Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Essay

Nora Wiley- Schwartz                       711                                         2/28

In the story “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll, a young girl named Alice falls down a rabbit hole and finds herself in a land full of curious things and mysteries. In a typical story, the main character usually has full control over his/her travels, but while Alice takes her journey through Wonderland, we see that the one with the control is not Alice, it’s Wonderland itself.

           

On page 8, the story tells how Alice doesn’t know the outcome of the path she’s taking. “… And found in it a very small cake, on which the words ‘EAT ME’ were beautifully marked in currents. ‘Well I’ll eat it’, said Alice, ‘and if it makes me grow larger, ill be able to reach the key, and if it makes me grow smaller, I’ll creep under the door; so either way ill be able to get in.’” This shows how little control Alice has in Wonderland. Either way, she will grow taller or shorter, she doesn’t know.

Because of Alice’s curiosity and full imagination, Wonderland has an advantage on her. Wonderland pulls her through passageways with a force by bribing her with mysterious things. On page 38, Alice is lead into the Queen of Hearts’s garden because of her determination and curiosity. “Just as she said this, she noticed that one of the trees had a door leading right into it. ‘That’s very curious!’ she thought. ‘But everything is curious today. I think I may as well go in at once.’ And in she went.” This piece of text offers a piece of Alice’s thoughts. Alice is giving in to the journey that Wonderland wants her to take. Because of her determination, Alice is easily lured into the next adventure.

           

Some characters show up to lead her places too, like the Caterpillar. The Caterpillar is famous for saying “who are YOU?” but did you know he lead Alice to what he wanted her to do? On page 25, the Caterpillar says, “ ‘one side will make you grow shorter, the other side will make you grow taller.’ ‘The one side of what? The other side of what?’ thought Alice. ‘Of the mushroom’ said the Caterpillar. And just like that, he was gone.” This explains how the Caterpillar was hinting to her about the future and leading her to the next place.

            To conclude, Wonderland has a great deal of control over Alice, despite her determination and curiosity. Because of her curiosity and huge imagination, Wonderland is able to pull her through her journeys by introducing her to characters. Wonderland takes advantage of Alice’s curiosity and leads her through her journey.