I revisit Wonderland

Lewis Carroll was the pick for the second week of my scifi/fantasy class. I first read "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" when I was in the eighth grade. My 13-year-old self was taken by Carroll's word puzzles and language games (I like to think Carroll would be happy to know he was still entertaining little girls many decades after his death). But in re-reading these books, I was struck by how true-to-life Alice seemed to be. In inventing his fantasy world and stuffing it with myriad gifts of invention and delight, Carroll was clearly an astute observer of how children thought and reacted imaginatively. So here's paper #2:

Perhaps part of the reason Lewis Carroll's Alice books are considered literature lies in the fact that, however fanciful and surreal Wonderland and Looking Glass world are, Alice herself is a fully drawn human personality, who still puts us adult readers in touch with our childhood selves.

From the beginning of Wonderland, Alice is full of opinions. She criticizes her sister's reading: "What is the use of a book without pictures or conversation?" She makes judgments about her playmates (e.g., the ringleted but simple Mabel). Alice helps us recall how busy our own minds were making--and later revising--our judgments.

Alice also shows considerable social skill. She is polite to importunate, tiresome, and rude creatures in Wonderland (e.g., the Caucus Race animals, the Mockturtle, and Caterpillar, respectively). She is amused when the White Rabbit mistakes her for "Mary Ann" and orders her about. She is empathetic, sincerely begging the Mouse's pardon when she catches herself fondly recalling her cat's mousing skills. 

Self-confidence is another of Alice's traits. She is not afraid to meet and engage with Carroll's bizarre characters. She is eager to participate in the riddles and word games at the Mad Tea Party, and her mind is quick and agile, though the nonsense finally frustrates her into leaving. 

Alice's frustrations, particularly with growing up and down, add depth to her character, reminding us how frustrating it was to live in a child's ever-changing body and to be told that we were too big or too small to do something. She also chafes under the Queen of Hearts' arbitrary rules--reminding us how arbitrary adult rules often seemed--finally snapping, "You're nothing but a pack of cards!"

While Carroll's books are best known for their puzzles and wordplay, careful adult readers will also appreciate that he wrote his books for and about the real children he knew, and skillfully used them as models to present children as engaging and sympathetic personalities.