Alice in Wonderland
...theme, though in two different forms, for the books. In Wonderland Alice undergoes only physical changes that occur in a rather chaotic world, showing how the shift from childhood to adulthood can be rather chaotic. In the Looking Glass Alice must make changes in herself to ascend socially. She begins this tale with the mission of becoming a Queen, which represents a higher social class or adulthood. This change is much different from those which she experiences in Wonderland. To make these changes she must learn new rules, ways to act and many other things which seem rather silly to her but must be complied to none the less. In Wonderland the changes are of a physical nature and not so directly controlled by Alice. These changes occur in times of need when Alice must grow smaller or larger to complete some task or to reach some new area. This can be easily interpreted as the natural adaptation that children must make to arrive at adulthood, while the changes of Looking Glass represent the changes that people make to fit in with others. One of the other themes for the stories is the game pieces and how they represent society. In Wonderland Alice runs across playing cards that are very much alive and human like. These cards come to represent society in that they are grouped by class and even ranked so. Some cards are gardeners, some are soldiers and some are simple slaves. This symbolism is increased by the King and Queen of Hearts. The King and Queen represent a higher class who has control or superiority over other cards or classes. Unlike the character of Wonderland, the Looking Glass portrays class in a more individual manner. Early on in the Looking Glass Alice is told how her adventure will unfold, albeit somewhat vaguely. The Red Queen does not give Alice specific details about her journey but more of a vague outline of what will occur, when and how her tale will conclude. These events represent a sort of predetermined destiny or path that many people experience. People often lead simple lives that have been lived before many times and are easily predicted because those people never break away from the norm and truly try to make themselves better or even change themselves. However, near the end of the novel, once Alice has become a queen, she begins to break away from the norm and does as she wishes rather than instructed. Although this can be interpreted as a personal enlightenment for Alice it can also represent the change that many people make rather late in life when they realize that social class and the thoughts of others hardly matter and that every person should live for his or herself. All of these themes play into Carroll’s depiction of the ascension into adulthood and how he felt about that journey and its effects on his relation ship with Alice. Carroll was very fond of Alice in her earlier years and enjoyed much of the time he could spend with her. This time came to and end when Alice’s mother became concerned with the relationship between Carroll and Alice. There is no evidence of anything truly troubling occurring between the two but it seemed apparent that Carroll was confused about his feel...