Essay: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Change can be very confusing and scary, especially when growing up. One can feel lost and alone in the midst of all these new changes and question who they are. In Lewis Carroll’s children book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, he addresses these fears and feelings. The reader follows Alice’s, the main protagonist, “curious” dream of Wonderland where she has many strange, possibly dangerous, and sometimes rude encounters with personified animals and adults. In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Carroll gives the reader a glimpse of the lonely life of a Victorian child by portraying Alice’s feelings of isolation and being physically and mentally lost in her dream when coming into the world of adults and searching for her identity: Wonderland. In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Carroll gives insight to a child’s feelings of being lost and being alone when coming into the world of adults (Wonderland) and trying to find your identity whilst growing up.

Alice has a lot of doubt about who she is and where she is because of all of the changes happening to her. Right from the beginning, when Alice first came into the hallway with many doors, the reader sees how Alice already has trouble with identifying herself and her realization of how lost she was. Alice “wondered how she was ever to get out again.”(3) Then after drinking and then eating the “very small cake”(6), Alice became large and started to scold herself for crying. In this scene, she started to question “who in the world [she] is” and if she was any of the other children she knew. She tries to go back to what she knows from her lessons, but all of that is messed up because she can not remember it correctly. So she thought she might have become Mabel, which makes her very upset and even says that she will “stay down here till [she is] somebody else”(10). Alice not remembering her multiplication table and lessons is significant evidence on how she is changing; because of this, she starts feeling lost with herself because what she was sure of before, does not seem to matter in this new world. In addition to Alice not wanting to go back into the real world by being Mabel, she wishes that “they would put their heads down! [Because she is] so very tired of being all alone here!”(10) From what she said, one can infer that the “they”(10) Alice mentions might be her parents or some kind of adult figure. It also tells the reader how Alice is feeling alone in these drastic changes not only Wonderland but in the outside world too. She feels as if no one cares.

All of the changes Alice has undergone, put a toll on her self-assurance. In Chapter Five, she has a conversation with a hookah-smoking Caterpillar who asks her “who are you?”(27) Alice “hardly knows”(27) and can only remember who she “was when [she] got up this morning.”(27) The Caterpillar asks her to “explain [herself],”(27) however, she can not find the words too. This conversation is significant because it gives the reader insight that Alice has completely lost sight of who she was at the moment. Carroll might be emphasizing that “explaining”(27) and “being” might be hand in hand. The author might be suggesting that being able to explain one’s identity can intertwine with actually having an identity. Essentially, if one doesn’t have a link to their own situation or circumstances, then one cannot establish their own identity. This idea is prominent as the reader gets deeper into the story because you can see how Alice adjusts to her situation, getting accustomed to the nonsense of the other characters. And as a result, she becomes more sure of herself.

Other reasons to why Alice feels so abandoned and lost is because of the hostility of Wonderland. Alice feels alone in all the chaos and nonsense that goes on about, and the rudeness of some characters adds to it. One instance is when Alice, the Hatter, the Dormouse, and the March Hare had a tea party. Alice becomes so frustrated with the rudeness and the weirdness of the party that she leaves in “great disgust.”(50) However, while she was leaving she would “look back once or twice, half hoping that they would call after her.”(50) This evidence shows that Alice still seeks for company in this world, even if the company is mad. An instance where Alice also feels separated from all the creatures and adults of Wonderland was when she was called as a witness to the Knave of Heart’s Trial. Alice distinguishes herself from everyone else because of her new height. Furthermore, because of her sudden growth, she also realizes the nonsense and unfairness of the trial. As a result, she becomes very bold and even tells the queen “Who cares for you?” (83) and calling her soldiers “nothing but a pack of cards.”(83) This scene is significant because Alice becomes self-aware of herself and her surroundings; it makes her courageous. She finds some self-assurance because she realizes the unfair and bizarreness of the whole ordeal. It is a breakthrough because she can finally be sure of herself and her ideals.

Alice’s dream of Wonderland enlightened herself about her own identity. After enduring all the nonsense and bizarre encounters, Alice is able to look past it all. Alice changing multiple times and overcoming her feelings of abandonment and loneliness, she finally finds herself again. And maybe that’s Carroll’s message: to find oneself, one has to overcome change.