While most people have read this story sometime throughout their life, this review looks at it through new eyes and also gives some background to the story.
Review by Rebecca Cooney
In a world where we sometimes take ourselves too seriously Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” lets us laugh at the absurdities of life. Lewis Carroll (whose real name was Charles Dodgson) first wrote the story of Alice at the request of Alice Liddell, the daughter of a family Dodgson became close to. The story was told to the Liddell children during a picnic in 1862 and was enjoyed so much that Alice asked him to write the story down for her.[1] Although seen as a lighthearted children’s book Alice’s Adventures and the sequel “Through the Looking Glass” both contain life lessons for us all. They are stories of a young girl on a journey through her own imagination who learns many new things about herself and the world around her.
Just as all of us do at some point in our lives Alice questions her identity throughout the story. As she grows and shrinks many times throughout the book she begins to question who she is and begins naming children that she knows that she may have turned into. She also states that she woke up this morning “feeling a little different.”[2] During her talk with the caterpillar in chapter five she tells him that she is not quite herself.[3] The many adventures she experiences must have helped her find herself though for at the end of the story she seems much more confident of whom she is. During the trial in chapter 12 she returns to her normal size and is no longer afraid of the queen’s threats to behead her. She realizes that she is a girl and the creatures around her are just a deck of cards. She is no longer threatened by them or afraid of them.[4]
There are subtle morals and lessons to be learned throughout this topsy-turvy tale. One can be found in Alice’s conversation with the caterpillar when he tells her to keep her temper.[5] Also the kindness Alice shows to the White Queen and White Knight in “Through the Looking Glass” is an example of how we should treat others. During her adventure in “Through the Looking Glass” she proceeds through her journey looking forward to becoming a queen. But when she finally reaches the end of her journey she realizes that being queen is not all it is cracked up to be as the feast in her honor does not go as she expects it to. This appears to show us to be happy with what we have and “the grass is not always greener on the other side” as the saying goes.
Both stories also make us think. Is she dreaming all of this or is she just pretending - using people and items from reality and incorporating them into her playtime? There is a lot of symbolism to be found in the stories. In “Through the Looking Glass” for example the black kitten in Alice’s reality plays the Red Queen in the looking glass world. Both are trouble makers and cause disorder in Alice’s reality and in her imagination. The white kitten on the other hand symbolizes the White Queen who is much more well behaved than the Red Queen. The “backwards world”[6] that the creatures live in represents the world on the other side of the looking glass in which Alice has passed over into. Because she is on the other side of the looking glass everything appears as it would if you were to look in a mirror – backwards!
The Cheshire Cat plays an important role in the story. In the midst of riddles that have no answers and creatures who talk in ways that Alice does not understand the Cheshire Cat is the character who brings some sanity into the story. Alice shows her enjoyment in talking with the Cheshire Cat when he arrives at the croquet game and she states, “now I shall have someone to talk to.”[7] Perhaps this one sane character among many other bizarre ones appears in the form of a cat because of Alice’s love for the animal. As she falls down the rabbit hole in the beginning of her adventure her first thought is concern for her cat, Dinah, at home.[8] It makes sense, then, that in her imaginings a cat would be her favorite character to have around.
Lewis Carroll definitely knew how to write for all audiences. The morals hidden throughout the story make it a good book for anyone to read and learn from. The questioning of one’s identity while going through a time of change in one’s life is relatable to almost everyone. The symbolism incorporated into Alice’s journey brings a sense of realism into the story. Instead of just seeing a world of nonsense we can see how real life is incorporated into the story. We can imagine a young girl using her imagination while playing with her kittens (the red and white queens) or a deck of cards (the characters in Wonderland). The addition of the Cheshire Cat into the cast of characters makes the story more readable since it gives us a character that makes sense in a crazy world. “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass” are both refreshing and fun to read.
[1] Lewis Carroll – Brief Biography. http://www.lewiscarroll.cc/briefbiography2.html. Accessed 2May 2009.
[2] Carroll, Lewis. Alice's Adventures in wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2004. Pg 24.
[3] Carroll, Lewis. Alice's Adventures in wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2004. Pg 55.
[4] Carroll, Lewis. Alice's Adventures in wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2004. Pg 140.
[5] Carroll, Lewis. Alice's Adventures in wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2004. Pg 56.
[6] Carroll, Lewis. Alice's Adventures in wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2004. Pg 204.
[7] Carroll, Lewis. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2004. Pg 96.
[8] Carroll, Lewis. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2004. Pg 15.
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