Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - Book Report/Review Example

Off with Society’s Head!” Carroll’s (1865) Innocent, but Determined and Independent, Little Alice in Alices Adventures in Wonderland September 21, 2014 “Off with Society’s Head!” Carroll’s (1865) Innocent, but Determined and Independent, Little Alice in Alices Adventures in Wonderland Instead of letting society take away her head, Alice takes society’s head of abusive authority instead. Alice is far from the obedient conceptions of childhood, in Carroll’s (1865) Alices Adventures in Wonderland. Instead, the title and characters demonstrate how Carroll sees children are and how they can be. He sees them as innately good because of their innocence and courageous because of their childhood vivacity (Woolf, 2010). However, they are not naïve in submitting to social norms, and instead, his version of childhood is real in its independence and fortitude in finding their identities, even if it means opposing society that wants to define and control it. Alice represents children as possessing innocence, determination, and independence that are essential in opposing corrupt adult social institutions. Alice portrays the innocence of childhood that is necessary in questioning what society asserts as social norms and practices. Children are innocent because of their purity in understanding the world that can negate what society says about it. Alice shows how innocence is important to creativity and freedom. Stuck inside the dark hall after falling from the rabbit hole, she thinks about ways of “being” that is different from what and who she is. She considers being a “telescope” because “so many out-of-the-way things had happened lately that Alice had begun to think that very few things indeed were really impossible” (Carroll, 1865, p. 9). As a child, she has the innocence to see problems and solutions in a fresh light instead of staying in a box of what society expects of her. Moreover, children are innocent because they acknowledge their weaknesses. After crying a pool of tears and getting small again, Alice finds herself swimming in her tears, and says: “I shall be punished for it now, I suppose, by being drowned in my own tears!” (Carroll, 1865, p. 24). While society does not criticize itself for its mistakes, Carroll (1865) shows how children are better off because of their sense of self-responsibility. They know their mistakes and they want to fix it. Children can be better human beings than adult society that does not want to know and to fix their mistakes. The novel stresses the advantages of innocence in challenging society’s long-standing impurities. Aside from innocence, Alice represents children as good because of their determination. They do not live in fear of the risks that society tells them they cannot take. Alice thinks about what could have happened to her life if she had not gone through the rabbit hole: “I almost wish I hadn’t gone down that rabbit-hole—and yet—and yet—it’s rather curious, you know, this sort of life! I do wonder what can have happened to me!” (Carroll, 1865, p. 46). She is a child who is willing to take risks because she is determined to know more than what she knows. She is the symbol of a human being who believes that to find the truth about the self, one has to take risks. Society, however, is consistent and hates risks that challenge the status quo. Society is the Queen of Hearts who wants the heads of people who stimulate and support changes. Alice shows how she contrasts with the traditional sameness of society because of determined inquisitiveness and actions. In addition, Alice demonstrates her courage in knowing who she is. Her constant changes in size symbolize her growth as a person because of her will to grow, however difficult it may be. When the caterpillar asks, “Who are you” (Carroll, 1865, p. 60), it is a question about identity and the courage to ask about it and to pursue it. The title itself says something about who the actor of her destiny is. The book is about Alice’s adventures; it is about her knowing more through and because of these adventures. Alice goes through different challenges because she is determined to know the truth about who she is through understanding who she can be, without being limited by social norms and expectations. Besides determination, Alice represents independence that is essential in opposing corrupt adult social institutions. Alice portrays children as having more free will than adults. While others worry about their heads being chopped off, she focuses on “knowing.” Instead of lying on the ground as the King and Queen of Hearts pass by, she stands up to see them. When the Queen gets mad at Alice and tells her guards to chop off her head, Alice answers: “’Nonsense !’ said Alice, very loudly and decidedly, and the Queen was silent” (Carroll, 1865, p. 118). Woolf (2010) talked about Carroll making a story for and about the young daughters of his friends (p. 153). From these experiences, he must have seen them bravely counter social ideals because of their childhood. In the same way, Alice asserts her autonomy against traditions, and that is all that matters to start defeating tyrannical ruling and senseless traditions. Alice is not only about what a child should be, but also about who they naturally are- courageous and independent. Finally, Alice has free will because she does not want society to define her identity. At the end of the novel, the Queen once more wants her head to be chopped off. Alice valiantly responds: “Who cares for you? said Alice, (she had grown to her full size by this time.) Youre nothing but a pack of cards!’” (Carroll, 1865, p. 6187). She is the kind of child that humanistic nineteenth-century conceptions want her to be- independent and free from corrupt social institutions. Rougeau (2005) stressed that Alice is about children casting their own shadows and resisting becoming the shadows of adults (p. 7). Alice portrays children who have the will and power to step outside of social traditions, especially corrupting ones and to be ready to be their own persons. Alice demonstrates that Alice did not want her head to be chopped off because her head is who she truly is. She has the courage and innocence of a child, as well as the will that is inherent to human beings. Instead of letting her head cut off, she cuts off the society’s disempowering head instead. Alice is the modern conception of a child, a child who can resist what is poison in society and who can develop something new and good from the innate goodness of her human mind, heart, and soul. Alice portrays a humanistic child, the child of wonder and opportunity, the child of equality and independent ability. References Carroll, L. (1865). Alices adventures in Wonderland. Retrieved from https://www.adobe.com/be_en/active-use/pdf/Alice_in_Wonderland.pdf Rougeau, R.N. (2005). Alice’s shadow: Childhood and agency in Lewis Carroll’s photography, illustrations, and Alice texts. Dissertation. Louisiana State University. Retrieved from http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04042005-092947/unrestricted/Rougeau_dis.pdf Woolf, J. (2010). The mystery of Lewis Carroll: Discovering the whimsical, thoughtful, and sometimes lonely man who created Alice in Wonderland. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Read More