An Analysis Of Alice’s Growing-up In Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland From Young Readers’ Perspective

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland broke from traditional children’s literature, which was expected to be realistic, educational, and above all, moral. In most children’s books before Alice, authors condescended toward their young readers and did not provide much opportunity for a child to use his or her imagination. Carroll encouraged imagination and was quite determined that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland would not have a moral purpose, that is, these were nothing more than amusements—not something to be taken seriously. The Alice books refuse to provide its young audience with morals or perspectives. They give young people self-confidence, a feeling that the author is sharing a joke with them, that he knows how to turn the conventions of everyday life into a joke. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a typical work representing the growing-up process of "young adventurer". The central spirit of this essay is "young adventurer’s growing-up".Carroll’s personality and life experience greatly influenced his writing. Quite shy as an adult, he was most comfortable with children, especially little girls. As a mathematician, he was quite interested in logic games, such as puns, puzzles, and jokes. Wordplay is predominant throughout both the Alice books. Carroll’s sense of the absurd and his amazing gift for games of logic and language have made the Alice books popular with both adults and children, and they have remained some of the best-known children’s books written in English. The central idea of both Alice books is the theme of growing up. Alice’s adventures parallel the journey from childhood to adulthood. Alice’s challenge is to grow into a strong and compassionate person despite the characters of the creatures she meets (the creatures symbolizing the adult world). She has to learn the rules of each new encounter, but in the end she must also retain a sense of justice and develop a sense of herself. Carroll shows the process by which a good child can become a strong adult.Related to "growing up" is another topic of "identity". In Wonderland, Alice struggles for the importance and instability of personal identity. She is constantly ordered to identify herself by the creatures she meets, but she herself has doubts about her identity as well. However, here, each animal signifies a human personality. Thus, Alice’s observations enable her to understand certain facts of life, like death and growth.A psychological maturing occurs when Alice finds herself alone and, at times, neglected in the Wonderland. She learns to protest for herself and realizes the need to maintain her identity at all costs.