Response Paper Week 5, Alice in Wonderland

In my response paper I will be writing on Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass and taking an in depth look at the story and its themes and ideas while comparing them to the main themes from our course such as the local, the other, power and privilege. Alice in Wonderland is a literary masterpiece calling on many different abstract themes and ideas to deliver a truly unique book especially for its time. However as unique as it is it can still be compared to a number of the course themes that we have discussed in class. One of these themes would be the idea of power and privilege, an idea that is both overtly and overly displayed throughout the text. Its clear to see that from the beginning, Alice is in a disadvantaged position seeing how she finds herself in strange land with seemingly no hope of escape. Due to this she this could be compared to immigrants who come from other countries and enter a strange land. They’re at a distinct disadvantage when compared to individuals who have lived their lives in this region i.e. the natives of wonderland as the locals have both the privilege of having been established in the area for many years as well as the power of understanding the local customs, laws and people. While in recent years we've attempted to decrease this disparity for immigrants in order to give them more level footing and ensure a stress free transition into their new life. However, this was not the case for alice who was given no accommodations when entering wonderland and therefor had very little power or privilege. And we see how throughout the novel she attempts to work her way up the ranks in order to gain parity with the other inhabitants

Another pervasive theme throughout the novel is the ‘Other’ ,overtly shown throughout the book as Alice is statically shown as the other by the residents of wonderland, one good example of this during the chapter in which Alice plays the role of a witness for the trail. she begins to grow and is told she must stop by the mouse. As this is not something that she can control it can be implied that this is due to her nature as the Other. While it is something that is innate in her as she points out theres no way that could can stop growing however it does not matter to the mouse who takes her growth as a sign of disrespect which we could attribute to his distaste for the other. This is later shown to be systemic dislike for the other when it’s pointed out that according to rule 42 no one taller tan a mile high can be in the court. This proves the dislike for the other even though alice has no control over growth but it also harkens back to the previously discussed theme being power and privilege. As the king and queen are using their power to enforce a rule that degrades those taller than a mile while also instituting their privilege as the rulers of the kingdom institute laws that favour them as short people while penalizing the tall “Others” in their kingdom.

The book shows a number of prevalent fantasies that speak to the authors intention and meaning when writing the book. The first that I noticed was Carrol’s depiction of a beautiful garden, this garden is just beyond the locked door but can still be viewed through the keyhole. I found this interesting as this garden is the catalyst that pushes Alice forward into what will eventually be her departure into wonderland. I don't believe that Carrol used a garden haphazardly but instead used it to represent beauty and longing. As we learned in class garden fantasies in western countries are pervasive and stem from the original idea of the garden of eden which is a place that ideal and perfect and therefor would be a place anyone would long to visit, I believe that Carrol was aware of what a perfect garden meant in the western psyche and therefore used the garden on the other side of the door to represent wonder and a longing to reach the other side.

Alice in wonderland has a number of interesting themes that stand out throughout the novel but none is more pervasive than growing up. This is a theme we can see throughout the book as Alice navigates this new strange world. Not only her actions show this theme but also the symbols and rhetoric that is scattered throughout the book. Alice changes her identity throughout the novel as the further she progresses throughout the story she begins to increase her confidence and the increases her social standing within wonderland. While she enters the world scared and alone she begins to make sense of it and grow as a character to allow herself atoning from the rest of the characters in wonderland and by the end of the novel has grown into a character complexly unbothered but the negative opinion of the other residents such as the mouse telling her she cant grow. This relates to our course theme of power and privilege as it shows that the more competent one becomes with their surroundings and the more connections and friends one has the more their social standing and thus privilege and power in society increase.