9-20 for 10-1

1.       

“’Be a man!’ said the Bellman in wrath, as he heard

The Butcher beginning to sob.

‘Should we meet with a Jubjub, that desperate bird,

We shall need all our strength for the job!’” (page 406)

This part immediately rang a bell because it drew a connection to the Alice books. The Jubjub bird was first seen in the Jabberwocky poem, and later seen again in the 2010 film adaptation of Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton.

2.       

“Such friends, as the Beaver and Butcher became,

Have seldom if ever been known;

In winter or summer, ‘twas always the same –

You could never meet either alone.” (page 411)

This part felt like a role-reversal of some kind, because we now see a beaver, which is normally at the bottom of the food chain, participating in the hunting of another animal, as if it were a predator. It’s even funnier and stranger given that the Beaver is a victim of the Butcher, since the Butcher hunts beavers. This is a perfect anthropomorphic example, where the Beaver is practically a human character now, like the ape characters in the Planet of the Apes.

3.       

“But while he was seeking with thimbles and care,

A Bandersnatch swiftly drew nigh

And grabbed at the Banker, who shrieked in despair,

For he knew it was useless to fly.” (page 414)

This part did the exact same thing for me as the previous quote did, for it drew a connection to the Alice books. In the second line, Carroll brings up the Bandersnatch once again, which originally appeared in the Jabberwocky poem. The White King then brings up the creature again in Chapter 7 of Through the Looking-Glass, and finally, it makes an appearance in the 2010 Tim Burton film.

4.       

“In the midst of the word he was trying to say,

In the midst of his laughter and glee,

He had softly and suddenly vanished away –

For the Snark was a Boojum, you see.” (page 418)

Is it just me or does this poem not make much sense in its ending? It feels extremely anticlimactic, which is ironically similar to both the Alice books. According to Google’s search results, “snark” means an imaginary animal that is difficult to track down. Then, a “boojum” is defined as an imaginary dangerous animal. So, huh? This feels like one of those x = x moments in Math. In a letter to “The Lowrie Children,” Lewis Carroll himself wrote, concerning the meaning of the Snark, “I’m very much afraid I didn’t mean anything but nonsense!”

9-20 for 9-29

1.       

“The Knight looked surprised at the question. ‘What does it matter where my body happens to be?’ he said. ‘My mind goes on working all the same.’” (AA page 241)

Haha, now I found this quite amusing. I can just imagine a character whose body walks off on its own and his head remains still, continuously talking. Kind of creepy, for sure, but funny in a quirky way too, like in the style of Tim Burton. This scene, though, becomes very important later on in the novel. I will express the significance of the Knight in the next quote.

2.       

“Of all the strange things that Alice saw in her journey Through The Looking-Glass, this was the one that she always remembered most clearly. Years afterward she could bring the whole scene back again, as if it had been yesterday –the mild blue eyes and kindly smile of the Knight –the setting sun gleaming through his hair, and shining on his armour in a blaze of light that quite dazzled her –the horse quietly moving about, with the reins hanging loose on his neck, cropping the grass at her feet –and the black shadows of the forest behind –all this she took in like a picture, as, watching the strange pair, and listening, in a half-dream, to the melancholy music of the song.” (AA page 243-244)

Fun fact: I looked up this quote online and I found that it is the longest sentence in both the Alice books. The strong detail and word choice makes me more curious about Lewis Carroll as a photographer, since that was one of the things we can choose to learn about. The interesting thing about the passage is that even though it is clearly about Alice and her thoughts, the language definitely sounds more like Lewis Carroll and his thoughts instead. I also notice how Alice recalls the White Knight more clearly in her head, probably because the White Knight is the only character who shows compassion and kindness to Alice, unlike… everyone else in the Looking-Glass World.

3.       

“—it really was a kitten, after all.” (AA page 268)

I can’t believe that a novel of this caliber has a chapter that consists of literally one line. I found it cool how the illustrations are parallels of each other, between Chapters 10 and 11. However, it gets me to wonder why the first novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland didn’t do this… I found the abruptly short chapter very effective in showing Alice *wake up*, so maybe both novels should have it?

4.       

“It is a very inconvenient habit of kittens (Alice had once made the remark) that, whatever you say to them, they always purr. ‘If they would only purr for ‘yes,’ and mew for ‘no,’ or any rule of that sort,’ she had said, ‘so that one could keep up a conversation! But how can you talk with a person if they always say the same thing?’” (AA page 269)

I found this humorous and surprisingly layered, because the scene suggests something a bit more than just what is literally going on. In a literal sense, the passage is talking about how it is difficult, no, impossible to talk to an animal because that animal is just going to make the same sound over and over. However, I somehow saw this as a parallel to any character who just talks in his/her language, regardless of who the other person is. I think this passage says something about communication in general, how communication is never one-sided but rather a shared exchange between two parties.

5.       

“Life, what is it but a dream?” (AA page 273)

The very ending of Through the Looking-Glass is a poem, with the above quote being the last line of the poem. This line reminds me of a scene earlier in the novel, involving the Red King’s dream and Alice’s concerns about her own existence. As we can guess from the words “life” and “dream,” the line makes us wonder if life is more than just a dream, since all we can say about our lives is that they’re made of memories and other elements that can be deemed meaningless by other people. The parallel imagery of the Looking-Glass world and the real world (ex. The room arrangement) suggests more thought-provoking ideas. Actually, this is very similar to one of my favorite movies of all time: Pan’s Labyrinth. In that film, there is an uncertainty as to whether or not the fantasy elements are real. Throughout the film, the images in the real world are very similar to the images in the fantasy world, suggesting the same thing that Looking-Glass seems to be suggesting here.

9-20 for 9-24

1.       

“’I like the Walrus best,’ said Alice: ‘because he was a little sorry for the poor oysters.’

‘He ate more than the Carpenter, though,’ said Tweedledee. ‘You see he held his handkerchief in front, so that the Carpenter couldn’t count how many he took: contrariwise.’

‘That was mean!’ Alice said indignantly. ‘Then I like the Carpenter best – if he didn’t eat so many as the Walrus.’

‘But he ate as many as he could get,’ said Tweedledum.

This was a puzzler. After a pause, Alice began, ‘Well! They were both very unpleasant characters –“ (AA page 187-188)

I love this exchange in Chapter 4, right after Tweedledee and Tweedledum tell the story of the Walrus and the Carpenter to Alice. The first time I heard this was in the 1951 Disney movie, except Alice did not react the same way afterwards. All she said was “That was a very sad story.” I definitely like this short bit of dialogue in the novel more, because there is an interesting interpretation to make of characters. Here, Alice believes that there must be some way to have one character be seen as innocent while the other is viewed guilty (just like how children would normally think), while Tweedledee and Tweedledum remind her that both characters are guilty because they assist each other in the murder of the Oysters. Therefore, to fit Alice’s frustrated conclusion, they are “both unpleasant.”

Original 1951 Oyster scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00WCEbKM_SE

2.       

“’He’s dreaming now,’ said Tweedledee: ‘and what do you think he’s dreaming about?’

Alice said ‘Nobody can guess that.’

‘Why, about you!’ Tweedledee exclaimed, clapping his hands triumphantly. ‘And if he left off dreaming about you, where do you suppose you’d be?’

‘Where I am now, of course,’ said Alice.

‘Not you!’ Tweedledee retorted contemptuously. ‘You’d be nowhere. Why, you’re only a sort of thing in his dream!’

‘If that there King was to wake,’ added Tweedledum, ‘you’d go out – bang! – just like a candle!’” (AA page 189)

Since the beginning of her adventures in this Looking-Glass World, Alice that that the world is something that she owns and has control over, all in her head. But now, through this exchange with Tweedledee and Tweedledum, she is faced with the possibility that she is in someone else’s fantasy. This is actually quite a mind-boggling trip because it suggests a possibility that Alice is a figment of the Red King’s dream, and that shakes up her already-slippery grip on reality. This part is definitely an eye-opener for me, because it is relatable to those “Top 10 Questions that Make You Rethink Your World” questions. What if nothing exists in this world, but is instead a piece of a divine almighty imagination? Then there’s the fact that every resident in the Looking-Glass World must follow the rules of the chess game through their actions, suggesting that they aren’t really people with free will in this world. This part of the novel screams existentialism.

3.       

“’You couldn’t have it if you did want it,’ the Queen said. ‘The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday – but never jam to-day.’

‘It must come sometimes to ‘jam to-day,’’ Alice objected.

‘No, it can’t,’ said the Queen. ‘It’s jam every other day: today isn’t any other day, you know.’” (AA page 196)

This moment in Chapter 5 got me to stop and think about exactly what the characters are thinking, along with their philosophical beliefs. After spending a few minutes, I came to the conclusion that the Queen’s words actually make sense. It will always be today, and so if something only happened yesterday or will happen tomorrow, then in a way, the thing never happens. It’s kind of ridiculous nonetheless given that the next day will be known as today soon. I would call this subject the kind where one can lose his mind for thinking about it too long, especially because the subject isn’t even that thought-provoking to think that much about anyways.

4.       

“’I can’t believe that!’ said Alice.

‘Can’t you?’ the Queen said in a pitying tone. ‘Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes.’

Alice laughed. ‘There’s no use trying,’ she said: ‘one can’t believe impossible things.’

‘I daresay you haven’t had much practice,’ said the Queen. ‘When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.’” (AA page 199)

This part mainly appeals to me because I can finally connect all the dots. I first heard the “six impossible things before breakfast” from the 2010 film adaptation, and at that time, I already felt that this exercise sounds mad. But the real takeaway from the idea is that imagination is viewed as a skill that can be improved over time by practicing, just like writing. This quote from Chapter 5 stands out to me because even though this is the first time I’ve read the novel, it provokes me the same exact way the line did in the film.

Alice names all 6 in the 2010 film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ0Ngpax7gw

5.       

“’When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.’

‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’

‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master – that’s all.’” (AA page 213)

I found this quote to be really cute, mainly because Humpty Dumpty’s behavior here is very similar to my own when I was a child. Yes, I was a dummy back then. In this scene, Humpty Dumpty believes that he has complete control over words, how to use them, and what they mean. However, as Alice puts it, this brings about a problem: If you make words mean anything you want, then practically nobody will understand you. The key to any successful communication is to have both parties agree on shared definitions.

6.       

“’I shouldn’t know you again if we did meet,’ Humpty Dumpty replied in a discontented tone, giving her one of his fingers to shake: ‘you’re so exactly like other people.’

‘The face is what one goes by, generally,’ Alice remarked in a thoughtful tone.

‘That’s just what I complain of,’ said Humpty Dumpty.

‘Your face is the same as everybody has – the two eyes, so –‘ (marking their places in the air with his thumb) ‘nose in the middle, mouth under. It’s always the same. Now if you had the two eyes on the same side of the nose, for instance – or the mouth at the top – that would be some help.’” (AA page 219)

This quote, like the previous one, was really cute to me, since any regular reader knows that Alice’s facial features are distinctive, like every person’s features are. However, to someone who’s not even human, like Humpty Dumpty, Alice looks exactly like other people, which I find humorous. It reminds me of several stereotypical jokes during high school that involves Chinese people looking the same or Indian people looking the same. Even famous comedian Russell Peters loves to joke how all Indian people look the same. Not only is this quote funny to me, but it is still thought-provoking because it still ties back to themes of identity, because each person’s uniqueness depends on how different each person’s details are.

9-20 for 9-22

1.       

“She had had quite a long argument with her sister only the day before – all because Alice had begun with ‘Let’s pretend we’re kings and queens;’ and her sister, who liked being very exact, had argued that they couldn’t, because there were only two of them, and Alice had been reduced at last to say ‘Well, you can be one of them, then, and I’ll be all the rest.’” (AA page 141)

I have a younger sister 8 years younger than me, and many times my friends or parents would comment on how I still have an ability to imagine stuff like children would. Back then, my mom would jokingly say how one child in the house is 12 (my sister) and how the other one is 13 (me, lol). Because of my brother-sister relationship, I can relate to this following passage concerning Alice and her older sister. Here, clearly, her older sister has moved past the phase of having great imagination, imagining a crowd of people. It definitely gave Alice some trouble in this scene, and it’s quite a familiar setup to have Alice fall into a magical world once again. You know what would be interesting? Imagine a story where the character who falls into a magical world is the older sibling, and the younger sibling is the one who doesn’t believe because he/she expects the older sibling to be grown up by now.

2.       

“’It’s no use talking about it,’ Alice said, looking up at the house and pretending it was arguing with her. ‘I’m not going in again yet. I know I should have to get through the Looking-glass again – back into the old room – and there’d be an end of all my adventures!’

So, resolutely turning her back upon the house, she set out once more down the path, determined to keep straight on till she got to the hill.” (AA page 156-157)

Alice’s behavior here is a bit influential and sympathetic, because I can understand how she’s thinking and where she’s coming from. Being in a magical world for the second time, Alice gets an impression that her time in this world is limited, and thus she wants to make the best of her time to explore. Another quote that highlights this is at a few pages earlier, on page 150. The way Carroll describes Alice floating through the hall, gently down without touching the stairs, shows a lightness and large sense of freedom in Alice. This fuels her enjoyment of this fantasy world. The language and word choice here makes me relate to Alice a lot, mainly because that sense of freedom is an extraordinary feeling, and it’s rare to experience that kind of feeling often. Now, in a world that lets me explore, I would normally be this enthusiastic to “get lost” on purpose, so long as the world I’m in doesn’t look… lurid…

3.       

“’Well, she has the same awkward shape as you,’ the Rose said: ‘but she’s redder – and her petals are shorter, I think.’

‘They’re done up close, like a dahlia,’ said the Tiger-lily: ‘not tumbled about, like yours.’

‘But that’s not your fault,’ the Rose added kindly. ‘You’re beginning to fade, you know – and then one can’t help one’s petals getting a little untidy.’” (AA page 160)

In this scene, the living flowers comment on Alice’s appearance, claiming that she is too old. Based on their words, Carroll suggests that the flowers believe that youth is important for people, and apparently that Alice is already past her prime. This scene, actually, for some reason, reminds me of the flower scene in the original Disney 1951 Alice in Wonderland. That scene however has a different context of why the flowers “look down” on Alice –in the movie, the flowers, after being told by Alice that she’s not a flower, believe that Alice is a no-good weed, and they kick her out of their garden. Of course, the novel has something of a more layered scene that involves the idea of a foreigner coming in with her own beliefs about manners and how the world works.

The 1951 scene I talked about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9EW674OuqI

4.       

“’—then you don’t like all insects?’ the Gnat went on, as quietly as if nothing had happened.

‘I like them when they can talk,’ Alice said. ‘None of them ever talk, where I come from.’

‘What sort of insects do you rejoice in, where you come from?’ the Gnat inquired.

‘I don’t rejoice in insects at all,’ Alice explained, ‘because I’m rather afraid of them – at least the large kinds. But I can tell you the names of some of them.’ (AA page 173)

This all presses the right buttons for me in terms of communication and identity. The passage comes from a thought-provoking conversation between Alice and the Gnat. The specific quote I chose, though, is more of an introduction to the main theme I want to talk about. Here, the Gnat asks Alice about insects and whether or not she likes them and are familiar with them talking. Of course, the interesting thing here is that Alice can’t help but constantly compare things she’s experiencing in the Looking-Glass World with things in her own real world. Afterwards, the two being discussing about the purpose of names of animals and of objects. The Gnat doesn’t understand the purpose of naming insects if they can’t respond when being called on. In response, Alice explains that names are a tool for communicating individuals to label and classify something. This then leads me to my next quote…

5.       

“So they walked on together through the wood, Alice with her arms clasped lovingly round the soft neck of the Fawn, till they came out into another open field, and here the Fawn gave a sudden bound into the air, and shook itself free from Alice’s arm. ‘I’m a Fawn!’ it cried out in a voice of delight. ‘And, dear me! You’re a human child!’ A sudden look of alarm came into its beautiful brown eyes, and in another moment it had darted away at full speed.

Alice stood looking after it, almost ready to cry with vexation at having lost her dear little fellow-traveler so soddenly. ‘However, I know my name now,’ she said: ‘that’s some comfort. Alice – Alice – I won’t forget it again.’” (AA page 177-178)

This is the scene that follows after Alice’s experience with the Gnat. Here, she interacts with the Fawn, and the interaction starts off friendly, that is, until the Fawn learns that he is a Fawn and that Alice is a human being. In shock, the Fawn darts off, leaving a poor upset Alice alone by herself in the woods. This moment helps Alice learn that names don’t just label. They also reveal how things work in the world in relation to their surroundings. The Fawn, upon remembering that humans are a natural threat to them, bolts away from this simple realization. The “name” triggers the action.

6.       

“A curious idea came into Alice’s head. Almost every one she had met had repeated poetry to her, and she thought she would try if the Wasp couldn’t do it too.

‘Would you mind saying it in rhyme?’ she asked very politely.” (AA page 296)

This quote stood out to me because I figured that Alice by now is driven nuts by all the characters who recite their experiences or their stories through poetry. I was a bit surprised, I guess, to see Alice recommending the Wasp to speak in rhyme. Maybe it is the repetitive nature of this segment that caused the episode to not end up in the novel at the end? That is definitely a question I asked while reading the entire interaction between Alice and the Wasp: Should this episode be placed back in the novel? In my personal opinion, I wouldn’t mind if it was, but I can understand the thought of this episode making little merit as a whole, mainly because there are a lot of things that happen in this episode that have been done before somewhere else, from the Wasp commenting on the closeness of Alice’s eyes to Alice attempting to “fix” the Wasp’s character. Other characters like the Gnat, the Frog, Humpty Dumpty, and the White Queen all come to mind before I think of the Wasp.

A letter from Tenniel to Carroll, concerning the Wasp chapter:

9-13 for 9-17

1.       

“’I can’t help it,’ said Alice very meekly: ‘I’m growing.’

‘You’ve no right to grow here,’ said the Dormouse.

‘Don’t talk nonsense,’ said Alice more boldly: ‘you know you’re growing too.’

‘Yes, but I grow at a reasonable pace,’ said the Dormouse: ‘not in that ridiculous fashion.’” (AA page 114)

There are two riveting things about this quote. The first is that this quote demonstrates Alice’s ever-growing confidence in herself, which shows her growth since her first appearance in Wonderland. This quote is getting close to when Alice regains control of Wonderland, and by now, we have seen her become a stronger figure who is ready to return to the real world. The second intriguing aspect of this quote is not just the relationship between Alice and the Dormouse, but the fact that the Dormouse has a standard of what’s a good pace to grow. This sounds familiar to real life, when parents or friends expect us to grow at a certain pace. Parents, I suppose, want their children to grow up faster than the children do. Peers, on the other hand, can run into situations where their friends are moving on without them and are at a much higher, mature place in society. To some, that pace can seem “ridiculous.”

2.       

“’Who cares for you?’ said Alice (she had grown to her full size by this time). ‘You’re nothing but a pack of cards!’

At this the whole pack rose up into the air, and came flying down upon her; she gave a little scream, half of fright and half of anger, and tried to beat them off, and found herself lying on the bank, with her head in the lap of her sister […]” (AA page 124)

Note that Alice reaches full height as she is having the heated conversation with the Queen, pointing out that her henchmen are “nothing but a pack of cards.” This is where Alice regains full control of Wonderland, exposing the mad world as an illusion. Once she has control over the world, as opposed to be consumed and lost in the world before, Alice realizes that Wonderland is all a dream, and she wakes up back to her real world. This is all part of Alice’s epiphany that there really is no point to comprehend anything in Wonderland. What’s interesting, though, is that through the history of this novel, there have been students and literary critics who interpret certain visuals in Wonderland as symbols. What if none of those interpretations make sense because it is futile to understand everything in the novel? All of sudden, this novel has become very meta…

3.       

“Lastly, she pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman; and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood; and how she would gather about her other little children, and make their eyes bright and eager with many a strange tale, perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long ago; and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering her own child-life, and the happy summer days.” (AA page 126-127)

This passage, being the final passage of the novel, gives a strong tonal shift from the rest of the novel. There is a nostalgic peaceful feeling throughout this passage, which is a strong contrast to the nightmarish atmosphere in Wonderland. Alice then goes on to imagine herself growing up and telling these fascinating stories to children who live simple lives. In addition to the nostalgic tone, there is a hint of melancholy, mainly because there is a longing for the “happy summer days” and an awareness that these days don’t last forever, just like Alice’s dream. This goes back to Bump’s comments about having a childhood and forgetting it when one reaches adulthood. All that’s left for many are the memories of a childhood.

4.       

“pegájiles” (x 292)

The Spanish translation of Jabberwocky had many interesting word choices –one of them is “pegájiles” as the translation for the word “slithy.” The word contains the prefix “pega,” which means glue, thus giving the reader a sense of stickiness or slime; it is a perfect clever choice to translate a portmanteau word.

5.       

“Er an-zu-denken-fing.” (x 294)

This German phrase in the German translation of Jabberwocky doesn’t correspond to anything in the original English print. Instead, this line appears to be a reversal of words, similar to the previous English line: “So rested he by the Tumtum tree.” Like how the Spanish translation offers a playful translation of the word “slithy,” the German translation re-orders its words to give a similar playful effect to the reader.

6.       

“The act of ‘translation’ allows this author to truly re-write a text, and to bring his own set of belief systems and rhetorical situation into the subject. Some might consider this interpretational re-writing of a text to be blasphemy in the case of Carroll because ‘Our immediate reaction when we encounter difference is to refuse that difference.’” (x 596)

This quote speaks to me tremendously because people criticize the everlasting hell out of film adaptations because they don’t seem to follow the original novels. What did you expect? The author of the novel was an artist and the director of the film is an artist him/herself. Did you really expect one artist to just completely copy another person’s work? This applies to so many different adaptations or interpretations of one source, whether it is a remake, a spin-off, or even a translation. Just like how the passage states it, audiences tend to “refuse difference” as an “immediate reaction.” I wrote an English paper about this last semester, concerning the film adaptations of 19^th Century Victorian novels. At the end of that paper, I concluded that having different versions of the same work is a phenomenal thing, because it offers different dimensions and perspectives to something we are familiar with. It is that variety that helps an original work age well. Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is the perfect example of this.

9-13 for 9-15

1.       

“Alice began to feel very uneasy: to be sure, she had not as yet had any dispute with the Queen, but she knew that it might happen any minute, ‘and then,’ thought she, ‘what would become of me? They’re dreadfully fond of beheading people here: the great wonder is, that there’s any one left alive!’” (AA page 85)

I found this quote to be rather interesting because it’s not that different from the real world –people are so fond of hurting one another via war, crime, or even just psychological bullying. There is an unavoidable unpleasantness to society, and science has proved that humanity is the source of the planet’s sixth mass extinction. It is amazing how humanity is such a self-destruct species and yet “there’s [someone still] alive.” This is where Lewis Carroll’s mad world blends almost perfectly with the real world.

2.       

“The executioner’s argument was, that you couldn’t cut off a head unless there was a body to cut it off from: that he had never had to do such a thing before, and he wasn’t going to begin at his time of life.

The King’s argument was that anything that had a head could be beheaded, and that you weren’t to talk nonsense.

The Queen’s argument was that, if something wasn’t done about it in less than no time, she’d had everybody executed, all round.” (AA page 88-89)

I laughed out loud when I first read this because of its dark sense of humor. The quote basically says that anything that sounds philosophically reasonable can be immediately shut down by a straightforward tyrant. This reminds me of casual debates I have had with my friends before where one person casually explains why a film/novel is good because of Reason 1 and the other person says Reason 2, and then a third person would just shut down the conversation by saying he/she hated it. Not only do we learn in this quote that the executioner and the King both have an understandable and possibly relatable personality, but we also learn just how ridiculous, one-sided, and bloodthirsty the Queen is. Everything must be done her way.

3.       

“’Tut, tut, child!’ said the Duchess. ‘Every thing’s got a moral, if only you can find it.’” (AA page 91)

This line from the Duchess is in similar lines to how Alice thinks ever since she fell into Wonderland. Alice tries to make sense of her environment, wherever she goes, and this is just like how the Duchess claims that there is a moral in everything. However, the more interesting thing about this quote is what follows afterwards. Alice fails to notice that her behavior in wanting to understand everything is just like the Duchess’ words. This only shows that Alice is not yet “mature” enough to understand herself –she has not yet achieved a sense of self-awareness that she has power over Wonderland.

4.       

“’Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with,’ the Mock Turtle replied; ‘and then the different branches of Arithmetic – Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.’” (AA page 98)

Definitely one of my favorite parts in the entire novel. This quote is a clever parody on real subjects that we learn in school. Reeling is reading, writhing is writing, ambition is addition, distraction is subtraction, uglification is multiplication, and derision is division. But what’s incredibly fascinating about Carroll’s word choices here is that his words are not far off of what students actually experience in school. We definitely learn about ambition because we see our potentials due to good grades or applying to college. Of course, there are a million things that distract us from studying. As for uglification and derision, it is a bitter truth that school is definitely an environment that makes students look down on one another. It’s all part of the competitive stressful world in education.

5.       

“’I could tell you my adventures –beginning from this morning,’ said Alice a little timidly; ‘but it’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.’” (AA page 105)

The past is a story we tell ourselves. Sometimes it is difficult to recall a memory that you’ve had because you now look at the memory differently. That is because you are presently more experienced and wise than you were before when that memory occurred. This is definitely true to Alice, given that she has not only changed metaphorically throughout the novel, but physically as well. Ever since the first chapter, Carroll invites us to relate to Alice as she finds herself feeling upset constantly over being too big or too small or just not the right size. It’s no wonder why when she was asked by the Mock Turtle and the Gryphon to tell her stories, she feels reluctant about sharing.

9/6 Lewis Carroll intro

1.       

“In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.”

(AA page 12)

Yes, this quote is one of the most popular quotes because it describes Alice as she falls down the rabbit-hole. Now, we can all agree that the phrase “falling down the rabbit-hole” is already so popular in pop culture. Novels, songs and even movies have referenced it here and there (The Matrix is a fantastic example). But what many of these pop culture references fail to remember is that in the original novel, Alice herself made the conscious decision of going down the rabbit-hole after the rabbit. In other words, she made a careless act because her curiosity took the best of her. This carelessness is the catalyst for Alice’s experiences, as she learns more about the adult nonsense-based world that she is stuck in, and the first thing that comes her way is the constant change of her shape and size, leading her to question herself.

2.       

“No, I’ve made up my mind about it: If I’m Mabel, I’ll stay down here! It’ll be no use their putting their heads down and saying ‘Come up again, dear!’ I shall only look up and say, ‘Who am I, then? Tell me that first, and then, if I like being that person, I’ll come up: if not, I’ll stay down here till I’m somebody else.’”

(AA page 24)

Wonderland is practically a mirror of Alice’s own imagination, and we can prove that later on with the ending of the novel. But here, since Alice has trouble grasping the sense and logic to Wonderland, she realizes that it is actually her identity in question. Since Wonderland constantly changes and is a place with no rules, Alice speaks the quote above, determined to let herself constantly change until she is finally satisfied with herself and can return to the “real world.” But during this time, Alice produces tons of tears when she was nine feet high, which shows just how easily Wonderland can distract her from her emotional feelings. This entire self-conversation is a conflict among reason, logic, and emotion.

3.       

“During the 17^th and 18^th centuries some historians and lawyers saw William’s reign as imposing a ‘Norman yoke’ on the native Anglo-Saxons, an argument that continued during the 19^th century with further elaborations along nationalistic lines.”

This is a short description of William the Conqueror and his actions during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the time when England was invaded by the French. Take note on the words “imposing a ‘Norman yoke,’ because this will be referred to again in my description of the next quote.

4.       

“I daresay it’s a French mouse, come over with William the Conqueror.”

(AA page 26)

Alice fears the Mouse the same reason why English citizens would fear French citizens. This is because in history, England was invaded by the French, specifically William the Conqueror. The fact that the Mouse angrily responds to Alice when she speaks French to it scares her, even though the literal reason why the Mouse leapt is because it heard the word “cat.” The allusions become clearer when the Mouse starts to impose his history tale/tail onto Alice, while parodying boring scholars who recite English history. This can be viewed as similar to how William imposed his beliefs and philosophies onto his conquered people. In the historians and lawyers’ words, this imposed concept is called the “Norman yoke.” The way the Mouse imposes his tale is further emphasized by how upset the Mouse is when Alice is distracted by the Mouse’s tail.

9/6 Alice books as guides to college

Alice books as guides to college

1.       

“What size do you want to be?” it asked.

“Oh, I’m not particular as to size,” Alice hastily replied, “only one doesn’t like changing so often, you know.”

“I don’t know,” said the Caterpillar.

Alice said nothing: she had never been so much contradicted in all her life before, and she felt that she was losing her temper.

(AA, page 52)

I found the word “size” to be metaphorical in this dialogue exchange, even though the scene itself is taking the word literally, since Alice shrunk. When you connect the word “size” back to something like college, then the word can become something like “job” or “type” or “identity.” Do that, and then this conversation between the Caterpillar and Alice can sound awfully familiar to several conversations I’ve had with my parents. In high school, we are taught to figure out who we are and what we want to do so early in our lives, so that college can appear to be a clear path to take. Once we fall off that road, nothing seems to make sense to us, and sometimes, talking to more experienced adults fail to help if we can’t grasp what their words mean. In the scene, Alice complains about how constantly changing in size and shape is a horrible unnerving feeling. The Caterpillar, on the other hand, reminds Alice that constantly changing is never a bad thing.

2.       

“You are old, Father William,” the young man said,

“And your hair has become very white;

And yet you incessantly stand on your head –

Do you think, at your age, it is right?”

“In my youth,” Father William replied to his son,

“I feared it might injure the brain;

But, now that I’m perfectly sure I have none,

Why, I do it again and again.”

(AA, page 49-50)

This poem written by Lewis Carroll explores a significant idea throughout the novel –the idea can be related once again to any college student: youth. In the poem, a son comments on his father’s physical deterioration, describing him as an old man and should therefore act more like one. However, in response, Father William explains that he has no reason to act like an old man. Just because his physical body is older and more fragile does not mean his personality and heart should change. The real irony throughout the poem is that the father’s heart is actually much younger than his son’s. My girlfriend’s father is a fantastic example of a middle-aged man who still happily acts like a teenager at times. You can tell by all the silly pranks that he occasionally commits. One time, he almost fooled me to cut cheese, thinking that it was raw fish. College is most definitely the time that many people would describe as the transitional phase where kids truly become adults. But just because we are now adults doesn’t mean that we should lose the fun that fueled our childhood. Just like how Professor Bump put it in lecture, we should never forget our childhood.

3.       

“In the progress through Wonderland the young rectory boy/girl exhibits all the culture shock of a freshman transposed from home and dropped into college life. The length of the fall down the rabbit-hole speaks of the emotional distance involved”

(page 281)

My personal fall down the rabbit-hole was definitely above average in length and emotional impact, mainly because my fall went through two different time zones –from California to Texas. Furthermore, because now that I am at a college, which accepts any student from anywhere, the diversity is turned up to eleven. There are people from different states and even different countries! Clubs and events and parties of all kinds everywhere! Like Alice’s reaction to Wonderland, which is full of noise and peculiarities, I felt confused. Everything I thought I knew was put to the test, just like Alice’s experiences. In addition to Alice’s feelings, I felt exactly the same as Dorothy when she wound up in the land of Oz (“I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore”).

4.       

“[Alice] insists upon learning through experience as opposed to listening to someone else for information. […] Not only to venture into the unknown in life, but to venture into our soul and deep within our hearts to find out who we are. To never end our soul search.”

(page 286)

College, as I mentioned before, is a time where people try to discover themselves and figure out exactly what they want to do with their lives. Here is when people pick their majors or switch majors and pursue their passion. But one thing I learned through working in my job is that some of the best progression people go through is through their own hands-on experience. This is strange because it is overall contradictory to college, a place where all the students just sit and listen to someone else’s information and instructions. The student essay on Alice describes Alice as a hero for the very reason that she opposes this “system” because of her incredible curiosity and personality. A bit part of college that many forget about is that college is a place where you are supposed to freely roam and seek out opportunities. These opportunities don’t come to you –you have to find them yourself. But the most important lesson: You think that you finally touched your own soul and found out who you are. You have no idea, because this journey of finding yourself will always exists so long as you are alive. The journey is just slightly different each time, depending on what part of your life the journey is taking place in. From middle school to high school, we have always pictured college as a “final frontier” of some sorts. College is merely the beginning, a door that leads you to an enormous world that you thought you knew.