Alice in Wonderland

2 Pages 478 Words

Alice In Wonderland


Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a novel that appeals not only to children
but also to the adult. It is not a fairy tale in the traditional sense of the term. It is an experience of the mind in its process of maturing from childhood to
adulthood.

During the years when human beings travel through from their childhood to
adulthood through adolescence, they are hardly aware of what exactly
happened during the process of change. What were the factors that went into
making them what they are? Does everything around us exert their influence on
us? These are some of the questions that Lewis Carroll tries to answer. He
makes an attempt to portray to the readers a picture of how an individual
‘changes’ and what happens in the process of ‘change’.

A psychological maturing occurs when Alice finds herself alone and, at times,
neglected in the Wonderland. She learns to fend for herself and realizes the
need to maintain her identity at all costs. More than once, she is misunderstood
by the creatures in Wonderland. It is through her eyes that the author comments
on various diverse issues, like hypocrisy, greed, power, and even sexuality.

Although the animals in Wonderland are recognizable cartoon figures, due to
the changes in size that Alice undergoes, she reacts in fear at times when the
normal human reaction would be affection. Children generally like animals.
However, here, each animal signifies a human trait. Thus, Alice’s observations
enable her to understand certain facts of life, like death and growth.

Carroll has much to convey to his readers regarding language. While some of
the "nonsense" in Alice is merely for satirical effect, certain pointed statements
are really insights into human personality. Besides, since the novel is an
outcome of a dream, one cannot tie up the loose ends. This is a deliberate
device on the part of Carroll, for this way,...