What Is Alice's Identity

Alice has now passed through her by trail by fire, and she feels like an adult from the way others treat her as an individual. She declares “I am somebody: but her real maturation is not from how others respond to her, but from wise reflections on what it means to survivors the troubled times of adolescence.

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.

Two-year-old Alice Walker was as boastful and energetic as they come. She was a product of her environment;

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.

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

At the start of her journey, Alice’s blunt and direct form of speech drives the animals away in either offence or wariness. In a state of excitement, Alice inflicts this upon herself while exclaiming, ‘“Dinah’s our cat. Why, she’ll eat a little bird as soon as [she] looks at it!’” (Carol 38). Because of Alice’s little knowledge in social norms, she immediately frightens the party of birds as she talks about her cat. While she is perplexed at the animal’s offence in her words, she is contingent on their guidance in navigating the foreign wonderland. After several failed interactions, Alice develops the inclination of social awareness in her speech as she begins to stop herself when talking with the mock turtle quipping, “‘and perhaps you were never introduced to a lobster-’ (Alice began to say, “I once tasted-” but checked herself hastily)” (Carol 94). Alice’s growth in social awareness stopped her from saying anything offensive, giving her the benefit of stable, though not always helpful, dependency on the animal’s

She feels like no one looks at her the same anymore that everyone has different opinions about her, and they all feel that Alice is a new person all together including her family especially her sister. Alice’s sister feels like she is not the same person and will not treat her the same because of her looks even though Alice explain “ [t]his is me in here Jenny, my brain is still me” (Coakley 2). Alice is really trying to help her family especially her twin sister Jenny recognize that it is still her on the inside of her body “my brain is me”. Alice wants to keep close to her sister and does not want to lose her because she thinks slice does not look the same. Part of the reason why Alice does not know her identity is because her family is not understanding and they need to try and realize it is Alice to boost her confidence in who she is. In addition Alice knows her family has not been very supportive of her new body all her family cares about is how different she looks and that they feel like she acts differently, they do not seem to care how them acting like this affects Alice when they judge who she really

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.

In the wonderland where she stumbles around she is surrounded by talking rabbits, stoned caterpillars and one vicious bandersnatch. Every character in Wonderland is convinced “She is the wrong Alice.” This leaves the audience captivated and has sympathy for

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

Understanding there’s been a change in her body, Alice questions the probability that she might not be herself any longer. She believes she may have become someone else through the transformation, another typical child theory when growing up. If your appearance has changed, it may be likely that you’re not who you used to be, so of course, you must be someone else. This is also portrayed in the instance when she meets the Caterpillar. When asked, “Who are you?” by the Caterpillar, Alice honestly answers, “I hardly know”. The Caterpillar represents Alice as well, as it will also transform into something greater as it ages.

A major influence on Alice's identity was when she was a young child and her grandmother would tell her stories about events that occurred in Cambodia. In Alice's teenage years, her beloved grandmother has a stroke, developed disabilities and eventually had passed away. It is around this time where serious psychological problems occur for Alice. This almost forces her into a mental state in which she knows she does not fit in with the Australian culture. She believed she had to do everything she could to change that otherwise Alice knew she would break down mentally. Alice was forced to attempt to fit the social standards of Australia.

   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 in Wonderland' by Lewis Carroll seems a first a simple fairy tale, but in fact its meaning is a lot more profound. This novel criticizes the way children were brought up during the Victorian era. Carroll presents the readers with the complications these offspring must endure in order to develop their own personalities/egos, as they become adults. For Alice, Wonderland appears to be the perfect place to start this learning adventure. A way to understand her story is by compering it to the world as if being upside-down. Nothing in Wonderland seems to be they way it’s supposed to. The first lesson, Alice must learn in this peculiar journey through Wonderland is to achieve separation from the world around her and to stop identifying herself through others, in order to discover who she

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.