A Comprehensive Analysis of "Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland"

Introduction

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or simply Alice in Wonderland is considered a classical novel for children but it is not limited to merely that. Lewis Carroll, the author of the literature, portrayed the main protagonist Alice as a young naïve girl full of imagination. She can be thoughtless sometimes but she never loses her honesty, curiosity, and can be seen to value knowledge. He had written the world of Wonderland in the way Alice sees it, in the eyes of a child. The way how the places were described painted an unusual image in the minds of the reader as it was very uncommon for an ordinary person to encounter such places. An example would be the room of varying-sized doors and a lengthy rabbit hole that can make one feel as if they are falling from one side of the earth to the other. The book contains sketches that can aid the reader to picture the scene yet leave enough room for the imagination to fill in the missing gaps. It doesn't fully detach itself from reality either but rather portrays reality from a different perspective. Taking one thing to another and creating something else 'The rattling teacups would change to tinkling sheep-bells. The Queen's shrill cries to the voice of the shepherd boy and the sneeze of the baby, the shriek of the Gryphon, and all the other queer noises would change to the confused clamor of the busy farmyard while the cattle in the distance would take the place of the Mock Turtle's heavy sobs' (Carroll 191-192) The passage revealed the truth of the source of what Alice's Wonderland consist of, as narrated by her older sister. She, herself, can almost see what Alice was dreaming about but was saddened by the fact that it was just temporary as she knew her sister had to grow up eventually and forget Wonderland. It can apply to other people who grew up too quickly and forgotten the colorful views of life. The story of Wonderland stimulates the mind on how everything can be seen. It makes you want to search for a reason why something exists but the book will explicitly state that it exists because it does, nothing more and nothing less. 'What a funny watch!' (Caroll 99) and 'It states the day of the month, and doesn't tell what o'clock it is!' (Carroll 100) When Alice spotted Mad Hatter's watch, she said those words, but he was unconcerned and remarked that it was no different from any other watch. That alone can tickle one's logical reasoning. The thought of it is absurd at the same time it had a point that it can still tell time per se being able to know the date. It is very intriguing that something pointless to a normal person, in this case, Alice, can trigger an idea or a thought.

Analysis of Alice in Wonderland

Symbolism

Alice's adventure in Wonderland contained a lot of symbolism if one looks past the childish image it shows. Reading through the passages Alice's adventure was only a dream but it can also be her escape. She's a young schoolgirl with lessons and tutors as was mentioned in the book. She memorizes declarations of stories and poems but in Wonderland she could not remember these declarations correctly, parts were replaced with words that render the poems to be absolute nonsense. Wonderland provided her with a place where almost everything is topsy-turvy. It can be her haven where only fun and never-ending wonders were present but still feeds her imagination and curiosity. She never lets go of her wits but applies them to something she enjoys and Wonderland has provided that for her. Alice falling down the rabbit hole could mean a transition to growing up or preparing for a new beginning, opening oneself to new ideas, a wish to find some secrets, and getting new knowledge. The White Rabbit is the representation of time, since the beginning, he kept stating that he was going to be late for something and kept his focus on his pocket watch. He was always mindful of the time wherever he went until he finally arrived at the castle. This can be similar to one's own life, showing us how life can be short and that if it is not being lived to the fullest, they will feel as if they are late. They try to catch up to their goals and destination before their time is up just as the White Rabbit was frantically running to his destination. The Chesire Cat is a representation of her reasoning persona or guidance because he's the only one who can answer Alice's questions without leaving her with more questions. He guides her to new territories and converses with her with matters she finds odd. The way he can disappear can mean that there are times where reasoning is not present and everything is left to fate as a happy-go-lucky person would do. The Mad Hatter symbolizes the unpleasant sides of life because unlike the movie the Mad Hatter in the book can be rude, reckless, and overall mad thus the phrase 'Mad as a Hatter'. Reading through his statement at Queen's trial he cannot keep a straight conversation even when his life was at stake. The March Hare is similar to the Mad hatter but the March Hare was more energetic and hyper. He was closer to the term madness where the Mad Hatter, even though unpleasant, was still sensible to some extent. The Dormouse represents a deeper meaning which is old age although he wasn't old, he showed signs of someone in their late years, one of which is dementia. He can't remember what he was about to say and would fall asleep in the middle of his sentences. He would rely on the Mad Hatter and the March Hare to wake him up or remind him of the event occurring around him. The Duchess symbolizes flexibility and adaptability on how one can change from one environment to another depending on the situation. When Alice first met her, she was crude and mean especially to her child that she was constantly spanking and throwing but when she was invited to play croquet with the Queen of Hearts and Alice had seen her again in the garden her demeanor changed to someone sociable, friendly, and nice. The Caterpillar represents her uncertainty as whenever he asks Alice a question, she can't seem to find the right answer or give a proper explanation even after explaining why she couldn't, Caterpillar was still not satisfied and kept asking her 'Who are you?' (Caroll 60) leaving Alice baffled and confused. There is Mock Turtle who represents sadness, he was to tell Alice a story by the Queen's orders but the way he told his story had a saddened tone. His history was told jointly with his sighs and sobs. When the Gryphon asked him to sing a song at Alice's request, he sang with sadness that can be heard in his voice. Perhaps the sadness that he felt was because of his name and the word 'Mock' which is a definition of being an imitation, he cries every day for the fact that he knows he will never be a real turtle like he wanted to be. Lastly, the Queen of Hearts represents power and monarchy. Her word is similar to the law in Wonderland. Her famous line 'Off with his head' (Caroll 107) is very popular throughout history. All the beings she had proclaimed sentence to will go to a trial that the King oversees. There is a King of Hearts although he acts like a support to the Queen who was more powerful. They were all portrayed to be a deck of cards but it can be similar to the pieces of chess where the Queen is the most powerful piece. She's similar to a hurricane where both are destructive and the difference is that unlike the Queen of Hearts, the hurricane doesn't mean to be. There are more symbolisms to be found within Alice's adventure in Wonderland nevertheless it solely depends on the reader what these symbols mean and what they can represent.

A psychological perspective

Alice's adventure in Wonderland is a tale told through time. It was made in the 1800s and despite its age, it had made its way to our modern era where various adaptations had already risen to retell that tale without ever losing its sole wonder and magic, entertaining both new and old audiences. It will continue to retell the story of Alice repeatedly over the years as long as literature remains relevant and it will always be. This literary work can be classified as literature of power for the fact that it meets the needed requirements of the definition that Goethe had described. The story moved a lot of people throughout its time although some does not like the story and even go as far as banning it at one of China's provinces for the reason of anthropomorphizing the characters, that was an insult to their culture regardless Alice remained familiar in the minds of the readers in all parts of the word touching children's and adult's mind alike. It encourages people to think outside the box giving new insight into familiar situations. It tries to bring them back to the starting point where most people who are already farther in life tend to forget. Alice's adventure in Wonderland does not teach someone directly as the literary of knowledge was described. It was not the purpose of the book from the very beginning. It was to amuse the reader making them feel something beyond the common comprehension. The logical reasoning that followed afterward was the analytical interpretation of the readers themselves proving that once they felt something from the story, they try to find its meaning amidst all the nonsense that it shows on the shallow surface.

What caught my attention the most was to view Alice's adventure in Wonderland from a psychological perspective, taking into account the word 'mad' can make you think if Alice was a little insane or above ordinary but, in any case, she is a special girl. Wonderland, as stated before, acts as her haven. It gave her everything she wanted and peace of mind in the middle of chaos. It acts as her escape yet there is a thin line between reality and fantasy and there may come a time where she cannot differentiate the two. It could lead to her having delusions. It leaves one to wonder that if Wonderland is indeed her haven and it was destroyed would that result in the destruction of her mind? Wonderland is the presentation of Alice; it was born out of her imagination therefore wouldn't one wonder what would happen if either one would crumble or get corrupted. If Alice forgets, Wonderland will go into ruins. It's as if her sanity is connected to the place she had created. Not only that but the addiction of the Mad Hatter, March Hare, and Dormouse to tea can be similar to the unwavering commitment to something unhealthy. They disregard anything around them to indulge in what makes them happy paying little to no attention to whatever does not concern any of them. There was no sense of control in their environment. Their only priority was to continue in their tea party day in and day out without regard for time. If they feel the cups are dirty or if the food was scarce, they will simply move a chair. This can sound ridiculous as it was told in a fictional story but there are people in our modern society that is the same as them. Some are getting the help that they need while others drown in their addiction. The Caterpillar can be depicted as someone stubborn and uncertain, this can be Alice as well however the Caterpillar representing this is much more fitting. He gives Alice questions she had difficulty answering. He kept on pursuing the same questions with her but resulted in nothing causing her to lose her temper. At the end of their conversation, he left her with the mushroom that could help her control her size for the time being therefore even if their conversation led to nothing, he still helped Alice before leaving her by herself. The Queen is a monster deep within oneself that dictates their life for them. She acts as the voice that whispers one's desires and tries to manipulate them to her amusement. But at the end of the day, Wonderland never existed that is the reality and was stated even to be a dream of Alice but she truly believes in it as if she lived every moment of it. However, Lewis Carroll confirmed that Alice in the book was inspired by an ordinary girl named Alice Liddell who he took a photograph of. He also stated that Alice was written as a nonsense book for children but some people use it as a treasure trove of psychoanalytic investigation for the fact that it is so nonsensible that it opens itself to mass interpretation about any assumption the reader wants.

Purpose and messages

Like any other story, it has a purpose and ironically the Duchess highlights this by saying to Alice 'Everything's got a moral if only you can find it' (Carroll 131). Every event we have in life, good or bad, small or big, has a moral inherent in it. What we learn from it is based on our viewpoint. Nobody else can point out lessons for another; one can only learn when they recognize it for themselves. They simply have to look at it from a new perspective and think about what they have learned rather than what it's done to them, for better or worse. Even though Alice's adventure in Wonderland was written purely to amuse the readers there are lessons that can be taken from the literature. Alice can serve as an inspiration as being a smart and imaginative girl for her age. Her journey proved that not everything logical can be classified as reasonable. She met various characters who gave her a logical explanation of the events yet their conclusion wasn't at all reasonable as to why. She indulges in Wonderland's quirkiness until the last chapter where she started to grow back to her normal size. She realizes that all this was just utter nonsense and had enough of it even stating to the whole castle and residence that 'You're nothing but a pack of cards' (Carroll 187) confronting the Queen of Hearts. She also teaches the audience to not get stuck in the memories of the past when she first stated to the Caterpillar 'It's no use going back to yesterday, I was a different person then' (Caroll 155) showing how much she had gone through after falling down the rabbit hole and how she was able to adapt to the new world she was in showing personal growth of how she was compared to the past. Next, the age-old saying of 'curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back' can be explicitly shown. Alice followed the White Rabbit to quench her curiosity and on multiple occasions in varying events. The new experiences she had gained can help her throughout her life and prove that although satisfying one's curiosity may be difficult it can also be rewarding. Lastly, Unity in diversity is a phrase that can be applied to this literature as well. No one in Wonderland is the same as the other, even the deck of playing card have different shapes and numbers on their bodies, the characters are all unique and random, contrasting each other in more ways than one yet they all get along cohabitating in one world. 'If everybody minded their own business; the world would go round a deal faster than it does' (Carroll 84) They all respect or at the very least give each other room for their agenda and activities, not causing one or the other any mischief.

Conclusion

Lewis Carroll had applaudingly written a children's book that paints reality in the imagination of the readers very uniquely. It was filled with extravagant and whimsical passages while keeping some sort of reasoning behind its poems and short stories. The Chesire Cat stated, 'I'm not crazy. My reality is just different than yours' which is true. 'We're all mad here.' (Carroll 90) It was one of the lines that piqued readers' interest. It's a strange way of saying that everyone is unique here in Wonderland and that is parallel to the world we live in now. Similar to what the Chesire cat was saying but used from a different angle. We all see the world differently from one another what may be normal to someone may not be normal for another person. It shows how diverse we all are and yet somehow can be similar. It makes one wonder if this was Lewis Carroll's true intention, to not only make the reader know the adventures of Alice but also make them experience a little of her curiosity and endeavors which each passing page. It makes you invest in each character to learn more about them and could even relate to them in some cases not just to Alice since each one of them including the side characters was unique in their own way. It narrates how in the eyes of someone with an open mind, possibilities are endless. It does not necessarily limit itself to any age because, in the end, even Alice's older sister could dream of Wonderland claiming she can almost see what Alice had told her about her dreams. The conclusion that can be seen at the end would be growth and life. People grow and that is not something one can prevent, they can only control what they do and how they will act. Don't limit yourself and be reminded they can be different than what they were yesterday for better or worse is up to them. However, restating the fact that on the surface it is still a book of nonsense with odd places and strange personalities but it can be beyond what even the author expected it to become depending on the reader's perspective. No one ever reads the same book as we each have our own minds. Similar to the residence of Wonderland we are all mad, unique, we see things differently than others. 'Besides she's she, and I'm I.' (Caroll)

Works Cited

• Carroll, Lewis. “Alice’s adventure in Wonderland” Macmillan, 1865.