Comparing Growing Up In Lord Of The Flies And Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Growing Up in Unusual Places

The journey from childhood to adulthood in the real world is a long and arduous process, happening slowly over many years. In many novels, however, the main characters, if they are children, often mature in very short periods of time due to the plot of the story, whether it be one of adventure or horror. Some of these children grow to mimic “traditional” adult-like characteristics such as intelligence or bravery while others display more uncommon traits like savagery or brutality. Though their use of style and literary techniques differs greatly from each other’s, Lewis Carroll and William Golding both depict the maturation of children due to extreme circumstances in their respective works: Alice’s Adventures

Most younger characters in fiction portray this characteristic for at least a short portion of the book that they are in. Like many children, the children in both of these stories, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Lord of the Flies, display a naïveté that is absent from adults. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland follows one of these characters, Alice, a little girl who, at least at the beginning, showcases this naïveté. In the very beginning Alice’s comment that her sister’s book must be useless as it does not have pictures or conversations shows her narrow view of what is important in life, childishly thinking that simple, easily understood things are the only ones worth anything (Abbas 4). This statement also serves as foreshadowing, letting the reader know that pictures and conversations are an importing part of the book (Abbas 4). Carroll’s style of writing, stream-of-consciousness

Her narrow view of the world is very evident when she is talking to the different animals about her pets and how they kill and eat members of the species that she is talking to at that time. Alice’s self-centered personality stops her from realizing that the mouse and other creatures would not like to talk about her pets eating small animals until she has already begun talking about them (Abbas 8). Even though her choice of topics dissuades the others from speaking to her, she continues speaking on variations of the subject of her animals killing small creatures. Her disregard for how others may view the subject matter shows how self-centered her world is and how little she cares about others, showcasing her childish nature. Carroll’s use of homophones such as tail and tale and knot and not are used to expound upon the fact that Alice is not truly listening as the other animals, specifically the mouse at this point in time, speak because she does not think they are worth focusing on (Abbas 6). Her confusion regarding the homophones show this lack of attention, and as such brings attention to how Alice does not care about others or anything beyond