Identity And Imagination In Alice Adventures In Wonderland And Through The Looking-glass By Lewis Carroll
“That’s the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up” (Walt Disney). Lewis Carroll’s Alice Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass is a children’s fantasy that explores a world filled with excitement and nonsense. Challenging the norm of society, Carroll decided to create a story emphasizing the significance of imagination in childhood through several aspects of fantasy such as psychoanalytic interpretations. Readers follow the protagonist, Alice through her journey of growth and progression as she explores numerous encounters of childhood experiences which are heavily influenced by her imagination. Carroll portrays the significance of imagination by creating a world of fantasy in which Alice explores as an imaginative escape from adult restrictions. As well, he illustrates the power of imagination and its importance to children as they transition from childhood to adulthood.
The first encounter of imagination occurs as Alice is sitting on the riverbank both tired and bored alongside her sister. Alice starts to drift away into a deep state of sleep as her dream commences at this point in the story. Alice transitioning into a state of sleep is considered the gateway to the power of her imagination and Wonderland. As Alice is falling asleep, she appears to see a white rabbit as he states, “Oh dear! I shall be late!”. At first, Alice is unbothered by the rabbit however, the rabbit then takes a watch out of his waist-coat pocket which intrigues Alice to follow him. The White Rabbit is the first manifestation of Alice’s imagination that sparks her curiosity. Alice then follows the white rabbit down a rabbit hole in which she finds herself in the secondary world, Wonderland. Alice finds herself in a hallway with multiple doors and curiously starts to explore each door. Within one of the rooms, Alice finds a tiny bottle labelled “DRINK ME”. Alice states, “No, I’ll look first and see whether it is marked poison or not”. Children are often taught to obey rules and regulations thus limiting their ability to make their own decisions. Alice is a conscientious child and has always been taught to adhere to rules. However, she is still a child with a wide imagination and therefore consumes the substance within the bottle. Alice begins to shrink in size and states, “What a curious feeling! I must be shutting up like a telescope!”. As Alice shrinks, she realizes that she has become too small and begins to cry. As Alice progresses through the long hallway, she finds a cake labelled “EAT ME”. As a naive child, Alice begins to wonder if the cake will readjust her size once again. Nonetheless, she consumes the cake and becomes too large. Alice, extremely frustrated begins to weep of sorrow unsure about what to do next. The change in height Alice exhibits is a representation of how children perceive the adult world. A child may feel intimidated by adulthood due to the lack of authority they hold as children. Additionally, they may illustrate emotions such as weakness, fearfulness, or unhappiness. Conversely, when a child feels superior to other children, they may believe that there is an immediate end to childhood as well as their childish acts. Undoubtedly, Carroll proves to readers that one’s imagination is the key to supressing the personal anxieties children uphold by allowing them to freely express themselves through fantasy. Therefore, Alice’s emotions emphasize her conflicting feelings throughout the story as she struggles with finding her identity in the world of Wonderland.
The second encounter of imagination found within the novel is when Alice begins to struggle with her identity in Wonderland. Wonderland is a place filled with nonsensical rules and imaginative elements that children may not comprehend at such a fragile age. Alice begins to wonder what constitutes her identity in a world such as Wonderland, she states, “Who in the world am I? Ah, that is the great puzzle”. At this point in the story, Alice realizes that she is not only on a journey to understanding the aspects of Wonderland, but she is also discovering her true identity. To demonstrate, Wonderland is a by-product of Alice’s imagination therefore, it becomes clear for readers to understand that the characteristics that make up Wonderland extends from Alice’s psyche. In addition to this, her quest then becomes to understand the feelings that her psyche consists of. Carroll begins to illustrate the theme of unstable identity within the story through Alice’s struggle with her identity. Children often face difficulties with where they fit into the world. Additionally, children enter a phase of maturation where physical and psychological adjustments are made to their bodies and minds. Thus, children like Alice begin to show frustration when non-sensical events occur. Furthermore, Alice encounters another imaginative character within Wonderland, a caterpillar. The caterpillar orders Alice to recite a poem named “You are Old, Father William” in which she recites incorrectly as Alice struggles with her memory. Along with the physical changes that come with Wonderland, Alice now experiences the psychological impacts as her memory starts to deteriorate. The caterpillar is the first interaction that Alice encounters within Wonderland as he advises her on how to regain her normal size. The caterpillar can be seen as a symbolic character who represents the change that comes with transitioning from childhood to adulthood. Although the caterpillar displayed antagonistic behaviour, he reinforced that even though Alice had gone through many physical changes, change was not something to fear. It could become a beautiful aspect of growing up similar to the transition from a caterpillar to a butterfly. Along with Alice’s conflicting emotions about finding her identity, children can relate to what Alice is experiencing throughout her journey. Carroll emphasizes throughout the story that growing up is inevitable, however, through fantastical elements, children can enjoy the simple aspects of childhood such as a wide imagination. To summarize, the idea of a child’s unstable identity is commonly seen within children transitioning into adolescence or adulthood. Carroll intrigues readers to believe that through a powerful imagination, this transition can be enjoyable if a child can freely explore their true identities.
A final encounter of imagination found within Alice’s journey of self-identity occurs when Alice finds herself at a tea party alongside the March Hare and the Mad Hatter, both imaginative characters created from Alice’s psyche. The Hatter begins to ask Alice riddles in which she cannot answer. The Hatter states, “If you knew Time as well as I do, you would not talk about wasting it, it’s him”. These absurd remarks made by the Mad Hatter showcase Carroll’s technique of using words to emphasize the nonsensical theme in Wonderland. Nonsensical language such as riddles are of extreme importance in the world of Wonderland as they highlight the imaginativeness of the parallel world. On the other hand, Alice who lives in a world of orderly principles such as time and logic becomes extremely frustrated with the riddles of the Mad Hatter. As he refers to time as a person, Alice begins to use her sense of logic to answer him. She states, “Perhaps not, but I do know that I need to beat time when I learn music”. Alice’s response to the Mad Hatter thoroughly illustrates that she is a typical Victorian girl who adheres to rules and logic as portrayed throughout the story. Thus, it is extremely challenging for her to make sense of a place such as Wonderland. Carroll’s reasoning behind the nonsensical language portrayed at this point in the story reflects the problem with society and its restrictions on children. Children are always restricted due to parental guidance and the lack of freedom of expression. Such rules can suppress a child’s imaginative characteristics which can result in the personal anxieties children often experience when transitioning into adulthood. Carroll’s take on society is presented throughout the novel as he designs two different worlds, Alice’s world and Wonderland. These places both differ significantly from one another as Carroll challenges readers to understand why Wonderland is built in a specific way. Wonderland is used to show readers the benefits of imagination and fantastical elements in one’s childhood. Furthermore, society often relies on logical explanations and limits a child’s ability to explore further. Consequently, children are expected to use logical thinking when approaching difficult situations instead of exploring their imaginative means. Throughout Carroll’s story, readers are introduced to two worlds as they join Alice on her quest of finding her true self in Wonderland. Through Carroll’s fantastical work, readers interpret Wonderland as a valuable lesson and as a result, learn to embrace one’s power of imagination and its impact on childhood experiences.
In conclusion, Carroll’s Alice Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass is a classic tale of a Victorian girl who challenges the status quo in her society. During the time of its publication, Victorian authors believed that children’s literature should focus on didacticism and indulged in crooked views of imagination. Carroll believed that imagination was a significant aspect of childhood and as a result, created the imaginative parallel world of Wonderland. He believed that readers would be intrigued by Wonderland and created Alice and its fantastical characters to emphasize the importance of dreams along with imaginative interpretations in childhood. The power of imagination is extremely significant for children as fantastical elements can greatly ease the transition from childhood to adulthood.
