Marion J. Ruiz
Professor Selina Youngren
English 353
15 September 2013
Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland: Research
Lewis Carroll’s, Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland is a wonderful children’s story written in 1864. The inspiration behind Carroll’s adventurous story was a young girl named Alice and her sisters, (The Lewis Carroll Society). It is filled with exciting and strange adventures with talking animals and life-like playing cards. These absurdities are part of Alice’s adventures during her not so life-like dream. This fantasy story would entice any curious reader, to take a mental step out of their reasonable boring world and into pure nonsense fun. Carroll’s piece of work was considered the first important story that broke away from didacticism, (Russell 14). The absurd story seems to make fun of morality and conformity, something rarely encouraged in the 19th century or centuries past.
In this fascinating tale, Alice finds herself struggling with boredom as she is sitting under a tree with her sister; out of the blue she sees a talking rabbit. She decides to chase the rabbit down the questionable rabbit’s hole (symbolic for change) and into the unknown, (Carroll 2). Alice is in that awkward transition period when she is no longer a child and not yet an adult. It is a difficult time in an adolescent’s life. The author seems to convey this strange period in this fanciful story. When one is changing from childhood to adulthood, there are periods of doubt and also times of triumph. Those lessons one must learn in order to mold and establish their identity as an autonomous adult. Alice seems to acknowledge this when she explains to herself that it would be good to never become an old lady but if she stayed young, then she would always have lessons to learn, (Carroll 20).
The caterpillar in the story seems to be symbolic of the transitioning period in a young persons life. The symbolism for change can be seen in a caterpillar because they eventually transition into a chrysalis and then into a butterfly. Unlike the caterpillar, Alice is very confused with her changing, the caterpillar irritates Alice with the question, “Who are you?” (Carroll 26). She answers with an unsure, “I—I hardly know, sir, just at present—at least I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then,” (Carroll 27). Although the caterpillar will eventually evolve to a butterfly, he is unable to relate to Alice’s confusion in the natural order of life. The caterpillar and Alice’s interaction can be further explained by authors Helle-Valle and Binder, “In the passage above, Alice seems to be trying to underline the twinship-pole of their selves; she might be trying to find likeness and consolation in the Caterpillars future metamorphosis. The Caterpillar, ironically does not empathize with Alice’s discomfort of change, seemingly pushing her further away.” Alice walks away annoyed by the lack of empathy shown to her. Then she comes across the sorrowful Mock Turtle, it seems when he deals with life’s changes in a defeating way, Alice, in turn feels a lack of empathy for his problems. Perhaps it is the encounter of all of the different animals that help Alice grow into a more self-assured person.
Eventually, the reader see’s Alice, the dynamic character, (Russell 43), evolve to “her full size,” (Carroll 87). It is evident she feels grown when she is at the trial and takes a stand to the mean-spirited queen, in what she feels is an unjust situation. She was afraid of the queen when she was “smaller,” it was not until she “grew up,” that she felt she had a say in what she believes is right and wrong.
Works Cited
Russell, David L. Literature for Children: A Short Introduction. Boston: Pearson, 2009. Print.
The Lewis Carroll Society. The Works of Charles Dodgson: Alice, 2010. Web.
Helle-Valle, Anna, and Per-Einar Binder. "In Wonderland: A Phenomenological,
Developmental And Self Psychological Analysis Of A Child’S Playful Encounter With A New Reality."
Nordic Psychology 61.2 (2009): 16-28. PsycARTICLES. Web. 16 Sept. 2013.
Caroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland. The Millennium Fulcrum Edition 3.0,
2013. Kindle.
Professor Selina Youngren
English 353
15 September 2013
Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland: Research
Lewis Carroll’s, Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland is a wonderful children’s story written in 1864. The inspiration behind Carroll’s adventurous story was a young girl named Alice and her sisters, (The Lewis Carroll Society). It is filled with exciting and strange adventures with talking animals and life-like playing cards. These absurdities are part of Alice’s adventures during her not so life-like dream. This fantasy story would entice any curious reader, to take a mental step out of their reasonable boring world and into pure nonsense fun. Carroll’s piece of work was considered the first important story that broke away from didacticism, (Russell 14). The absurd story seems to make fun of morality and conformity, something rarely encouraged in the 19th century or centuries past.
In this fascinating tale, Alice finds herself struggling with boredom as she is sitting under a tree with her sister; out of the blue she sees a talking rabbit. She decides to chase the rabbit down the questionable rabbit’s hole (symbolic for change) and into the unknown, (Carroll 2). Alice is in that awkward transition period when she is no longer a child and not yet an adult. It is a difficult time in an adolescent’s life. The author seems to convey this strange period in this fanciful story. When one is changing from childhood to adulthood, there are periods of doubt and also times of triumph. Those lessons one must learn in order to mold and establish their identity as an autonomous adult. Alice seems to acknowledge this when she explains to herself that it would be good to never become an old lady but if she stayed young, then she would always have lessons to learn, (Carroll 20).
The caterpillar in the story seems to be symbolic of the transitioning period in a young persons life. The symbolism for change can be seen in a caterpillar because they eventually transition into a chrysalis and then into a butterfly. Unlike the caterpillar, Alice is very confused with her changing, the caterpillar irritates Alice with the question, “Who are you?” (Carroll 26). She answers with an unsure, “I—I hardly know, sir, just at present—at least I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then,” (Carroll 27). Although the caterpillar will eventually evolve to a butterfly, he is unable to relate to Alice’s confusion in the natural order of life. The caterpillar and Alice’s interaction can be further explained by authors Helle-Valle and Binder, “In the passage above, Alice seems to be trying to underline the twinship-pole of their selves; she might be trying to find likeness and consolation in the Caterpillars future metamorphosis. The Caterpillar, ironically does not empathize with Alice’s discomfort of change, seemingly pushing her further away.” Alice walks away annoyed by the lack of empathy shown to her. Then she comes across the sorrowful Mock Turtle, it seems when he deals with life’s changes in a defeating way, Alice, in turn feels a lack of empathy for his problems. Perhaps it is the encounter of all of the different animals that help Alice grow into a more self-assured person.
Eventually, the reader see’s Alice, the dynamic character, (Russell 43), evolve to “her full size,” (Carroll 87). It is evident she feels grown when she is at the trial and takes a stand to the mean-spirited queen, in what she feels is an unjust situation. She was afraid of the queen when she was “smaller,” it was not until she “grew up,” that she felt she had a say in what she believes is right and wrong.
Works Cited
Russell, David L. Literature for Children: A Short Introduction. Boston: Pearson, 2009. Print.
The Lewis Carroll Society. The Works of Charles Dodgson: Alice, 2010. Web.
Helle-Valle, Anna, and Per-Einar Binder. "In Wonderland: A Phenomenological,
Developmental And Self Psychological Analysis Of A Child’S Playful Encounter With A New Reality."
Nordic Psychology 61.2 (2009): 16-28. PsycARTICLES. Web. 16 Sept. 2013.
Caroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland. The Millennium Fulcrum Edition 3.0,
2013. Kindle.