Allegories and Satire in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Book Report/Review Example

?Satire and Narrative Technique in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland By Satire and Narrative Technique in Alice’sAdventures in Wonderland Introduction Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is described as a satire on human nature as a whole and a satire on Victorian traditions (Rackin, 243). Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is more than a child’s fantasy of a reversed and chaotic world. It is also a socio-political satire on the conflict between the individual’s deepest consciousness and the actual world (Lucas, 158; Rackin, D., 313). This essay provides an analysis of some examples of the socio-political satire in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Roland Barthes’ theory of five codes and Tzetan Todorov’s structuralist linguistic theory will be used to demonstrate and analyse the narrative techniques used to satirize human nature and Victorian traditions. Discussion According to Shires, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is not only a satire on education, but also on social development (267). A child emerges from a world in which acquired social, logical, and linguistic skills, suitable for her real world, are absolutely of no avail to her in her fantasy world. Alice’s journey in her fantasy world begins with her falling down a rabbit hole and subsequently encounters a chaotic and confusing world where animals speak, she changes shape and despite her best efforts to use acquired language, social and logical skills, Alice only adds to the confusion and chaos (Carroll). Shires argues that language, logic and social skills are meaningless and useless to Alice (272). Not only are these skills useless in her interaction with the animals, but they are meaningless and useless to Alice in attempting to understand where she was, what was going on and how to escape her dilemma. For example, Alice tries to use the terms latitude and longitude to aid her in identifying where she was. After all, these terms were a part of her formal education. However, Alice did not know what the terms meant, only that they were words used to identify one’s location. Therefore, Alice was unable to use her own language and knowledge as a means of identifying where she was (Carroll, 18). The satire on education, especially logical thinking is evidenced by Alice’s attempt to use her lessons from school as she fell down the Rabbit hole. Alice speculates that she must have fell “four thousand miles” as: Alice had learnt several things of this sort in her lessons in the schoolroom, and though this was not a very good opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, still it was good practice to say it over (Carroll, 18). Alice goes on to speculate about hat “what latitude or longitude” she was at, although “Alice had not the slightest idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but she thought they were nice grand words to say” (Carroll, 18-19). Alice even contemplates the utility of a curtsy should she happen to see someone as she falls and ask for her location (Carroll, 19). Carroll is thus satirising social, linguistic and education/logic. The clear impression is that acquired skills and knowledge are only suited for a regulated and ordered world. Moreover, Alice’s disposition is rather calm, indicating that she does not sense that her fall is dangerous and this accords with Todorov’s five basic structures of narrative. The first structure is captured in Alice’s fall: “a state of equilibrium at the outset” (Altman, 6). However, the narrative shifts toward the second stage in which something occurs to indicate that the equilibrium has been broken (Altman, 6). The equilibrium would have been broken the moment Alice found herself taking a long fall and landing safely on a pile of “sticks and dry leaves” (Carroll, 20). The narrative then reflects a progressive series of unusual events followed. The rabbit she had chased down the hole speaks and she follows him down a long hall with doors, each of which are locked. Finally, Alice begins to realize that she might be in trouble as “she walked sadly down the middle, wondering how she was ever to get out again” (Carroll, 21). Here, the narrative takes on the third stage third stage of Todorov’s structured narrative in that there is a “recognition that there has been a disruption” (Altman, 6). The satire continues as the narrative moves to Todorov’s fourth stage in which action moves along to repair the disruption to equilibrium (Altman, 6). Alice looks for keys to the doors and despite her determination to find a way out, she is distracted by other things and is curious enough to experience them. For example, although she locates a way out, she is too large to fit and when she sees a drink with the words “drink me” on it, she uses her acquired knowledge to ensure that the drink is not poison (Carroll). In Alice’s mind, if the drink was poison, it would have been marked poison. After all, she had read about those things and the dangers of drinking poison (Carroll). This is perhaps also a satire on the socio-political in that the ordinary citizen is naive and susceptible to official deception and are blindly influenced by normative values, flawed logic and flawed education. The narrative moves on to the final stage of Todorov’s structured narrative in which a resolution to the disruption in equilibrium is achieved (Altman, 6). The final stage of the narrative however is only arrived at after an indictment of social and legal structures. Alice is a witness at a trial in which the Queen of Hearts accused the Knave of Hearts of stealing her tarts. The presiding judge is the King of Hearts and the jurors are not a jury of the Knave of Hearts’ peers, but rather a panel of animals that are easily knocked over by a rapidly growing Alice (Carroll). Implicit in the legal proceedings is an assault on social, political and legal injustices. Not only is royalty making the complaint, but royalty is also trying the complaint. The ruling monarchy therefore occupy an anarchic position in politics, society and justice. At the same time, Alice’s rapid and uncontrollable growth is juxtaposed against the dormouse who complains that she has no right to grow and take up all of the air (Carroll). This too, is a commentary on social injustice. According to Barthes’ theory of narrative, Alice’s growth and the dormouse’s comments can be seen as symbolic code (the fourth code) which indicates that a unit of narrative is meant to have a more profound meaning than what is actually represented by the text (Barry). The interpretation of the symbolic code would largely depend on Barthes’ fifth code: the cultural code. The cultural code is the “voice of knowledge” and seeks to rely on the culture of the audience for meaning (Barry, 51). Barthes’ proairetic, hermeneutic and cultural codes are also observed in Lewis’s narrative technique in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The proairetic code refers to “indications of action” (Barry, 51). For example, as Alice comes to grips with the fact that she is lost, she sees the White Rabbit that she had initially followed and decides to ask him of her location. The White Rabbit is dressed smartly and is heard saying to himself “Oh! The Duchess, the Duchess! Oh! Won’t she be savage if I’ve kept her waiting!” (Carroll, 29). Alice attempts to ask the Rabbit for her location, but the Rabbit responded by rushing “off into the darkness as hard as he could go” (Carroll, 30). Thus there is anticipation in meeting the Duchess, but also anticipation in knowing why the Duchess is waiting and what the relationship between the Duchess and the Rabbit is. This narrative unit indicates that Alice is in a hopeless situation. She is obviously lost and despite her youth, innocence and desperation, she may never be able to find her way back as her encounter with the Rabbit indicates. The narrative unit also reveals satire in the treatment of children and in class distinctions. The distraught and lost child who appears to be out of place in Wonderland is of no importance to the Rabbit who is more concerned about the inconvenience the Duchess might suffer having to wait for him and how badly she might respond to the inconvenience. The hermeneutic code refers to incidents or issues that lend an element of suspense to the narrative (Barry). For example, as Alice contemplates her fate and her surroundings she laments: Dear, dear! How queer everything is today! And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I’ve changed in the night? Let me think, was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is, ‘who in the world am I? (Carroll, 30-31). Implicit in this narrative is Barthes’ hermeneutic code as it leaves open the question of various possibilities. Alice may not be lost after all and she may in fact be different and therefore seeing things differently. Suspense therefore surrounds the issue of whether or not Alice has been changed by something that occurred prior to the fall or whether or not Alice has in fact been transformed into another human being. Another possibility is that Alice is having a dream and regardless, the reader does not have the answers at this stage and there is no indication of the outcome. On another level the hermeneutic code also represents social satire. Alice is an innocent child, thrust into a strange and confusing world. The questions she asks of herself are no more than an attempt to make sense of an otherwise senseless world. Through Alice’s curiosity and the chaotic world in which she finds herself, Lewis challenges Victorian conventions. Lewis is also representing that the questioning, persistent Alice, is experiencing a rebellion in her mind against convention. While Wonderland is obviously different and entirely confusing, it also represents the restrictive and nonsensical Victorian society with its established set of norms (Lucas, 159). Alice’s curiosity and discomfort with the nonsensical Wonderland can therefore be seen as satire embedded in the hermeneutic code. In this regard, Wonderland symbolises Victorian England and Alice’s experiences in Wonderland symbolises the tensions that occur between those who cannot make sense of Victorian England, but nevertheless are trapped by it. In other words, Alice is not physically lost. Instead, she has a difficult time understanding the conventions and restrictions of her world and this is manifested in the narrative as a whole. Alice’s persistent curiosity, desperation and discomfort reveals how Alice and perhaps others may not be compatible with Victorian conventions and restrictions. The cultural code refers to those things that can be seen as “common knowledge” (Barry, 51). For instance, Alice scolds herself for crying and all indications are that a crying child in Alice’s situation, is one who is spoiled. Alice states “come, there’s no use in crying like that!...I advise you to leave off this minute!” (Carroll, 24-25). The narrative goes on to explain that Alice: …generally gave herself good advice (though she very seldom followed it), and sometimes she scolded herself so severely as to bring tears into her eyes; and once she remembered trying to box her own ears for having cheated herself in a game of croquet she was playing against herself… (Carroll, 25). The cultural code in this narrative unit therefore suggest that it was common knowledge that children were scolded and often had their ears boxed to ensure that they behaved themselves in accordance with Victorian standards. The social satire and especially with regards to the treatment of children is present in this narrative unit. Alice, who had shrunk after taking the drink, concedes that there was no point to scolding herself because “there’s hardly enough of me left to make one respectable person!” (Carroll, 25). This narrative unit can be seen as a satire on the utility of beating children into submission to make them “respectable” or using physical or mental coercion to force children to adhere to Victorian standards of behaviour and social decorum. As Barthes theorises, narratives are more than simple linguistics or a composition of words. Rather, narratives are comprised of a combination of words, grammar, phonics and context. However, each of these factors play a role in giving meaning to the narrative and will not have much meaning on its own. The factors must be combined to reveal the meaning of the narrative (Barthes). In other words, it is necessary to go beyond the words and the sentences and to look at context. In looking at context, the narrative is contains codes that reveal the plot and the messages contained in the plot. In this regard, while Alice’s experiences in Wonderland appear to be confusing and invokes Alice’s curiosity and ire, the narrative is a socio-political satire for the most part. Conclusion Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland appears to be a story for children. However, a close reading of the novel reveals that the narrative contains codes and themes that are too complex for children to understand. While a child might enjoy the adventures of Alice, the underlying and contextual meaning are lost on children. An adult may not find the adventures of Alice interesting, but the underlying and contextual meaning contained in the narrative can be understood and enjoyed by adults. In this regard, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is both a simple fantasy and a complex work of literature. As a complex work of literature, Lewis’s narrative technique is replete with themes and messages symbolising and at times, directly assaulting Victorian society and politics. Through Alice’s child-like curiosity, confusion and desperation, Victorian conventions and restrictive norms are questioned, ridiculed and parodied. As Alice tries to make sense of a nonsensical world, the narrative invites an examination of Victorian values and traditions as demonstrated in this paper. This is accomplished by going beyond the actual words and looking for contextual meaning. Works Cited Altman, Rick. A Theory of Narrative. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2008. Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2002. Barthes, Roland. “Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narratives.” In Bal, Mieke (Ed.) Narrative Theory: Major Issues in Narrative Theory. Oxon, UK: Routledge, 2004, Chapter 6. Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2009. Lucas, Ann, Lawson. “Enquiring Mind, Rebellious Spirit: Alice and Pinocchio as Nonmodel Children.” Children’s Literature in Education, 30.3 (1999): 157-169. Print. Rackin, Donald. “Corrective Laughter: Carroll’s Alice and Popular Children’s Literature of the Nineteenth Century.” The Journal of Popular Culture. 1.3 (Winter 1967): 143-255. Print. Rackin, Donald. “Alice’s Journey to the End of Night.” Publications of Modern Language-Association-of-America, 81.5 (October 1966): 313-326. Print. Shires, Linda, M. “Fantasy, Nonsense, Parody, and the Status of the Real: The Example of Carroll.” Victorian Poetry, 26.3 (Autumn 1988): 267-283. Read More