. Gobble Gracker will drag her away to some scary place. This is exactly what her mother does when she has to go to the doctor and tries very hard to resist.

Mary is Dory’s imaginary friend. She is portrayed as a horned monster approximately Dory’s size, who follows Dory around and always wants to play. Occasionally, Dory tries to exclude Mary the way her siblings exclude her, projecting their power dynamics onto her imaginary friend. Dory attributes some of her fun, imagery games to Mary, claiming that Mary likes being dragged around in a laundry basket. Mary is a little bit more fearful than Dory is, hiding under the bed when Mrs. Gobble Gracker emerges and crouching behind Dory when she has to go into battle. When Dory herself is scared, she can project some of that fear onto Mary, to normalize being afraid. Dory also turns to Mary when she feels particularly lonely and rejected by her siblings, and Mary’s presence helps alleviate that loneliness.