Why Not?

First of all, what is the definition of strange?

To many, it is something that is rather out of place and doesn’t seem to belong. This can pertain to Alice in many ways. When Alice is first arriving in this strange place, she is the one that doesn’t seem to fit in. All of the characters that Alice encounters perceive her to be the one that doesn’t blend in with their surroundings. For instance, when Alice meets the characters at the tea party, (The Mad Hatter, The March Hare, and The Mouse) they carry on a conversation that would seem ridiculous for a normal person like Alice to comprehend. However, to them, Alice is the one that doesn’t understand what is going on. Throughout the story, Alice is constantly coming across situations that would only be appropriate for a dream.

It depends on the circumstances on what is normal and what is not. In Alice’s dream, talking animals, disappearing cats, and talking playing cards are not considered out of the ordinary. Sometimes, in real life, things that appear to be strange do have a place in reality. If the situation calls for it, we can also change our ways to fit the circumstances. If we don’t know how to fit into our environment, we would appear strange, just like Alice. It would be nice to be like Alice. Somehow, even though she is the odd character, those around her accept that she is strange. Even though they realize this, they somehow go on with their lives and get to know her better. Alice is just like everybody else on this planet. Every single person on this earth wants to be able to fit and blend in with everybody else.

What is it about Alice that makes her so likeable?

Throughout the novel we are constantly seeing different variations of the same Alice but always in a favorable light. She never seems afraid to try a new experience although at times she may appear hesitant. It may be that we all wish we could be like Alice, brave and seeking adventures, chasing our own “white rabbits” without fearing we will loose ourselves. Even if, as the end of the story shows us that it was all a dream, don’t we wish we could have such interesting dreams ourselves. In our dreams, we too can be free from the inhibitions that can tie us down in our “real” lives.

It would be great if we could change ourselves to fit in with any situation like Alice did once she finds out the the mushrooms can change her size at will. She manipulates herself as the occasion warrants. Most of her adventure in Wonderland is a sort of a joyride. She is constantly getting herself into trouble, whether she meant to or not. However, while she is going through all of this, she is continuing to mature. At the beginning of the story, she has no idea what is going on, and is lost in this strange world. However, towards the end of the story, she has not fully matured, but has matured enough.

This post is in response to Erin M.’s post, “Hidden Meaning Is Not Required”.

I pose the premise that perhaps the opposite is the purpose of Carroll’s novel….hidden meanings are indeed required.  It is possible that Carroll used the idea of using a nonsensical “children’s” book to write a commentary on the social issues of his times.  The annotated discussions are basically a guide to let us, the reader, become aware of what political and moral issues were present in Carroll’s lifetime.  By using these comments, we may then be able to make some sense out of the often “nonsense” found in his writing. They give us a clearer picture into the era from which the story draws its background.  I feel safe in assuming that the people who are giving their opinion have studied Carroll’s life and other works of literature and can therefore make the assumptions into what Carroll may have been implying.  While we may indeed not know with absolute certainty the true reason behind his characterizations I can only guess that in writing as he did he may have been safe from political reprisals.

It is not uncommon for a writer to be ostracized by the world at large for writing literature that represents society’s status quo in an unfavorable light.  I pose the theory that Carroll stated that Alice was written for children in an attempt to divert attention to his real reasoning.  What better method of criticizing not only the common people in society but reaching up to the highest levels, the monarchy. It is much easier to make comparisons by using symbolism and leaving it up to the reader to decipher what each one represents.  By making a children’s book, initially there may not be much thought given to looking past the nonsense for deeper meanings.  It is upon closer scrutiny that one begins to think that perhaps there is more to the story than meets the eye.  So, maybe looking deeper and tearing the story apart is exactly what Carroll intended the reader to do.

I believe that when Carroll first wrote this book, he may not have intended it to be a children’s book. Many of the topics in the book do relate to adult matter in society. Everything seems to be geared in the direction of a fairy tale, but with hidden undertones. The White Rabbit encounter could really represent how adults have to rush through their lives to reach their goals. They have to work, they have to take care of business, and they are always late. There is so much to do, and so little time to do it that their lives become very stressful. The White Rabbit represents that stress. The caterpillar represents perhaps individuals in society who are more dependent on society taking care of them. They choose not to accept the responsibilities that society puts on them. These individuals want to be like Peter Pan. They never want to grow up because growing up means having more weight on their shoulders.

Children in general are oblivious in knowing how stressful adult life can be. When they are young, they believe that their parents will do everything for them, and they won’t have to worry about anything. However, when they start to grow up and mature, they begin to grasp the stress put onto a parent. They also realize all of the challenges that adults face daily. While Carroll uses child-like symbols to represent daily activities, is he really talking about it from the perspective of a child? Is he really using a childhood story to “mock” the daily grind of adult life? I believe that Carroll intended this book to be more of a social commentary, and not a children’s book. By writing it as a children’s book, he could get by with making fun of, perhaps the issues that were present during his lifetime.

In The Annotated Alice, there are many instances where symbolism plays a major part.

For instance, when Alice encounters the King and Queen, the whole kingdom is represented by a deck of cards. Within the deck of cards, you had each of your social classes. The gardeners were the spades, the soldiers were the clubs, the diamonds were the courtiers, and the hearts were the royalty. Perhaps, Carroll assigned each of these different suits of cards to represent the social order of the time period. He was basing it on political system of England at the time, which included a monarchy. He may have exaggerated the fact that the Queen had a strong personality, and she could be influenced by those around her.

It seems rather ironic to me that Carroll uses a deck of cards to represent the society. As you well know, when you build something out of a deck of cards, it has no strong foundations. It could easily be blown away or torn down. Carroll could have been implying that the society of England was crumbling at the time that he wrote his book. Maybe, he saw the society to be weak. Therefore, he based this segment of Alice’s journey on a deck of cards. Even as far as going into the trial of a pawn stealing the tarts, Carroll was perhaps ridiculing the political and legal system of the time.

As the story is coming to a close, Alice finds herself in the Queen’s sort of “courthouse”, and now is in the middle of a jury. Alice also realizes that she is starting to grow large again, which makes her even more concerned. When the White Rabbit calls Alice to the witness stand, Alice becomes even more confused. She was never part of this problem, and wonders why her name was called in the first place. However, she goes up to the stand, and begins to testify. She claims that she never knew anything about this. As the trial goes deeper, she starts arguing with the King and the Queen, and the Queen demands for her to be executed.

At one point in Alice’s journey, she comes across a strange creature known as a Gryphon. The Gryphon brings up an unusual topic of conversation. He tells Alice, “What fun!” This is where the Gryphon is talking half to himself and half to Alice. He is telling her that the “fun” is the Queen. Alice is rather puzzled at this point, wondering why the Queen is the “fun”. As they get deeper into conversation, the Gryphon tells her, “It’s all her fancy, that: they never executes nobody, you know. Come on!”

You may notice that the word “nobody” is in italics. Doesn’t it seem rather confusing that the Gryphon doesn’t just say that they never execute anybody? This is sort of a multiple negative in a way. Some may think that he is supposed to say anybody instead of nobody. I am sort of confused at this myself. It seems rather strange off the Gryphon to point this out. Immediately after the Gryphon says this to Alice, she immediately seems offended. She was thinking that the Gryphon was acting like the boss of her and doesn’t like being ordered around.