Comparison Of Coming Of Age In Alice's Adventures In Wonderland And Northern Lights
The novels I will be discussing are; Lewis Carrol’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Phillip Pullman’s Northern Lights. Both protagonists in these books experience their coming of age in a world of fantasy and adventuring into the unknown. While these books are set in realms of what we consider bizarre and fantastical, they both provide timeless problems and lessons the modern reader can relate and learn from. The Coming of Age genre in these books’ cases deals with the issue of growing up. Like many of their readers, while growing up both protagonists experience feelings of confusion and apprehension reflected in their settings. It is only when they take steps into the unfamiliar and experience new things do they begin their journeys
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to self-discovery truly begin.
Fantasy, as a genre, allows the reader to escape into a whole new world. The unfamiliar landscapes create unchartered water which gives the writer a blank canvas to with so as his pleases. The writer can create their own rules and has infinite limitations to play with. In the case of combining fantasy with coming of age, situations can be exaggerated to emphasise the person’s coming of age journey. Both Pullman and Carroll use this in making their characters journey as effective as possible. The two are different however, Carroll takes his character from our world into that of Wonderland suggesting any of his readers could fall into a rabbit hole at any time. His character is therefore accessible as we can relate as to how we, as readers, would react if we were put in the same situation. Pullman, on the other hand, creates a whole new world. The world, all be it, is not a million miles away from our own, but he uses magic and mystical creatures to isolate us from his world, creating a whole new dimension for the reader. While both worlds are zany and beyond reality, the core of the situations are familiar and relatable. The genre can get away with taking immaterial emotions and can materialise them into creatures or people and make them as embellished as they like.
Critic Karen Patricia Smith (Smith), suggests that there are certain conventions in fantasy novels. Beginning with a young protagonist, she adds “sometimes greatly troubled” that ventures into a new world. In Northern Lights, Lyra embarks on a mission far away from the comfortable and safe lifestyle she is used to at the College. Lyra travels North with the Gyptians to Bolvangar and Svalbard on a rescue mission to save the children who have been snatched by the “Gobblers”. It is here Lyra is faced with challenges like bears in armour and witches that fly through the sky. Likewise, in during Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice enters a wonderful world of nonsensical creature and people. Alice’s naivety allows her to experience the new world without inhibition, when she falls down the rabbit hole she begins her journey into the ambiguous world of riddles and mystery. Both Lyra and Alice must power through their respective new worlds to discover their own identities.
Throughout Northern Lights, the reader is engulfed into a new realm of possibilities. The most stand out element is the presence of the “daemons”, Maude Hines (Hines)describes them as an “external human soul”, reflecting the identity of the person emotionally and spiritually. While the daemon offers advice and judgement to the human - the daemon must remain close to their human at all times and so can only experience and feel what their human does. The ever changing of Lyra’s, and other children’s’, daemon is reflective of where they are in discovering their identity. The daemons of adults has one set form, this is because the Dust that once surrounded them has settled. Lyra, as she is only a child, doesn’t fully understand the meaning of Dust, Dust symbolises original sin and therefore could be interpreted as a metaphor for sexual desire which one would not feel until puberty begins.
The idea of a daemon is enchanting to the reader, it is whimsical and unusual.
But to Lyra, it is nothing but another part of life, she also has no problem accepting that there is a tribe of talking polar bear who hold grudges or witches who appear from nowhere, to Lyra, life with her daemon would be unliveable and a life without magic – unthinkable. Contrasting to Alice, who comes from a world where talking animals don’t tend to be a common feature in day to day life. On her journey Alice encounters many strange characters, from a rabbit with a watch to smirking cat. Unlike Lyra, Alice has great difficulty in understanding and getting used to the creatures she meets – much like the residents of Wonderland don’t understand the “curious child” who has stumbled upon …show more content…
them.
Wonderland does not operate to the usual rules and regulations Alice is used to, in fact they turn every social norm on its head. Kathleen Blake, (Blake), claims Wonderland is a flamboyant realm of unruly behaviour (Carroll) (Pullman) -bound expressions, internal logic and freedom. The land of nonsense uses word play and confusion to enhance and emphasise the topsy-turvy life they lead. For example, Mouse begins to tell Alice a “long sad tale”, which Alice misunderstands to be the Mouse referring to her own, actual tail – asking the mouse, “Why do you call it sad?” These misunderstandings and muddled situations show how Alice is completely out of her comfort zone in this world she has landed in.
Surprisingly, Alice does not use the situation she is in to escape or disregard authority, instead she tries to understand the impossible happenings she is witnessing as if they should conform to the world she knows above ground. Alice remains incredible calm for a child in her situation. Blake argues that Alice uses what she knows to be right and wrong based on her learnings from authority figures in her real world to survive in Wonderland. She applies what she has learned from her schoolbooks, adults in her life and her own logic and rationality to make some sort of internal sense of the strange place. Alice’s confusion is similar to Lyra’s struggle to make sense of the world of the grown-ups.
Like Alice, Lyra uses instinct to judge between right and wrong. It is Lyra’s instinct that tells her the separation of human and daemon is both unnatural and morally wrong. While in the catacombs of Jordan College she finds coins with engraved images of daemons placed in the skull of the past Scholars. After swapping the coins with Roger she is visited by a “nightly ghast” in which she saw three headless figures pointing at her. After the experience she returns all the coins, realising her mistake, and whispering “Sorry!” to each skull. This shows Lyra’s sense of compassion and reinforces the fact that she is a child and will make mistakes.
However, Lyra’s sense of what is right and wrong is challenged when she travels to Bolvangar. Lyra discovers that the General Oblation Board have been engaging in the process of “intercision”, separating child from daemon. When Lyra encounters a “severed” child, her immediate instinct is to run away or to get sick – this tells the reader that Lyra knows intercision is wrong. Lyra’s values are compromised by the enchantingly charismatic, Mrs. Coulter. After discovering Mrs. Coulter is her biological mother, Lyra is somewhat convinced by Mrs. Coulter that this separation of child and daemon if got the greater good, that “intercision” is done to stop the settling of Dust and so children will retain their innocence. Despite Mrs. Coulter’s words of manipulations, Lyra trusts her gut and listens to her daemon who acts as almost a moral conscience for her – enhancing Lyra’s ability to judge what is right and wrong. Lyra’s character is distinctly strong willed from the beginning and throughout the novel.
Unlike Alice. Alice enters her new world as quite a timid, polite and unsure little girl. This is obvious when she is contradicted repeatedly by the caterpillar and yet she still, reluctantly, maintains her composure and remains courteous. Alice is unsure of herself and therefore is notably lacking in confidence in her convictions. She asks herself, “Who in the world am I?” at the beginning of her journey. Instead of listening to her instincts she seeks guidance and direction from the creatures she encounters on her way. When she seeks help from the Cheshire cat, he refuses to answer her directly, instead he answers her with ambiguous questions, “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to!” Alice is not yet aware she is going on a journey of self-discovery or what she is going to achieve but she adds, “so long as I get somewhere.” This shows Alice does want a goal to strive for; she just doesn’t know what it is she wants it to be. Unlike Lyra, Alice is not as strong willed and much more open to manipulation.
Blake states, (pp.
123) that when something is presented to Alice she is persistent. She works hard to achieve the task at hand. After much persistence, Alice gets into the Queen’s garden for the Queen’s croquet match. It is here Alice exhibits her first example of an increased self-confidence. Alice is annoyed by the match because there are no rules. Alice dismisses the Queen’s nonsense quietly to herself, “There only a pack of cards after all, I needn’t be afraid of them!” It is in the court however, Alice reveals her new found self-assured, boldness. She takes all the food and drink at her own leisure and grows accordingly. Alice’s increased size is a representation of her growing confidence. When “rule forty-two” is introduced against Alice stating; “All persons more than a mile-high must leave the court”, Alice loses all her previous inhibitions. Her newfound confidence, and height, make for a braver, bolder Alice. She challenges the court, which represent authority, claiming their rules and laws are “nonsense”. Unlike previously, Alice now has the confidence to declare loudly that “You’re nothing but a pack of cards!” Alice displays her coming of age by her finally making up her own mind. Nobody told her to challenge the Queen or the court, she said what was needed to be said all on her own. She is no longer afraid of the consequences because instead of trying to make sense of Wonderland and its whimsy, she realises Wonderland does not follow logic or sense. Because of
Alice’s ridiculous trip to Wonderland she discovers she has her own voice and opinions and she is in fact strong minded and capable of judgement.
Similarly, Lyra, having discovered the truth about General Oblation Board and what her mother is involved in, Lyra rebels and travels to Svalbard to rescue her captured father, Lord Asriel. Lyra encounters many forms of the “unnatural” on her journey but it is because of these evens she discovers an inner strength in deciphering between right and wrong. Despite having a and alluring and manipulative mother tell her how to think, Lyra breaks away from the authority and does what she knows to be the right thing. She rejects her mother’s influence and choses to do what she believes is right. Like Alice, her confidence and will power has grown throughout her experience.
To conclude, both Alice and Lyra learn more about their identities through venturing into the unknown world of fantasy. Both encounter new experiences, some frightening and challenging and some whimsical and intriguing, while not all the same – they all contribute to the character’s coming of age story. Both must address uncharted territory, where they must address issues they are unfamiliar with, it is here they learn what growing up is about and gain a new insight into what life is all about. When faced with cases of moral ambiguity used their instincts and gut feelings to come to their own conclusion, ignoring the critique of others. By doing so, they allow themselves to mature and step closer to finding their own identities.
to self-discovery truly begin.
Fantasy, as a genre, allows the reader to escape into a whole new world. The unfamiliar landscapes create unchartered water which gives the writer a blank canvas to with so as his pleases. The writer can create their own rules and has infinite limitations to play with. In the case of combining fantasy with coming of age, situations can be exaggerated to emphasise the person’s coming of age journey. Both Pullman and Carroll use this in making their characters journey as effective as possible. The two are different however, Carroll takes his character from our world into that of Wonderland suggesting any of his readers could fall into a rabbit hole at any time. His character is therefore accessible as we can relate as to how we, as readers, would react if we were put in the same situation. Pullman, on the other hand, creates a whole new world. The world, all be it, is not a million miles away from our own, but he uses magic and mystical creatures to isolate us from his world, creating a whole new dimension for the reader. While both worlds are zany and beyond reality, the core of the situations are familiar and relatable. The genre can get away with taking immaterial emotions and can materialise them into creatures or people and make them as embellished as they like.
Critic Karen Patricia Smith (Smith), suggests that there are certain conventions in fantasy novels. Beginning with a young protagonist, she adds “sometimes greatly troubled” that ventures into a new world. In Northern Lights, Lyra embarks on a mission far away from the comfortable and safe lifestyle she is used to at the College. Lyra travels North with the Gyptians to Bolvangar and Svalbard on a rescue mission to save the children who have been snatched by the “Gobblers”. It is here Lyra is faced with challenges like bears in armour and witches that fly through the sky. Likewise, in during Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice enters a wonderful world of nonsensical creature and people. Alice’s naivety allows her to experience the new world without inhibition, when she falls down the rabbit hole she begins her journey into the ambiguous world of riddles and mystery. Both Lyra and Alice must power through their respective new worlds to discover their own identities.
Throughout Northern Lights, the reader is engulfed into a new realm of possibilities. The most stand out element is the presence of the “daemons”, Maude Hines (Hines)describes them as an “external human soul”, reflecting the identity of the person emotionally and spiritually. While the daemon offers advice and judgement to the human - the daemon must remain close to their human at all times and so can only experience and feel what their human does. The ever changing of Lyra’s, and other children’s’, daemon is reflective of where they are in discovering their identity. The daemons of adults has one set form, this is because the Dust that once surrounded them has settled. Lyra, as she is only a child, doesn’t fully understand the meaning of Dust, Dust symbolises original sin and therefore could be interpreted as a metaphor for sexual desire which one would not feel until puberty begins.
The idea of a daemon is enchanting to the reader, it is whimsical and unusual.
But to Lyra, it is nothing but another part of life, she also has no problem accepting that there is a tribe of talking polar bear who hold grudges or witches who appear from nowhere, to Lyra, life with her daemon would be unliveable and a life without magic – unthinkable. Contrasting to Alice, who comes from a world where talking animals don’t tend to be a common feature in day to day life. On her journey Alice encounters many strange characters, from a rabbit with a watch to smirking cat. Unlike Lyra, Alice has great difficulty in understanding and getting used to the creatures she meets – much like the residents of Wonderland don’t understand the “curious child” who has stumbled upon …show more content…
them.
Wonderland does not operate to the usual rules and regulations Alice is used to, in fact they turn every social norm on its head. Kathleen Blake, (Blake), claims Wonderland is a flamboyant realm of unruly behaviour (Carroll) (Pullman) -bound expressions, internal logic and freedom. The land of nonsense uses word play and confusion to enhance and emphasise the topsy-turvy life they lead. For example, Mouse begins to tell Alice a “long sad tale”, which Alice misunderstands to be the Mouse referring to her own, actual tail – asking the mouse, “Why do you call it sad?” These misunderstandings and muddled situations show how Alice is completely out of her comfort zone in this world she has landed in.
Surprisingly, Alice does not use the situation she is in to escape or disregard authority, instead she tries to understand the impossible happenings she is witnessing as if they should conform to the world she knows above ground. Alice remains incredible calm for a child in her situation. Blake argues that Alice uses what she knows to be right and wrong based on her learnings from authority figures in her real world to survive in Wonderland. She applies what she has learned from her schoolbooks, adults in her life and her own logic and rationality to make some sort of internal sense of the strange place. Alice’s confusion is similar to Lyra’s struggle to make sense of the world of the grown-ups.
Like Alice, Lyra uses instinct to judge between right and wrong. It is Lyra’s instinct that tells her the separation of human and daemon is both unnatural and morally wrong. While in the catacombs of Jordan College she finds coins with engraved images of daemons placed in the skull of the past Scholars. After swapping the coins with Roger she is visited by a “nightly ghast” in which she saw three headless figures pointing at her. After the experience she returns all the coins, realising her mistake, and whispering “Sorry!” to each skull. This shows Lyra’s sense of compassion and reinforces the fact that she is a child and will make mistakes.
However, Lyra’s sense of what is right and wrong is challenged when she travels to Bolvangar. Lyra discovers that the General Oblation Board have been engaging in the process of “intercision”, separating child from daemon. When Lyra encounters a “severed” child, her immediate instinct is to run away or to get sick – this tells the reader that Lyra knows intercision is wrong. Lyra’s values are compromised by the enchantingly charismatic, Mrs. Coulter. After discovering Mrs. Coulter is her biological mother, Lyra is somewhat convinced by Mrs. Coulter that this separation of child and daemon if got the greater good, that “intercision” is done to stop the settling of Dust and so children will retain their innocence. Despite Mrs. Coulter’s words of manipulations, Lyra trusts her gut and listens to her daemon who acts as almost a moral conscience for her – enhancing Lyra’s ability to judge what is right and wrong. Lyra’s character is distinctly strong willed from the beginning and throughout the novel.
Unlike Alice. Alice enters her new world as quite a timid, polite and unsure little girl. This is obvious when she is contradicted repeatedly by the caterpillar and yet she still, reluctantly, maintains her composure and remains courteous. Alice is unsure of herself and therefore is notably lacking in confidence in her convictions. She asks herself, “Who in the world am I?” at the beginning of her journey. Instead of listening to her instincts she seeks guidance and direction from the creatures she encounters on her way. When she seeks help from the Cheshire cat, he refuses to answer her directly, instead he answers her with ambiguous questions, “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to!” Alice is not yet aware she is going on a journey of self-discovery or what she is going to achieve but she adds, “so long as I get somewhere.” This shows Alice does want a goal to strive for; she just doesn’t know what it is she wants it to be. Unlike Lyra, Alice is not as strong willed and much more open to manipulation.
Blake states, (pp.
123) that when something is presented to Alice she is persistent. She works hard to achieve the task at hand. After much persistence, Alice gets into the Queen’s garden for the Queen’s croquet match. It is here Alice exhibits her first example of an increased self-confidence. Alice is annoyed by the match because there are no rules. Alice dismisses the Queen’s nonsense quietly to herself, “There only a pack of cards after all, I needn’t be afraid of them!” It is in the court however, Alice reveals her new found self-assured, boldness. She takes all the food and drink at her own leisure and grows accordingly. Alice’s increased size is a representation of her growing confidence. When “rule forty-two” is introduced against Alice stating; “All persons more than a mile-high must leave the court”, Alice loses all her previous inhibitions. Her newfound confidence, and height, make for a braver, bolder Alice. She challenges the court, which represent authority, claiming their rules and laws are “nonsense”. Unlike previously, Alice now has the confidence to declare loudly that “You’re nothing but a pack of cards!” Alice displays her coming of age by her finally making up her own mind. Nobody told her to challenge the Queen or the court, she said what was needed to be said all on her own. She is no longer afraid of the consequences because instead of trying to make sense of Wonderland and its whimsy, she realises Wonderland does not follow logic or sense. Because of
Alice’s ridiculous trip to Wonderland she discovers she has her own voice and opinions and she is in fact strong minded and capable of judgement.
Similarly, Lyra, having discovered the truth about General Oblation Board and what her mother is involved in, Lyra rebels and travels to Svalbard to rescue her captured father, Lord Asriel. Lyra encounters many forms of the “unnatural” on her journey but it is because of these evens she discovers an inner strength in deciphering between right and wrong. Despite having a and alluring and manipulative mother tell her how to think, Lyra breaks away from the authority and does what she knows to be the right thing. She rejects her mother’s influence and choses to do what she believes is right. Like Alice, her confidence and will power has grown throughout her experience.
To conclude, both Alice and Lyra learn more about their identities through venturing into the unknown world of fantasy. Both encounter new experiences, some frightening and challenging and some whimsical and intriguing, while not all the same – they all contribute to the character’s coming of age story. Both must address uncharted territory, where they must address issues they are unfamiliar with, it is here they learn what growing up is about and gain a new insight into what life is all about. When faced with cases of moral ambiguity used their instincts and gut feelings to come to their own conclusion, ignoring the critique of others. By doing so, they allow themselves to mature and step closer to finding their own identities.