Analysis Of Alyss In The Looking Glass Wars By Frank Beddor

How can someone who is so immature, ingenious, and troublesome become very responsible in such a short amount of time? But, just because you are immature, ingenious, or troublesome does not mean you cannot do something you and your friends want you to do. Alyss in the Looking Glass Wars is having a very similar problem or situation, she is a very immature child, but she grows up to be a very responsible queen. In the Looking Glass Wars, Frank Beddor uses a lot of imagery to reveal the theme, which is Alyss trying to become queen and the struggles to get there.

In the beginning of the novel, Alyss is characterized as immature, ingenious, and troublesome. The author portrayed Alyss as immature when she states ‘“It’s pretty good, I suppose,”

said Alyss, “But it’d be better if it were furry’”. (Beddor 12) This shows that Alyss is immature because she cannot hold back the childish thoughts in her head. The author also describes Alyss as ingenious when Alyss states “‘I won’t need lessons” Alyss said “I’ll just imagine that I know everything and then I will, so you won’t have to give them to me”’. (Beddor 23) This shows that she is ingenious because she thinks that she knows everything and doesn’t need to be taught anything. Beddor also describes Alyss as troublesome when the novel states “… Bibwit spat the half-chewed cake into the palm of his hand and saw that it wasn’t a cake at all; it had turned into a handful of gwormmies. “Got you!”Alyss shouted, and ran away”. (Beddor 24) This shows that she is troublesome because she tricked Bibwit into eating a cake when she turned it into gwormmies.

Alyss went into London being very childish and transformed into a mature young lady.

An example of this is when the author states “‘ … don’t think about it. Don’t! Stuck in this alien place. Alone. Don’t - she had to be strong. She was a princess, the future queen of Wonderland! She shouldn’t weep like a baby”’ (Beddor 77). When Alyss says or thinks “She had to be strong… She shouldn’t weep like a baby”. Alyss is finally maturing and realizing that she needs to start growing up. When the author states “‘ not another word!” Mrs. Liddell scolded when Alyss described the inventor’s parade to her new siblings” (Beddor 125) and “What if I dreamed it up while sick in bed?” (Beddor 128).Those are examples of Alyss starting to demoralize and doubt her memories from the past. When the author remarks “‘ You’re wearing the dress,” Mrs. Liddell said. The dress she had purchased months before but which Alyss had always had always refused to wear because she feared it would make her appear common” (Beddor 151). This quote is saying that Alyss is finally accepting that she wasn’t a princess and that she is a normal

person.

Alyss was going through many mixed emotions on if she was righteous or evil, she was confused on where she was, and she was struggling on imagining objects things.

An example of her not knowing where she was is when the author states “‘This isn’t real” she said. “I shouldn’t remember so vividly what’s not supposed to exist. And you - all of this - can’t exist”’ (Beddor 212). Alyss was saying this when she just returned to Wonderland, and she is confused if she actually is in Wonderland because she was forced to forget it long ago. An example of her struggling to imagine again is when the author remarks “concentrate, think, imagine. A muzzle formed out of nowhere - a rust colored contraption rounding their pointed ends” (Beddor 257). When Alyss says “concentrate, think, imagine”, that is when she was trying to imagine something for the first time in a long time. An example of Alyss not knowing whether she is righteous or evil is when the author states “She turned from Dodge Anders and glimpsed her reflection in a looking glass. She remembered her time in the maze when she stood in this very room and saw, in place of her own reflection, Redd’s face staring back at her from that same glass. But now her image rippled and faded, and there stood Genevieve and Nolan with their arms around each other, smiling with pride. The progress of the queendom, the Alyssians, victorious coup, whatever successes and failures awaited them in the future. - it all began with her, Genevieve and

Nolan’s presence seemed to say, the power and wisdom that resided within her, the most powerful queen ever to lead Wonderland” (Beddor 358).

As Alyss was looking into the Looking Glass maze she saw Redd, then the image faded and she saw her parents (Genevieve and Nolan), and she realized she was good and better than Redd.
As Alyss went through her tough journey, she succeeded in her goal, becoming queen again. This simply tells you that if everything goes the opposite way you planned, do not give up in your dream or goal.