Human and Animal Interrelationships - Assignment Example

Human and Animal Interrelationship Report Introduction The purpose of this report is to provide a chapter to chapter summary of the book “Alice’s adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll, and to identify the relationships between humans and animals in the book. The book has twelve chapters which are mainly based on human-animal relationships with a strong theme of animal personification and human-animal interrelationships. The book has been chosen for the report because it covers the theme of the report – human and animal interrelationships. It is important to study human-animal interrelationships because it has both animal and human characters that interact throughout each chapter. Chapter 1: Down the Rabbit Hole This chapter talks about Alice who followed a rabbit into a rabbit hole. She was looking after her sick sister before she noticed a rabbit and followed it until she entered a hole. On her way down the hole she remembered her cat and wished she was going down the rabbit hole with her. She followed the rabbit down the hole until she reached a dark tunnel where she was not able to get out. She found a cake and ate it with the hope of growing bigger or smaller in order to get out of the hole. There is an animal-human relationship indicated by the relationship between Alice, the rabbit and the cat. This relationship influenced the story because the main character (Alice) did everything under the influence of an animal (the rabbit). The rabbit was an antagonist who led Alice to a hole where she was trapped while the cat was a friend who gave her company and made her happy. Chapter 2: The Pool of Tears In this chapter Alice has finished her cake and she grows bigger and bigger until she reaches nine feet tall. She tries to get out of the hall but she could not. She starts wishing she was smaller so she could go through the door. She starts crying and talking to herself about many things until the rabbit came back with kid gloves and a white shirt. She begged him to help her get out but he refused. Her tears created a large pool on which a mouse swam. She then holds a fan when makes her to shrink and become very small. She talked to the mouse about cats and dogs, but the mouse did not like it. She stopped that and wanted to tell her about her story when birds came into the pool. This chapter presents animal-human relationship when the mouse started to talk to the mouse. The rabbit still remains an antagonist who refuses to help her while the mouse is a good companion who becomes friends with her. The relationship between Alice and the cat was positive, although the mouse was not happy about the cats and dogs mentioned by Alice. Chapter 3: A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale In this chapter Alice and the mouse meet a lot of birds at the banks of the pool of tears. The birds were cross and angry because they were all wet. The Mouse offered to dry them using a special dry air which was a long tale about William the Conqueror. Birds including Dodo, Lory, Eaglet, Duck, etc. kept interrupting saying that they are not drying up and the Mouse kept becoming cross at those interruptions. The Mouse narrated his story until Alice interrupted and offended the Mouse who went away. This chapter shows animal-human relationship. The relationship between Alice and the mouse was good at first until the Mouse could not control his temper and left. Alice then gets a good relationship with the birds who become her friends, including the Dodo. They share food offered by Alice in a friendly way. The relationship was therefore positive. Chapter 4: The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill The rabbit comes back looking for his kid gloves and fan and Alice helps him to find them. The rabbit sends her to the house thinking it was her helper Mary Ann. When she gets into the house she takes the white kid-gloves and before she gets out she gets milk which she drinks and grows bigger. She then struggles with the rabbit and sees a lizard in the room. Later, she eats cakes and shrinks, and then she becomes small again and gets out of the house and runs to the thick hood where she meets a puppy who started fighting her. This chapter indicates both positive and negative human-animal relationship. The rabbit continues to become an antagonist to him while the puppy also develops a negative relationship with her. Chapter 5: Advice from a Caterpillar In this chapter Alice meets a Caterpillar in the thick hoods. Alice tells the caterpillar a story patiently and reduces her temper. The caterpillar tells her to eat a mushroom on one side and she becomes tall. She finds it difficult to walk through the forest but she finally comes to her normal size. This story shows a positive human-animal relationship as the caterpillar helps Alice to become taller. It was difficult for them to understand each other at first, but at last the Caterpillar helps Alice to reduce her temper and eat the mushroom in order to become bigger. Chapter 6: Pig and Pepper Alice comes to a house with Footmen. She enters the house and finds the Duchess and the cook who keep sneezing, perhaps due to pepper in the food. She notices how the duchess nurses her baby ruthlessly, so she finds a way to take her out of the room, but left her on the way when it turned to become a pig. She then met a cat who vanished and appeared mysteriously, but showed her the house of the March Hare. This chapter also displays human-animal relationships as Alice meets cruel duchess, frog and fish-footmen and a cut. A positive relationship is seen when Alice helps the baby of the Duchess who turns out to be a pig, and when the cat helps her to find the March Hare’s house. Chapter 7: A Mad Tea-Party Alice reaches the March Hare house. She meets and talks with the March Hare and the Hater. The Hatter narrates a story about how she danced in the concert of the Queen of Hearts. Alice felt that the Dormouse, the Hatter and the March Hare were rude, so she left as they fell asleep. She goes and notices that there is a door leading to one of the trees. She takes the golden key and unlocks it. She then eats a piece of the mushroom, becomes small and gets out into the garden Animal-human relationship is seen as Alice was talking with the March Hare, the Dormouse and the Hatter. The relationship is unfriendly from the beginning and Alice is treated rudely. Therefore, there is a negative relationship. Chapter 8: The Queen’s Croquet-Ground In the croquet-ground where the hedgehog and the flamingo were playing. The queen was ordering his soldiers to behead people and Alice became uneasy. Finally the Cherishire Cat appears and she gets company. She tells the cat about how she hates the queen ad about how unfair the game in croquet-ground was. The cat was then to be executed but her body was not there. Alice saves her by stating that the head belonged to the Duchess. The King and the Queen lost attention as they ordered for the Duchess to be brought from the prison. The cat’s head disappears. This chapter demonstrates animal-human relationship as Alice stays with a Flamingo as they wait for their turns to play. Alice has a negative relationship with the Duchess as she sacrifices in order to save the Cherishire cat. The cat was her friend who gave her company at the croquet-ground. Chapter 9: The Mock Turtle’s Story Alice was talking with the Duchess who was now more warmly than when they were in the house with pepper. The flamingo was still in her arms. The queen came to her asking about the Mock Turtle. Alice did not know about her and the queen directed the Gryphon to take Alice to the Mock Turtle who then told her the story of his life. Animal-human relationship shows as the Duchess and the Flamingo accompany Alice at the beginning of the chapter. The Mock Turtle also tells her stories in a friendly way. This demonstrates a positive relationship. Chapter 10: The Lobster Quadrille In this chapter Alice, Gryphon and the Mock Turtle talk happily about their stories. The mock turtle and the Gryphon explain about the sweet Lobster Quadrille and Alice talks about her experience of the day. The Mock Turtle and the Gryphon also dance happily as Alice watches. They hate the lobster soup, sang and danced joyfully. A positive Human-animal relationship is seen throughout the story as Alice sang, ate and danced with the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle. The three had a positive relationship, and they were all friends. Chapter 11: Who Stole the Tarts? Back to the throne the King and the Queen of the Hearts were seated with a large crowd of birds and animals with a dish of tarts in tables. It was a trial of justice involving many animals as jurors, soldiers, accused and the accuser. The White rabbit blew a trumpet. The judgment began and the Knave was accused of stealing tarts prepared by the Queen of Hearts. Meanwhile, Alice started growing. The first witness was the Hatter; the second one was the Duchess Cook. None gave substantial evidence. Human-animal relationship is used in this chapter when Alice sits with other animals to listen to the trial. The animals tried to look for justice through the trial and Alice was welcomed in the trial despite being a human being, and finally he was given a chance to be a witness. This is a positive relationship. However, there was a negative relationship with the lizard who was one of the jurors because Alice snatched his pen and he had to use his finger throughout the trial. Chapter 12: Alice’s Evidence Alice takes to the stage as the third witness. He stumbles on the jurors who fall down. She tries to give her evidence and a letter is found by the white rabbit who reads it. The King twists the content to incriminate the Knave, but Alice (now fully grown) becomes angry and tells the King there was no evidence. The Queen orders her to be beheaded, but she says she was just a pile of cards. The cards fly onto her and she started screaming and found herself on the bank with her sister. She was just dreaming. This chapter reflects animal-human relationship as Alice rises to defend the animals in the court from the ruling of the King and the Queen who were just but pile of cards. This shows a positive relationship between animals and human beings. Conclusion This story shows that there is a positive and negative relationship between human beings and animals. Alice relates negatively with the white rabbit that leads him to a hole and refuses to get her out. She becomes friends with the Cherishire cat and the Mock Turtle who accompany her and enjoy time with her. She also takes care of a flamingo and saves the cat from being beheaded. These relationships are significant because they help to maintain a good animal-human relationship and reduce their conflict. References list Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Chicago: VolumeOne Publishing. 1998. Print. Read More