Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - Book Report/Review Example

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Alice in Wonderland is a story about a young girl who falls down into a rabbit-hole and finds herself in a world inhabited by odd creatures. In Wonderland, everything that she knows is opposed, thus making her conflicted and frustrated. I chose this story because of the graphic and clear representation of the distinction between humans and animals. In the first chapter, the author introduces the readers to Alice’s most important struggle with total confusion. Half-conscious, she notices a white rabbit scampering toward a rabbit-hole. Without second thoughts, Alice follows the white rabbit into the hole. Alice follows the white rabbit out of curiosity, and simply because the rabbit is acting like a human being—looking at a pocket watch, walking on two legs, and uttering intelligible words. The practicality or realistic views of Alice are always regarded silly and bizarre in Wonderland. For example, as she descends through the rabbit-hole she thinks about what exact position she has fallen into. Hence, in this chapter, reasonable hopes have thrown Alice to an irrational and whimsical place. There only a single confrontation between a human and animal in this chapter, which is between Alice and the White Rabbit. It is an important encounter for it establishes the first major event that will form the foundation of Alice’s experiences and life in Wonderland. There is an element of detachment in this encounter because it seems that Alice is the only one who is aware of the White Rabbit, while the White Rabbit continuously ignores the presence of Alice. Nevertheless, this is a vital encounter. In the second chapter, Alice sees herself stuck in the lengthy corridor, and the White Rabbit emerges and walks into a low, winding pathway filled with sealed doors. Alice recalls that there is the “loveliest garden you ever saw” (Carroll 12) behind a special entrance. For the moment, the quick, random nature of the emotional and physical turmoil Alice is experiencing has formed a hazardous pool of tears that nearly drowns her when she becomes small again. At the end of this chapter, Alice is bathing frantically in a puddle of her tears, together with a mouse and other babbling animals that have all of a sudden, in some way, emerged. This chapter shows a one-sided relationship between Alice and the animals, especially the White Rabbit. The animal-like creatures serve as Alice’s beacon in a world that is all but unknown to her. They guide her through the labyrinthine pathways and strange surroundings. Still, the relationship between Alice and the animals is guided by unfamiliarity and oddity. In the third chapter, the mouse proposes to remove wetness from the other animals and Alice by recounting a ‘very dry’ historical background of England. Certainly, a great deal of the comedy in this chapter is rooted in Alice’s response to the breakdown of three aspects: anticipated growth, an identity that stays the same, and a complete ‘otherness’ between humans and animals. In Wonderland, the former identity of Alice and the core notion of a fixed identity have repetitively been ruined. Here, the relationship between Alice and the creatures is dominated by confusion and misunderstanding. Alice hears the tragic story of the mouse, but the organized, weird creatures cannot understand normal language, and hence Alice goes through, once more, total confusion; this is a tragedy in semantics and language. The encounter between Alice and the creatures widens the gap between human identity and animal identity. The mix-up of identity keeps on in the fourth chapter. The White Rabbit maintains that Alice should bring to him his fan and gloves. In some way, he believes that Alice is inferior to him and hence must serve him, and Alice, instead of protesting to his bafflement, submissively agrees to her new obligation. Here, when all has failed, she becomes more and more depressed and overwhelmed. The constant changes in her size illustrate her baffled, immediate identity crisis. The relationship between Alice and the animals here, especially the White Rabbit and his manservant, Bill the lizard, is hostile. The White Rabbit sees her as a servant and an inferior being, signaling an inherent conflict and tension between the two distinct beings. Bill the lizard tries to throw Alice out and hurls pebbles at her. The human-animal relationship at this point is discouraging. In the fifth chapter, Alice stumbles upon an impolite Caterpillar; arrogantly and assertively, he says that she should control her anger, which is much more baffling to her because she is somewhat annoyed for she cannot understand the eccentric Wonderland. In this strange world, there are apparently no traditional rules of good behavior. Hence, the effort of Alice at courtesy and etiquette remains a failed effort of hers to respond to quite odd behavioral patterns. The human-animal relationship here is still negative. It shows how different humans are from animals in terms of behavior. The rudeness and impoliteness of the Caterpillar simply demonstrate that these animals do not follow a conventional rule of good behavior or etiquette; that these animals only act on impulse. Alice’s feeling of alienation clearly stems from this very distinction between humans and animals. In the sixth chapter, Alice encounters the moody Duchess, an infant that gradually transforms into a pig, the well-known, smirking Cheshire-Cat, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and the always drowsy Dormouse. The foul temper of the Caterpillar, although he does appear relaxed and indifferent, is an indirect sign of all the language confusion in Wonderland. However, in this chapter, that language gibberish is taken over by haphazard, intense, physical chaos in the tale’s act. At the end of this chapter, Alice eats a mushroom that made her taller; being tall increases her self-confidence. In this chapter, the animals’ submission to chaos may appear to be a satire or mockery to the human audience. But the disorder of the Wonderland is not totally untrue. The reality of the human world is temporary and never in the absence of some form of uncertainty. Alice has a firm sense of being estranged and left alone; yet the animals know who they are, where they belong, and not one of them relates with their difficulty to cope. All these animals view Alice and her responses ridiculous and foolish. In the seventh chapter, Alice arrives at the home of March Hare just in time for an alfresco tea party. However, Alice soon finds out that the tea part is quite a mad one. Attending the tea party are the Dormouse, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and Alice. The important aspect about this tea party is that it is always six o’clock thus tea is always served. The concept of actual, progressing time is absent. This chapter highlights the linguistic attacks in Wonderland, which Alice always finds herself ensnared into. For the creatures in Wonderland, linguistic rudeness is a vital part of civil mocking. Usually, shocking and linguistic attacks appear almost to break out every time, coming out of the reedy façade of refined behavior, but it seldom does. Here, the distinction between humans and animals is one again emphasized. In the eighth chapter until the twelfth, Alice encounters the most wicked and most illogical creatures in the story. Alice comes across the rulers of Wonderland, who exhibits an abnormally comical impoliteness not equaled by anybody except perhaps by the aged loud Duchess. The garden is occupied by humanlike playing cards, which are governed by the savage Queen of Hearts. The regularity and ferocity of the Queen’s intimidations expose the frightening regime governing Wonderland. Execution is arbitrarily proclaimed, and revoked, capriciously, with unthinking pardons. In opposing the Queen, Alice defies the regime of Wonderland; she is not an estranged participant anymore. The human-animal relationship here is resolved when Alice finally understands the language and symbols used by the creatures around her in Wonderland. She begins a positive relationship with them for they are able to patch up their differences. Both of their worlds collided and become one. Conclusion Throughout the tale, Alice is faced with the difficulty of changing identity, and by being faced with the chaos and violence of Wonderland. One of the main issues of Alice, in relation to the creatures, is growing up and becoming mature, especially the oddities and fears of personal identity. Throughout the story, Alice is ruled by unconscious thoughts and emotions, physical embarrassment, and odd feelings about physical appearances and functions. All over here is the ridiculous, inexplicable concept of death and the complete void and insignificance of life and death, as shown to her by the different animal-like creatures that she encounters in Wonderland. Work Cited Carroll, Lewis. Alice in Wonderland. New York: Lewis Carroll, 2014. Read More