One binary post that I find compelling from the week before is dreams versus reality. A moment in “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” that relates to this binary is when Alice’s older sister starts to dream of Wonderland.

“So she sat on with closed eyes, and half believed herself in Wonderland,though she knew she had but to open them again, and all would change to dull reality–the grass would be only rustling in the wind, and the pool rippling to the waving of the reeds- the rattling teacups would change to the tinkling sheep-bells […] and all the other queer noises, would change (she knew) to the confused clamour of the busy farm-yard–while the lowing of the cattle in the distance would take the place of the Mock Turtle’s heavy sobs.”

This moment addresses the binary, dreams versus reality, from the point of view of someone who longs for a more abstract world, but is highly aware of things as they actually exist. She is stuck between half believing herself in Wonderland, although she knows it will only last for a moment longer in her mind. It is clear from the older sister that dreaming is a gift of childhood that can be given to others by storytelling while reality is dull and much less bright and more orderly than how we want to imagine it.

Carroll, Lewis. The Annotated Alice: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass. New York: C.N. Potter, 1960. Guttenberg.org. 19 May 2009. Web. 21 Sept. 2015.