How do travelers construct their own identity as they travel? ‘“Who are you?” said the Caterpillar.’ (Carroll 1998: 40). Identity is explored extensively throughout Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Amos Tutuola’s The Palm-Wine Drinkard (1952). Both protagonists embark on a journey that questions their inner self; through the distortion of characters, time and plot. Transformations allow each protagonist to distort their own identity and gain self-awareness as they travel. Both texts explore the protagonist’s escape from reality through the episodic structure. Each episode is constructed as they travel, to become part of their identity, and the representation of escape as a criticism of the social context. Both authors carefully structure the narrative for both protagonists to create an identity that is intertwined into their travels. Escape is a major theme that controls both protagonists as they travel. Carroll and Tutuola highlight the irrational nature of the world they create, as both the African Bush and Wonderland are very different from the daily lives of the protagonists. Both texts enter a mysterious realm that is like a dream-state or limbo, arguably a journey into their sub-conscious, where through escaping different episodes they eventually come to find themselves. In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, it is quite clear to the reader that Alice is in a dream. From the subtle implications of the narrator in the opening lines, that Alice
Issues concerning her size, identity, and her social exchanges with both Wonderland and its creatures spur and characterize Alice’s development towards becoming a young woman.
The search for identity is a seemingly difficult task. There are numerous challenges preventing many from discovering who they are. In Collier’s short story Marigolds, the author uses the narrator’s transformation to show that during stressful times, one's true identity is established. The narrator gives a description of her childhood in the exposition of the story. Lizabeth described her childhood as, “After our few chores around the tumbledown shanty, Joey and I were free to run wild in the sun with other children similarly situated. For the most part, those days are ill-defined in my memory, running together and coming like a fresh water-color painting left out in the rain” (Collier 24). Lizabeth recalls living a leisurely childhood in Maryland. The author’s use of characterization is significant because it gives the reader insight into the life of the narrator. Lizabeth frolics with the other kids in the neighborhood and has a relaxed life. Sometimes Lizabeth harasses Miss Lottie
In 1862, floating upon the river Isis, Charles Dodgson narrated for Alice Liddell and a few others in company his original tale of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Gliding along underneath the blue sky, Dodgson wove his words into one of the most classic children stories of all time. Thesis: Although Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland may have only begun as a children’s story, many adults have sought to discover the “true meaning” of the novel. Curiosity has led to years of searching and interpretation of the origins of Carroll’s novels, and the symbols inside, developing into theories ranging from practical to nearly impossible, eventually evolving into their own stories in the film industry.
Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a story of a young girl’s journey down the rabbit hole into a fantasy world where there seems to be no logic. Throughout Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice experiences a variety of bizarre physical changes, causing her to realize she is not only trying to figure out Wonderland but also trying to determine her own identity. After Alice arrives in Wonderland the narrator states, “For this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people” (Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland 12). This quotation is the first instance that shows Alice is unsure of her identity. The changes in size that take place when she eats or drinks are the physical signs of her loss of identity.
Thesis: Identity is constructed through the character’s change/realisation of social ideals and personal experiences throughout the text.
Some battles are more important than other’s like the one the character endures eternally. British literature as a whole pertains a lot of literary elements. But within these stories the most prominent is identity. A soul searching journey for one’s identity can begin at any stage of one’s life. The universal, time-transcendent idea of identity within British Literature attests to the human need for self knowledge, as it can be seen in the novels in Frankenstein, Beowulf, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Based on the children’s literary work written by Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland is a fictional film that was directed by Tim Burton. The film is set in Wonderland inside of Alice’s dream, so viewers are able to recognize the lack of order and the fantasies of children. One of the major themes seen in the movie is childhood, specifically the development into adulthood, which is depicted in other characters besides Alice. Alice, however, is used as the primary symbol for what children in the Victorian Age should not ideally act like, since they were expected to dress properly and attain a certain level of education. Furthermore, Sigmund Freud’s dream theory and tripartite give further insight into the characters and what they represented during the Victorian Age. The id, ego, and the superego are applied to the unconscious and conscious mind states, and how the unconscious state is still somewhat available during a conscious state. In Alice in Wonderland, psychoanalysis is used to portray the Red Queen as the id, the Absolem
People have different identities because they all make their own over the course of their lives. Identity development is the outcome of different experiences and situations people encounter throughout their lives. Views, beliefs, activities, and conflicts have an impact on how individuals form their identities. People go through life trying to recognize their character traits, the act of which leads them to their identities, but over time can lose the identities they have through society, through a marriage, or through one’s own self. Willy Loman, a delusional salesman, in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman; Minnie Wright, an unhappy and lonely housewife, in Susan Glaspell’s Trifles; and Oedipus, a king with excessive pride and
One’s identity is the most important lesson to be learned. It is vital part of life knowing who you are in order to live a fulfilled life. Without knowing your identity, and the way you perceive life, it is difficult for others to understand you, along with a struggle to live a happy life. In Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar,” Esther Greenwood struggles to find her own identity, and in the process, she develops a mental illness which helps her discover the person she is on the inside.
One must form his own identity by himself, not allowing external forces to prevail, or he will detrimentally entangle himself in real and imagined conflicts. Throughout the novel’s beginning,
Identity plays an important role in a person’s life. It determines how a person lives, acts, communicates, and defines themselves in the world around them. During this semester, we have read a handful of short stories that have to do with an individual’s identity. Three of those stories include, “The Metamorphosis,” by Franz Kafka; “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” by Herman Melville; and “Orientation,” by Daniel Orozco. Each of these short stories gives examples of how your work can influence a person’s identity and attempt to remove the personal factor from everyday life.
Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland creates a warped reality, causing each character’s identity to become confused. An exception to this confusion of identity is the Cheshire Cat, who shows an uncanny awareness of his own madness, giving him considerable control over his presence and allowing him to occasionally leave only a grin behind. Alice, contrarily, is strewn all over as she loses herself in Wonderland. In Wonderland, all are “mad,” but to Alice this is preposterous, even as she fails to explain who she is – both to herself and to others. Carroll’s juxtaposition of the Cheshire Cat and Alice in their first meeting scene exaggerates Alice’s insecure identity and its development throughout her adventures in Wonderland.
I chose this quote because I believe it truly it highlights the reality of dreams. The entire passage is passed on a dream and if you are a first time reader you wouldn’t have an idea! Alice simply followed a curious rabbit down the hole and the adventures began. The author states, “In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.” But that’s how dreams work isn’t it? You kind of just go with it. I feel as if the theme of this is that it is ok to let dreams in. It is very obvious that Alice was using her imagination, there were Kings and Queens, babies that looked like pigs, talking animals and made up creatures. Ultimately, she was in complete control. The language was completely
I went to Burger King with three friends. We walked a long way then I
The journey of self-discovery of identity and culture is a very challenging process because it involves discovering and revealing the good and bad experiences that shaped us as human beings. The effects of self-discovery includes: happiness, disappointment, clarity, enlightenment, and even self-fulfillment. However, it also entails fear, doubts, confusions and misunderstandings. Most importantly, it also means finding our ultimate purpose of life. According to Abraham Maslow’s arguments, in “The Need to Know and the Fear of Knowing,” boils down to finding our inner and outer knowledge of oneself. He concludes that “all factors that permit courage, freedom and boldness will thereby also free our need to know.” He argues that when we safely release ourselves from unnecessary fear and pain, it is one way of freeing ourselves from mental and emotional traps. He asserts that by bravely re-visiting all our choices of life, digging deep into our childhood, and even exposing our unpleasant experiences will eventually make us wiser and stronger. He emphasizes that each approach could be culturally diverse and is also based on individual’s needs. For example: In “No Name Woman,” Maxine Hong Kingston argues that a ghost haunts her for publicly revealing the family’s secret about her aunt disgraceful past. She recreates the events of her life, both imaginary and factual stories to help her better understand the Chinese culture as well as to figure out what part from her identity is