Theme The most obvious theme that can be found in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is the theme of growing up and the differences between childhood and adulthood. For example, when Alice meets the Duchess, Alice asks questions about the Cheshire cat, and how and why it smiles, “I didn’t know Cheshire cats always grinned: in fact, I didn't know that cats could grin.” To which the Duchess replies “They all can” and “Most of them do” and follows up by insulting Alice with “You don’t know much” In this scene both characters think that the other is odd for thinking what they think, but in a way, both are right about the cats in their respective worlds. This is a comment on the different perspectives of children and adults. There are many more …show more content…
She has to find a new way to adapt each time. This change in size also relates to another theme. Another theme in the book is Identity. When Alice is trying to return to her normal size, she eats two opposite sides of a mushroom to grow and shrink herself. When she grows, she is mistaken for a serpent by the Pigeon, because she confessed to eating eggs, and has such a long neck. Alice tries to explain that she is not a serpent but Alice isn't quite sure who she is. “But I’m not a serpent, I tell you! I’m a… I’m a…”. Alice meets many new characters in Wonderland, and as with any introduction, Alice is asked to identify herself. After beginning her adventures, Alice feels she has changed quite a bit. For instance, When Alice is asked by the Caterpillar who she is, she responds with “I hardly know sir, just at present, at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have changed several times since then.” There are other characters in the story that deal with uncertain identities, such as the Duchess’ baby turning into a pig, and the jury at the trial, that must write down their names as to insure that they don’t forget …show more content…
Alice retells her dream to her sister and the goes inside for tea. Climax And Ending This story can be described as many smaller stories put together, like an adventure as the title suggests, therefore it can be difficult to pinpoint a single climax, but if there must be one, it would be the end scene at the trial. This is the only point in the story where all characters have been introduced and are even all present. Personal Review I believe this is an excellent book and I’m glad I got the push to finally read it after it sitting on my shelf for a year. This book was personally simple to visualise in my head and I think I could retell it from memory. This is the kind of story I would love to tell to kids, but perhaps not word for word as quite a few of the words would be difficult for them, but as for the content of the story, I’m sure any kid would
Lewis Carroll demonstrates paradoxes within Alice and Wonderland as Alice is tossed within an entirely different world. Yet one of the greatest paradoxes is the transformation of Alice over the course of the novel as well as the transformation of the duchess. Alice begins as an ignorant child; she has difficulties in morphing to the logic and needs of Wonder...
Additionally, Alice continues to feel different when she meets the caterpillar and the pigeon. For example when she is with the caterpillar he asks her to recite a poem back to him. The caterpillar didn’t know what the poem exactly stated, but he knew that Alice had known what the poem said. When she was reciting the poem he told her that she has got the poem all wrong. The caterpillar told her this so she could realize that she had changed and she wasn’t the same person that she thought that she was. The caterpillar then asks her “who are you?” When the caterpillar asks Alice this she has troubles explaining who she is. The cater...
Thus, Alice in Wonderland is a good illustration of a Hero’s Journey. This story allows us to see how Alice overcomes the three main phases, and most of the stages identified by Campbell in her journey-transformation from an undisciplined child to a wise young adult. Throughout the story, Alice overcomes the nonsense of the young and the old before she truly understands what adulthood is all about. All through her adventures in Wonderland, she encounters numerous new situations and meets different archetypes that are necessary for her to be considered a Hero.
The musical piece “Alice’s Theme” was composed in 2010 by composer Danny Elfman. This piece was written for Walt Disney Pictures’ “Alice in Wonderland”. Danny Elfman has represented Alice as lonely, questioning herself and anxious until the end of the film where she discovers her true purpose. Her journey is gradually revealed and represented through the different sections, instruments and lyrics. This is through the successful use of all the musical elements. These musical elements include duration, expressive devices, pitch, structure and texture.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a story that has been loved and read by different age groups. Lewis Carroll wrote the book in such a way that the reader, young or old, could be trapped into Alice’s world of adventure. The illustrations by John Tenniel help portray the story beautifully. Tenniel put pictures to Carroll’s thoughts exactly. When a student reads Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for the first time, it is always great if he or she could be introduced to his illustrations. However, it is a good idea for teachers to bring in different portals of Alice to help show how other people may view this little girl’s world. In addition, it will show that even though Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has been written many years ago, people are still relating to Alice’s character. Overall, it is amazing to see how many different illustrators have portrayed Alice in a totally new and modern way, such Greg Hildebrandt. I decided to use Greg Hildebrandt’s illustrations to assist me in teaching about Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland because he portrays Alice as a much older looking girl. I believe this will help students understand how Alice’s character seemed older than seven years of age. He also depicts some of the characters as more humanlike than cartoon. I believe this will help students picture themselves into Alice’s world. In addition, Hildebrandt helps portray the bizarre story line that many people have come to love.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a story about a little girl who comes into contact with unpredictable, illogical, basically mad world of Wonderland by following the White Rabbit into a huge rabbit – hole. Everything she experiences there challenges her perception and questions common sense. This extraordinary world is inhabited with peculiar, mystical and anthropomorphic creatures that constantly assault Alice which makes her to question her fundamental beliefs and suffer an identity crisis. Nevertheless, as she woke up from “such a curious dream” she could not help but think “as well she might, what a wonderful dream it had been ”.
The title character, Alice, is a young girl around pre-teen age. In the real world, the adult characters always look down on her because of her complete nonsense. She is considered the average everyday immature child, but when she is placed in the world of "Wonderland," the roles seem to switch. The adult characters within Wonderland are full of the nonsense and Alice is now the mature person. Thus creating the theme of growing up'. "...Alice, along with every other little girl is on an inevitable progress toward adulthood herself"(Heydt 62).
The gender roles change from the original to the remake. The original Alice role is defined as a young girl who is able to explore her curiosity, but she is constrained by her feminine characteristics. Alice being a young girl is portrayed as helpless in many situations throughout her journey. The characters of Wonderland offer her assistance, but she remains most times crying by herself. Alice’s character clearly shows the innocence and virtue American society attached to girls roles in the
Although the novel is notorious for its satire and parodies, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland main theme is the transition between childhood and adulthood. Moreover, Alice’s adventures illustrate the perplexing struggle between child and adult mentalities as she explores the curious world of development know as Wonderland. From the beginning in the hallway of doors, Alice stands at an awkward disposition. The hallway contains dozens of doors that are all locked. Alice’s pre-adolescent stage parallels with her position in the hallway. Alice’s position in the hallway represents that she is at a stage stuck between being a child and a young woman. She posses a small golden key to ...
Lewis Carroll's Wonderland is a queer little universe where a not so ordinary girl is faced with the contradicting nature of the fantastic creatures who live there. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a child's struggle to survive in the condescending world of adults. The conflict between child and adult gives direction to Alice's adventures and controls all the outstanding features of the work- Alice's character, her relationship with other characters, and the dialogue. " Alice in Wonderland is on one hand so nonsensical that children sometimes feel ashamed to have been interested in anything so silly (Masslich 107)."
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2005. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.
Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland follows the story of young Alice trapped in the world of Wonderland after falling down through a rabbit-hole. The rabbit-hole which is filled with bookshelves, maps, and other objects foreshadows the set of rules, the ones Alice is normally accustomed to, will be defied in Wonderland. This conflict between her world and Wonderland becomes evident shortly after her arrival as evinced by chaos in “Pool of Tears” and Alice brings up the main theme of the book “was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I am not the same, the next question is who am I?” (Carroll 18). After Alice fails to resolve her identity crisis using her friends, Alice says “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 til I’m somebody else” (Carroll 19). Hence in the beginning, Alice is showing her dependency on others to define her identity. Nevertheless when her name is called as a witness in chapter 12, Alice replies “HERE!” without any signs of hesitation (Carroll 103). Close examination of the plot in Alice in Wonderland reveals that experiential learning involving sizes leads Alice to think logically and rationally. Alice then attempts to explore Wonderland analytically and becomes more independent as the outcome. With these qualities, Alice resolves her identity crisis by recognizing Wonderland is nothing but a dream created by her mind.
The characters in Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are more than whimsical ideas brought to life by Lewis Carroll. These characters, ranging from silly to rude, portray the adults in Alice Liddell’s life. The parental figures in Alice’s reality, portrayed in Alice in Wonderland, are viewed as unintellectual figures through their behaviors and their interactions with one another. Alice’s interactions with the characters of Wonderland reflect her struggles with adults in real life. Naturally curious as she is, Alice asks questions to learn from the adults.
As Alice’s journey following the White Rabbit continues, she found her standing in his home. When Alice saw the strange drinks and cookies on the table, her desire to grow got the best of her and she began to taste them. Alice began to change size after drinking the mysterious liquid, “…she had drunk half the bottle, she found her head pressing against the ceiling and had to stoop to save her neck from being broken” (Carroll 44). This event relates to the theme of Alice growing up. Alice being small when entering the house symbolizes her being a child. Her yearning to become bigger is representative of her want to grow up and become an adult. Although, after drinking the bottle Alice becomes unsure if she really wanted to grow. The transitioning between sizes shows how Alice is torn between wanting to stay a child and wanting to become an
Alice in Wonderland belongs to the nonsense genre, and even if most of what happens to Alice is quite illogical, the main character is not. “The Alice books are, above all, about growing up” (Kincaid, page 93); indeed, Alice starts her journey as a scared little girl, however, at the end of what we discover to be just a dream, she has entered the adolescence phase with a new way to approach the mentally exhausting and queer Wonderland. It is important to consider the whole story when analyzing the growth of the character, because the meaning of an event or a sentence is more likely to mean what it truly looks like rather than an explanation regarding subconscious and Freudian interpretations. Morton states “that the books should possess any unity of purpose seems on the surface unlikely” (Morton, page 509), but it’s better to consider the disconnected narrative and the main character separately, since the girl doesn’t belong to Wonderland, which is, as Morton says, with no intrinsic unity. Whereas, there are a few key turning points where it is possible to see how Alice is changing, something that is visible throughout her journey. Carroll wants to tell the story of a girl who has to become braver in order to contend with challenges like the pool made by her own tears, or assertive characters, like the Queen.