Alice and Wonderland
This unit is a little unusual because it skips around the book quite a bit condensing some of the chapters and leaving some out. I've included some of my favorite stories!
Part A: Favorites
Down the Rabbit Hole
I have always loved Alice in Wonderland! As I read, I can't help but use my memories of the Disney movie to provide myself with visuals of the action (it is such a visual story!) In this first story, as it suggests, we see Alice go down her famous rabbit hole. I think it was very interesting how even in the story it says that she never gave any thought to how she was going to get out - that was something I always wondered at as a child. I love the little monologue she has with herself as she fall, quite calmly, down the deep dark well. I've always thought Alice a very strange character as she doesn't seem to wonder at what a typical person would wonder at, at least not to the same degree.
Down the Rabbit Hole (cont...)
I think that this chapter does a good job of capturing the very essence of childlike sensibility that characterizes Alice. When she finally lands at the bottom of the well, Alice finds herself in a room of many doors. She finds a key but the only door that the key will fit is no bigger than a rat hole. She despairs momentarily at not being able to fit through the door but is soon distracted when she finds a bottle that is labeled"drink me." However, Alice is very wise and realizes that she must first check to make sure that the bottle is not also marked poison as well. Of course the bottle could only contain poison if it is marked as such! I love this and the other statements she makes about the things that only wise little children remember from stories. It is comical but it is very true that children due seem to lack the most basic of common sense in many stories and fairytales which Alice has not failed to notice.
Down the Rabbit Hole (end)
After drinking from the mysterious bottle, Alice finds herself no more than 10 inches tall. To her delight, she is small enough to pass through the very small door, However, she soon realizes that she left the key on top of the table and is now to small to reach it! She begins to cry in despair but only for a bit before she sharply chastises herself for being so silly. Suddenly, she discovers under the table a box and inside the box she finds a very small cake on which is written "eat me" she does so thinking that this will cause her to grow taller. She does indeed begin to grow but much much bigger than she had anticipated - much too tall to fit through the small door. She begins to cry once more at her bad luck! The story skips a bit during which time I know from reading the book and seeing the movie that Alice is indeed able to shrink herself back down again and fit through the tiny door at last. When the story picks back up, she meets a large caterpillar smoking hookah on a mushroom.
Advice from a Caterpillar
Now commences Alice's famous conversation with the Caterpillar. He asks who she is and she replies that she isn't quite sure. This seems to annoy the Caterpillar, but if you think about it, this is a pretty existential answer, for how often are we unsure of who we are really, especially if you have spent the day growing and shrinking! The Caterpillar seems to talk in circles, which aggravates poor Alice. The Caterpillar in turn advises Alice to keep her temper.
Advice from a Caterpillar (cont...)
Alice begins to find the Caterpillar a rather contradictory sort. He asks her to recite the poem You are Old, Father William only to have him tell her that she has recited the entire thing incorrectly. She begins to lose her patience again. The Caterpillar does not seem to be able to help her. I think this is an interesting point - just because someone doesn't tell you exactly what you want to hear, it doesn't mean that they can't help you. In this case, the Caterpillar does eventually provide Alice with the information she seems to be seeking. He tells her that eating one side of the mushroom upon which he sits will make her larger and the other side will make her smaller. She chooses a side to eat and is rewarded by growing a very large chin.
Advice from a Caterpillar (end)
Eventually, her neck stretches up so tall that is rises above the trees and is mistaking for a serpent by a mother Pigeon and spends a great deal of time arguing with the bird about whether she is a girl or a serpent. After some time, Alice recalls that she is still holding the other side of the mushroom and can use it to shrink herself again. When she eats the mushroom, she finds herself only 9 inches high.
Pig and Pepper
The next three stories involve Alice's meeting with a very ill-tempered duchess who is preparing a very pepper-y soup for her young baby who is wailing horribly. It is here that Alice meets the Chesire cat for the first time with his all too pleasant grin.
Part B:
I've decided for Part B to combine the separate parts of each chapter into one set of notes for each chapter so as to help the continuity of the story for my notes.
A Mad Tea Party
This is where we are first introduced to my favorite character in this story: the Mad Hatter. He is accompanied in this story by, of course, the March Hare and the Dormouse. We learn that they are in a constant state of tea time because the Hatter was once accused of murdering Time while he recited for the Queen of Hearts and now Time has refused to do anything for the poor Hatter. Thus, it is always 6:00pm - tea time. Alice joins this strange, eternal tea party and finds herself equal parts intrigued and frustrated by her strange new companions. They are constantly speaking in riddles with no answer (how IS a raven like a writing desk?) and using clever wordplay. That is probably my favorite thing about this story - the wordplay which makes all of the characters seem rather daft or mad, but in reality paints them to be more clever than is initially understood. (Also see A Mad Tea Party (cont...) and A Mad Tea Party (end) )
The Queen's Croquet Ground
We finally are introduced to the crazy Queen of Hearts. I love the way she is described in the story - almost like a petulant child, screaming "off with his head!" every few moments. She invites Alice to play in her game of croquet after Alice stands up to the mad queen on behalf of her royal gardeners who have been painting the white roses that were accidentally planted in the queen's garden red. The game of croquet is very strange - the balls are hedgehogs and the malts are flamingos. The more time Alice spends around the queen, the more sure she is that she will at some point lose her head and realizes that she needs to do her best to stay on the queen's good side. To Alice's great delight, her friend, the Cheshire Cat, makes an appearance (just his head). However, he manages to insult the king and when the king brings the problem to his wife, her very Procrustean solution is to cut off the Cat's head. This sparks a debate - how will they behead a head? (Also See The Queen's Croquet Ground (cont...) and The Queen's Croquet Ground (end) )
Who Stole the Tarts?
A trial commences to determine who has stolen the Queen's Tarts. This scene seems to take place a little helter-skelter - nothing really seems to make sense, which is part of the charm of this story. The judge is the King of Hearts who seems to latch onto the most inane of details presented by the witnesses, the jury is made up of a collection of beasts with slates. Their notes do not particularly seem to pertain to what is happening in the trial. The witnesses called includes the Mad Hatter, the Duchess' cook, and Alice herself! I wonder if the chaos that ensues in this so-called court is meant to be a satire about the proceedings of actual court and how they too can seem helter-skelter or nonsensical. (Also see Who Stole the Tarts (cont...) )
Alice's Evidence (cont...)
When it is her turn to give evidence (what evidence could she possibly have) Alice discovers that she has been growing and has almost reached her full size. This makes her very unafraid of the Queen and she begins to get a little mouthy calling them all nothing but a pack of cards. When the cards begin to attack her, she wakes realizing that all she has experienced has been nothing but a dream! A wonderful dream! This explains her willingness throughout the story to accept all of the events that are transpiring around her.
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