For years I loved the idea of getting lost in a fantasy world. It seemed exciting to wander off and encounter unusual things. Alice in Wonderland is great because the protagonist does just that; nothing has to make sense in this place and it’s one long wondrous adventure.  However, the story does mostly consist of Alice facing challenging situations and various forms of discomfort. The mouse, rabbit and caterpillar have strong personalities. This demonstrates that there will always be others who will challenge you in some way. Also, she continues to experiment with her physical growth and trying to “fit in” and be accepted.  As much of a fantasy world this might be, Alice deals with issues that all people must face throughout their lifetime. When people speak about “growth” they’re usually not referring to physical growth issues that Alice is dealing with but this a great way to relay information about psychological and emotional development to children. The nonsensical language can be either confusing or humorous and charming but either way it does make the reader think.

I loved a few parts of the story because they really made me laugh and are quite relatable. When Alice is in White Rabbit’s house and physically outgrows the house after drinking from one of his bottles, she starts to think about how much pleasanter it was at home than everything she is currently dealing with and at one point she says to herself,”…That’ll be a comfort, one way-never to be an old woman-but then-always to have lessons to learn! Oh, I shouldn’t like that!” I interpreted this to mean that she figures she won’t grow old because she is literally as big as she can grow, therefore in one way she is now a “grownup” but because she is still young age wise, she will still have to continue learning, unlike adults who know everything they need to know. When I was a child I  used to believe that adults knew everything because they are the ones who governed children, so of course I wanted to hurry up and become an adult so that I could know everything too. I find this line humorous because Lewis Carroll found a way to communicate messages that not only children can relate to but adults as well, since after all, they were once children and will understand the naivety. My favorite character thus far is The Caterpillar, it appears to have a strong sense of self, which is intimidating to Alice but it’s ironic because it’s not even a butterfly yet so it actually has a lot more transformation and learning to experience. What comes across as a strong sense of self through condescending and contemptuous language is actually another form of ignorance/naivety, which contrasts Alice’s self-doubt and shyness. Both characters have things that they can learn from one another just as in real life.