In this already hard-to-understand story, chapters five and six provide an opening for clarity. By identifying symbolism and a theme (as well hints from discussions in 2nd period), this tall tale's purpose is more clearly drawn out.
You could almost see Alice in Wonderland as allegorical, representing the transition of growing up from a child to an adult (remember how she fell asleep because of her sister's book without pictures? That in itself discreetly set the story's approach).
For instance, both Alice's size changes and real-world age changes offer a new set of privileges but set a bar of limitation as well. But once a level of understanding of growth is gained -- for Alice it was from speaking with the caterpillar, and for humans it's by maturity and learning important life lessons -- us humans (or Alice) can understand that one can still live their life to the fullest, even with inevitable restrictions of time and growth in place.
At the start of chapter five, Alice, like any growing teenager, expressed confusion in identifying herself. With that, the caterpillar repeatedly asked Alice who she was, and after periods of silence, was told to watch her temper. By the end, she found out that eating the mushroom was the secret to control over size.
The whole encounter was symbolic of the personal and life questioning that people sometimes go through as they approach maturity: as you begin your transition between a child and an adult, you never really know who you are and you're on a search to answer the question "Who are YOU?" just as Alice was. When life poses silences and doesn't give us answers, we often get impatient as Alice did. Only by holding our tempers can we find answers right in front of us.
In the middle of chapter six, her conversation with the Cheshire cat symbolizes the next step in transition: deciding where to take your life, even if you haven't quite figured out exactly who you are. It said that "you're sure to do that [get somewhere], if you only walk long enough". This holds true in both Alice's situation and in life; when you grow up, you're bound to make something of yourself as long as you keep pushing through life and choose a direction to go.
With that, I'm off to sleep (: See half of you tomorrow!
Good job on sticking to the homework assignment. Its amazing how we can become so confused on the work written by the author that we are completely blind from the theme trying to be brought out by the author. Like, who ever knew that one of the main points trying to be uncovered is change and growing up, beneath all these absurd imagination put into the book. I would have never guessed but after reading your blog it seems more clearer to me. There is a lot of personification, like the creatures put in the story and they are what makes the theme the way it is. Like the caterpillar being compared to we as individuals undergoing so many changes in real life today.
ReplyDeleteAbby,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with what you said. The underlying symbolism and themes don't truly become clear until chapters five and six. Which is why also discussed Alice's confusion of her own identity. How she constantly changes in size, and how it is confusing her. She doesn't understand the concept of change or growing up or that sheis goin to have to. The Caterpillar is trying to make clear to her that change/growing up is not a bad thing and she shouldn't be afraid, and that she is just goin to have to embrace it.