Coming Of Age In Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, By Lewis Carroll

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, published in 1865, is an enduring children’s tale about a young girl named Alice Liddel, who chased a talking white rabbit down into a world of adventure. In this world, called Wonderland, Alice encounters an authoritative mouse, a mock turtle, and a dodo who wants everything to be fair. Alice, a properly raised Victorian young lady, discovers that the rules of polite society don’t work in this strange land. The author Lewis Carroll uses allegory in the novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to satirize Alice’s coming of age into Victorian society

In Chapter 2 of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, “The Pool of Tears,” Lewis Carroll satirizes coming of age and the mores of Victorian

In the beginning of the chapter, Alice wanted to go through a tiny door into a garden. To do this, she first shrinks to fit through the door, but could not reach the key, which was upon a high table. The narrator reveals that Alice ate a cake with the result that, “now I’m opening up like a the largest telescope that ever was! Good-bye, feet!” (Carroll, 12). By having Alice suddenly shrink and grow, Carroll is highlighting the awkwardness of the growth spurts which occur in adolescence, and the confusion which they cause in young people. While Alice was a nine foot tall giant, she is suddenly struck with the hopeless absurdity of her situation, and bursts into tears, crying so hard and so long that she covers the floor of the little cottage with tears. Suddenly remembering that she’s a properly brought up

The Dodo reveals himself to be cool headed, an authoritative figure, and fair, much like a political figure must have been seen as back then. At the start of the chapter, Alice, along with her party of animals, are all wet and are looking for a way to dry off after falling into a pool of Alice’s tears from chapter 2. The narrator writes that “Indeed, she had quite a long argument with the Lory...” (Carroll, 30). By Lory and Alice arguing, Lewis Carroll is showing how American politicians would argue with each other constantly during a meeting. After a while, the Dodo, an authoritative, figure now proclaims that the best way for them to get dry “would be a Caucus race” (Carroll, 32). Carroll uses this sentence to show how American politicians (and British, especially!) must be calm and ready to take action when things get out of hand. If they weren’t, they would be viewed as “immature” and certainly not fit to run for office! After the Dodo sends them all out to race and dry off, he fairly proclaims that “Everybody has won, and all must have prizes” (Carroll, 35). The author uses this to show how politicians must have been fair and not cheat or use outside forces to win a race. It could also show how politicians must be good sports and congratulate all for