The White Rabbit Character Analysis

Late rabbits, talking cats, and dancing cards are just some of the un-natural occurrences that take place in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In today’s society with competing books, such as Harry Potter, these elements in the book may seem like no big deal, but for the time period the book was published, these were anything but normal. This children’s book was first published in 1865 in the United Kingdom; during the Victorian time period, named after Queen Victoria. The book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland represents a satire on the Victorian Era and how people were expected to act, through which Carroll displays an overall theme of growing up.

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.

Next, the Cheshire cat is a supernatural aide as well for Alice. The Cheshire cat is rather poetic with everything he says and his advice to Alice gives off a poetic vibe. The supernatural part about the cat is that he enjoys disappearing and reappearing at random times. In Tough Alice, the Red and White Queens symbolized supernatural aides for Alice. There’s no such thing as a red or white queen which indicates that Alice is dreaming. Second, the red and white queens were seen as guidance this time around in Wonderland by saying things like “We are only present, not truly here,” “And you are your own future,” “You are a tough child” and “You figure it out (page 7-8, Yolen)”. This considered the queens to be aides towards Alice. To make it out of Wonderland this time, she had to learn to fight her own demons.

From the moment she sees the White Rabbit taking his watch from his waistcoat pocket, Alice tries to understand the logic of Wonderland. None of the rules that she has been taught seem to apply in Wonderland. The characters in Wonderland have no sense of manners and respond to her questions with answers that make no sense. For example, the Mad Hatter asks the questions, “Why is a raven like a writing desk?” (Alice 51). Alice assumes he is asking a riddle and she begins to try to answer it, thinking the Hatter would not ask a riddle without knowing the answer. When Alice is unable to figure out the riddle, the Hatter explains that there is no answer. He does not explain why he asked the riddle, he simply says, “I haven’t the slightest idea” (Alice 53). In which Alice replies, “I think you might do something better with the time, than waste it in asking riddles that have no answers” (Alice 53). The Hatter then responds with a lecture on Time, which he depicts as a person. Time being depicted as a person makes no logical sense to Alice. In the end, Alice rebels during the trial scene when the King said “Rule Forty-two. All persons more than a mile high to leave the court” (Alice 88). Alice objects to the absurd nature of the trial saying, “Who cares for you? You’re nothing but a pack of cards!” (Alice 91). This final scene is the end of her dream, and she wakes up with her head in her sister’s lap.

Alice can be very childish, but throughout the story, she encounters many animals with human qualities that make her change her perspective of the world she lives in. The main obstacle in Alice's life is growing up. As she grows up, she looks at situations in a very distinctive way, such as the moment when alice meets the March Hare, The Mad Hatter, and the Dormouse. By the time the story is over, Alice is already a grown up because of all the experiences she confronted such as, the mad tea party, the encounter with the caterpillar smoking a hookah pipe, also Alice's encounter with the Red Queen during the croquet game and the trial.

To the average reader, the story of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland may seem nonsensical and absurd. However, Carroll was incepting a much bigger picture than just of peculiar characters and poems of a stammering college professor. Indeed, the story of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was a political satire filled with scenes that ridiculed the government or a legal process. Interestingly, in a scene from the book, Alice attends a trial judged by the King of Hearts whereby the Knave of Hearts is accused of stealing the Queen’s tarts. In the jury-box she sees 12 creatures, comprising of animals and birds, putting their names down on slates for fear they might forget their names at the end of the trial. Furthermore, the King of Hearts, at one point, starts demanding for a verdict from the jury but one never

In the novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the main character, Alice, undergoes quite a change. During the time the novel was published, parts of the world were in the victorian era. The Queen at the time was Queen Victoria, in which the era was named after. During this era, knowledge, class and reason were greatly valued, and stressed. This time period ended in the year of Queen Victoria’s death. Throughout the novel, there are many ways that show how Alice begins to understand the world in adult terms, matures, and grows.

Alice begins by startling at the sight of the Cat sitting on a tree bough, while the Cat only grins at Alice. As dear Alice asks for advice on which way she ought to continue, the Cat claims, “if you do not know where you want to end up, then surely it does not matter which way you go” (Carroll 49). This simplistic view of decision making plays on the complexity that humans weave into simple decisions of everyday life. Alice’s confusion is spotlighted by this overtly simple take on decisions, and her confusion can then be tied to the absence of a concrete identity. The Cat proceeds to reveal that in Wonderland, “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad,” and this awareness and acceptance of “the fury” within himself further serves to bold Alice’s insecurity (Carroll 49). Perhaps, if Alice knew who she was to others – and to herself – in Wonderland, she would not deny the madness of Wonderlands creatures, including

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.

The Victorian Era was a time where not many ethical ideals and moral standards were sustained. Yet, it is also an Era in which modern society uses to make advancements in both humanity, and philosophy. Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland, was a novelist who wrote pass his time. He wrote further in the future of the "common" Victorian Era. The ideology he presents in Alice in Wonderland is conducive to an individual attempting to bring attention to the deteriorating mental health and humane conditions in Victorian-Era England. Alice is representative of a normal child in everyday-Victorian England. This child, Alice, has not been exposed to the likes of diversity, but instead solidarity. The type of solidarity that is all too prevalent throughout the Victorian Era, primarily in the upbringing of children during this time. Children in Victorian Era England were taught to be followers of the norms already established by adults, and to ask no questions. These types of parameters placed restraints on children growing-up during this time; not only physical restraints, but also mental restraints, such as their imaginations'. Carroll was no stranger to this ideal or the likes of this concept; In fact, he constructed Alice in The Wonderland with this in mind, to defy the imaginative 'norm' of Victorian-Era England. He created a character that dreamt of falling down a rabbit hole into another universe. This dream or imagination becomes so vivid in his novel that the

   Lewis Carroll's Wonderland is a queer little universe where a not so ordinary girl is faced with the contradicting nature of the fantastic creatures who live there. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a child's struggle to survive in the condescending world of adults. The conflict between child and adult gives direction to Alice's adventures and controls all the outstanding features of the work- Alice's character, her relationship with other characters, and the dialogue. " Alice in Wonderland is on one hand so nonsensical that children sometimes feel ashamed to have been interested in anything so silly (Masslich 107)."

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland shows us how a child's innocence can create an imaginative world that would be considered abnormal and insane through the eyes of an adult. Alice dreams of creatures and animals that have the ability to talk, and she constantly shifts in shape and size, perverting the proportions of Wonderland around her. She also has conversations with other characters that the are full of nonsense and odd remarks. Perhaps Alice's irrational personality is best displayed during the scene "A Mad Tea-Party" when Alice encounters a Hatter, March Hare and Dormouse sitting down for teatime. She walks up to the crew nonchalantly and sits down to join them. Immediately, the Hatter begins to make remarks about Alice's appearance and her manners. He is rude and snappy, having a criticism for everything that Alice

The Turtle is sad, so Alice and the Gryphon sing for it. Trial started when Alice was dragged in. The trial is for the Jack of Hearts is accused of stealing the Queen’s tarts. Judge of the trial is the King, with some animals as the jury and the White Rabbit as the court herald. The Mad Hatter is called as a witness and Alice starts to grow in her seat. When she gets up, she knocks the jury off the box and has to put them back in. When the King and Queen try to condemn the Jack, Alice yells at them. Then The King and Queen are very rude to Alice until she loses her temper. She yells at the cards and gets into a fight with them. Suddenly, they all leap on her. Alice then finds herself lying on the riverbank with her sister helping her. Her sister is told all about Alice’s dream and then Alice has some tea. She thinks about weather she will remember her adventures when she grows older and has her own children.

Whenever the queen is displeased it usually results in somebody getting their head cut off. This can be seen when Alice is put on trial in front of the queen and her court. The queens ruling results in Alice being guilty and becoming defiant to the queen. As a result the queen shouts, “off with her head!” (Carroll, 102). This represents Alice and her madness because as I stated earlier, this was all in Alice’s dream. Therefore the queen is a representation of what goes on in Alice’s head. She has that dark mental side to her nature.

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll endures as one of the most iconic children 's books of all time. It remains one of the most ambiguous texts to decipher as Alice 's adventures in Wonderland have created endless critical debate as to whether we can deduce any true literary meaning, or moral implication from her journey down the rabbit hole. Alice 's station as a seven year old Victorian child creates an interesting construct within the novel as she attempts to navigate this magical parallel plain, yet retain her Victorian sensibilities and learn from experience as she encounters new creatures and life lessons. Therefore, this essay will focus on the debate as to whether Alice is the imaginatively playful child envisaged by the Romantics, or a Victorian child whose imagination has been stunted by her education and upbringing.