Charles Lutwidge Dodgson,

known by his pen name Lewis

Carroll, was born in January 27,
1832 and died of pneumonia in
January 14, 1898.
He was an English writer of
world-famous children’s fiction,
notably Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland and its sequel
Through the Looking Glass. He
was noted for his facility at word
play, logic, and fantasy.
Carroll came from a family of
high-church Anglicans and
developed a long relationship
with Christ Church, Oxford. Alice
Liddell, daughter of the Dean of
Christ Church, Henry Liddell, is
widely identified as the original
for Alice in Wonderland, though
Carroll always denied this.
ALICE is the seven-year old
protagonist of the story. She
believes that the world is orderly
and stable and she has an
insatiable curiosity about her
surroundings.
The WHITE RABBIT is the
frantic, harried
Wonderland creature
that originally leads Alice
to Wonderland.
The QUEEN OF HEARTS is the ruler of
Wonderland. She is severe and
domineering, continually
screaming for her subjects to be
beheaded.
The CHESHIRE CAT is a perpetually
grinning cat who appears and
disappears at will.
The DUCHESS is the Queen’s
uncommonly ugly cousin. She
behaves rudely to Alice at first, but
later treats her so affectionately
that her advances feel
threatening.
The CATERPILLAR is a Wonderland
creature. The Caterpillar sits on a
mushroom, smokes a hookah, and
treats Alice with contempt.
The MAD HATTER is a small, impolite
hatter who lives in perpetual tea-
time. The Mad Hatter enjoys
frustrating Alice.
Tweedledum and
Tweedledee are
twin brothers, fat
little boys who like
grinning and
reciting poetry to
Alice.
The setting is Wonderland, a strange and seemingly
crazy world that is entered by dropping into a rabbit
hole. Animals act as normal people. Physical size as
well as time are relative. The story also partly takes
place in our ‘real’ world, where Alice starts in by
sitting next to her sister, and wakes up in. In the story,
Wonderland is a dream world. Thematically,
however, Wonderland is not really another world. It is
in fact our own world, only seen through the eyes of
a child.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland represents the
child's struggle to survive in the confusing world of
adults. To understand our adult world, Alice has to
overcome the open-mindedness that is
characteristic for children. Apparently, adults need
rules to live by.
The book belongs to the FANTASY and one of the best
examples of the LITERARY NONSENSE genre. It was often
identified that the main character, Alice, was welded
from the daughter of the dean of the church Carroll was
in.
“The best way to explain it is to do it.”
“I am older than you, and must know better.”
The main problem encountered by Alice is her
involvement in that fantasy world, the Wonderland, by
which she was very confused. She encountered plenty of
magical and impossible things which she thought would
never happen. Her sense of innocence makes it difficult
for her to cope up of the happenings in Wonderland.
While Alice is in Wonderland, she tried to cope up and
strive from the different happenings there. She found the
way of letting go with the flow of the events there until she
woke up from her dream.
From the book, I can see myself from Alice because just
like her, I am still a child confused of what’s going on with
this place. But as I go on, I am learning things and getting
used of the different situations that I encounter here. It
may seem that the story is supposed to be for children but
grown-ups who are still confused of themselves and of this
world can relate to this. They should realize that this world
is full of mystery, adventures, and moral which will help
them to rid of the confusion to themselves. They should
also be like Alice who just goes with the flow and learning
from the same time.
The moral of the story is that we should know what and
how to act to this very confusing world. We might be like
an innocent child like Alice who don’t know what’s going
on but we should bear in mind that existence is the life of
adventures and we should know how to cope up and
strive to understand the mystery behind this life.