Alice in Wonderland Literary Analysis

Alice In Wonderland Literary Analysis Many themes are explored when reading Lewis Carrol’s, Alice in Wonderland. Themes of childhood innocence, child abuse, dream, and others. Reading the story, it was quite clear to see one particular theme portrayed through out the book: child to adult progression. Alice in Wonderland is full of experiences that lead Alice to becoming more of herself and that help her grow up. It’s a story of trial, confusion, understanding, and success. And more confusion. Though others might argue that the story was distinctly made for children just to get joy out of funny words, and odd circumstances, the tale has obvious dynamics that confirm the fact of it being a coming of age story. Each encounter with the individual characters represent some part of childhood, or some part of being a child. It’s the whole growing process of childhood to adulthood. Each character is part of the child growing process. From the White Rabbit, to the Red Queen, every one displays some part of childhood we’re all familiar with. Alice is the child growing, and experiencing all the changes accompanied with growing up, and these characters demonstrate the qualities of every stage. "Alice is by habit a questioning child whose thoughts are constantly reported to the reader as being of equal interest to the strange happenings as he encounters." [1] One supporting factor of the theme is not inside the book, but in the history behind it. “Alice was the daughter of Henry Liddell, the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, where Charles Dodgson lectured in mathematics.” [2] Lewis Carroll was Charles Dodgson’ s pseudonym. He was employed by Henry Liddell and became friends with the family. Dodgson had based the stories he wrote on Alice, and the stories he told her and her siblings. He got to watch Alice as she grew up, being so close with the family. This supports the fact that it was a book telling of the child coming to terms with growing up. The start of the book has

Cited: Source 1. Lucas, Ann Lawson Children 's Literature in Education; September 1999, Vol. 30 Issue 3, p157-169, 13p Source 2. Hopley, Claire British Heritage; Jul2011, Vol. 32 Issue 3, p34-37, 4p Source 3. Heydt, Bruce British Heritage; Sep2005, Vol. 26 Issue 4, p62-166, 2/3p, 1 Color Photograph