Character Relations and Literary Elements in Alice in Wonderland

Character Relations and Literary Elements in Alice in Wonderland

“Go on a journey, And roam the streets. Can't see the way out, And so use the stars. She sits for eternity, And then climbs out.” These lyrics, taken from Sigur Rуs’ Glуsуli, depict a sort of awakening or beginning of new life. In the novel Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland and Through The Looking-Glass And What She Found There by Lewis Carroll, Alice undergoes a kind of awakening or embarkation on a life journey when she enters Wonderland because she learns many things about life there that she would not have in the real world. When Alice meets the Caterpillar, the Queen of Hearts, and the Mock Turtle, she learns a lot about life, etiquette, and people’s personalities outside of her childish rules and learned manners. Alice matures and learns many life lessons through her curiosity and childlike manner of interacting with characters.

Childhood is a stage of life in which one’s personality is defined, but identity still searched for. Of course this is not to say that one’s personality at age 7 is the same as his traits at age 21, but not too often does one change so drastically from their former selves. Children grow, and they learn, and they change, and they develop, but some pieces stay with them throughout their lives. In Alice, Alice has a problem with the way Wonderland works. She constantly grows and shrinks in size when she eats and drinks various items. When she shrinks to a height of 3 inches, she tells the Caterpillar, “I’m afraid I am sir [changed],’ said Alice, ‘I can’t remember things as I used- and I don’t keep the same size for ten minutes together’” (Carroll 33). She says this when the Caterpillar “…repeats it contemptuously- ‘Who are YOU?’…Indeed in the light of Alice’s many previous troubles about self-identity, the direct question becomes far more than a matter of ordinary impoliteness” (Rackin 64). These three simple words affected Alice so deeply, and made her question her own identity due to her underdeveloped, childlike mind. When the Caterpillar prompts Alice to turn and receive important advice, she feels hatred for him in wasting her time. “’Come back!’ The Caterpillar called after her. ‘I’ve something important to say!’ This sounded promising, certainly: Alice turned and came back again. ‘Keep your temper,’ said the Caterpillar.

‘Is that all?’ said Alice, swallowing down her anger as well as she could” (Carroll 32). In “Alice’s Journey to the End of Night,” Rackin takes this event and illustrates the finer points of it. “As his demands upon her patience reach fantastic heights, she makes it a point to address him as ‘Sir’