1. Mercedes Thornton
Ms. Kenney
English Composition II
22 April 2015
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: A world inspired by the child mind
Many theories surround the story “Alice’s Adventures in wonderland” or “Alice in
wonderland” for short. Because of its well-known status in Pop-culture, the author and the story
are not known well by the true historical terms. To the reader’s shock, Lewis Carroll was neither
a hippie nor taking LSD or mushrooms when he wrote this tale. Rather, he was rowing a boat in
the calm current of a small river while weaving a tale to his young friends, the Liddell children.
By examining Lewis Carroll’s disposition for children, his relationship with Alice Liddell, and
the whimsical pseudo logic of his characters presents that the author created a fantasy world
where all act and think with the intense imagination of children.
First, in order to uncover Lewis Carroll’s child-like disposition one must learn about his
life. Lewis Carroll was the a pen name for the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a former
lecturer of mathematics at Christ church in Oxford, England; born January 27, 1831 at the
Parsonage in Daresbury, Cheshire, England. In his youth, he attended the Richmond school in
Yorkshire and later on the rugby school. At Richmond, his headmaster commented that he was
an uncommon type of genius yet when he entered at the Rugby school he endured bullying due
to a stammering speech impediment but despite his misfortune, he would still go on to excel in
mathematics and divinity. During this time he contracted whooping cough that left him with
bronchial coughs and soon after he also caught a severe case of mumps that would leave him
deaf in his right ear. These disabilities gave him a case of self-consciousness and made it

2. difficult for him to socialize outside of intellectual topics. At the beginning of his young
adulthood, he enrolled at the Christ Church in Oxford, England as an undergraduate student in
1851 where he received a Bachelor of the arts degree with honors in mathematics before
receiving his masters; Charles would eventually become deacon of the house in February 5,
1857.
This great scholar also had a great interest in photography, a very new art, it often took
up any if not all of his spare time. He would soon find he was talented and fond of it. In fact,
Charles Ludwig Dodgson was almost famous at one time for his work. Not much later in his life,
photography would lead him to a wonderful surprise that would in turn change the world of
literature. He would open new fictional doors to another quite ‘fantastical’ world. He was well
known among his well-known contemporaries as writer but he was not widely known until he
published “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. The primary reaction to the book was not very
kind when it was first published as many people found in foolish and silly that provided no
lessons nor made sense. It was not until years later that it gained popularity eventually becoming
a movie or two; first Disney created a cartoon version then several live action spin offs were
created including the latest one to rise to popularity directed by Tim Burton.
What was also well known among his peers was when Charles spoke to children he
magically came to life as if all of his troubles that haunted him his whole life fell away. Perhaps
it was the lack of judgement and joyful imagination that children have that seemed to melt
Charles speech impediment away when he spoke with them. It was clear to his colleagues’ that
he became a much more comfortable and animates man around children. Theoretically, it could
be assumed that the colorful reasoning that children have helped him overcome the struggles he
endured all of his life. In the book “Alice’s adventure in wonderland” many of the characters and

3. places Alice encounters seem to have been plucked straight out of a child’s mind. The characters
think in a way that a child might, the way the ask questions such as the character “The Cheshire
Cat” who only appears to pose a few inquiries for the lost girl who cannot find her way. Charles
would often create stories that captivated the attention of the innocent minds of children he told
them to and perhaps this contrast from the usual small talk or boring lecture to uninterested adult
students provided him another joy. He could make children smile but commonly lacked this
same reaction among his peers and scholars.
Relationship with Alice Liddell. Alice Liddell was born in 1852 to Henry and Lorinna
Liddell; she was the third of ten children. In 1855, Henry Liddell was appointed Dean of Christ
Church where he had received his undergraduate degree, the family immediate move from
Westminster, where he was head of Westminster School, to Oxford. Alice and the rest of the
Liddell children were encouraged to accompany their parents to social events in oxford, where
the Liddell couple had quickly rose to high social status for Henry’s position and their friendly
disposition. Although, Mrs. Liddell would later on become called a “Kingfisher” by some as she
encouraged connections with her daughters at these events to possibly guarantee good marriages
later on. ”The “Kingfisher” is a bird commonly found in England and some parts of the African
savannah that is known for perching on branches and hovering above the water before striking its
prey; indicating the Mrs. Liddell sought out husbands for her daughters and very quickly but
carefully influenced the strong possibility of marriage far before it was discussed.
On April 25, 1856 Alice and her sisters had slipped away from the watchful eye of their
governess to the Deanery Garden. This is the magical moment that would later lead to “Alice’s
adventures in Wonderland” and “Into the Looking Glass” because it was this day that the little
Liddell’s met Charles Ludwig Dodgson. He was just Twenty Four years old at the time, he had

4. been taking photographs of a Cathedral that attracted the attention of the three girls whom would
also offer to photograph but they, as children tend to be, would not be still long enough for a
picture.
Lastly, the whimsical logic of his characters represents his inspiration from children’s
reasoning. A prime example of this whimsical logic is when Alice, the main character, finds
herself traveling ever so slowly down the rabbit hole for what seems like an eternity. Instead of
being thrown into sheer utter panic as many others would, the young girl begins observing her
surroundings. It was after she realized the timeless descend would be such a lengthy one that she
begins to sort out the logic of it all and even interacts with some of the objects she would
encounter:
“First, she tried to look own and make out what she was coming to, but it
was too dark to see anything: then she looked at the sides of the well, and
noticed that they were filled with cupboards and bookshelves: here and
there she was maps and pictures hung upon pegs. She took down a jar
from one of the shelves as she passed: it was labeled ‘ORANGE
MARMALADE,’ but to her great disappointment it was empty: she did
not like to drop the jar for fear of killing somebody underneath, so
managed to put it into one of the cupboards as she fell past it.” (Carroll 10)
Children seem to always find a way to accomplish the impossible and believe that anything can
happen; it is obvious that this also applies to Alice. The freedom and imaginative thought is
exactly what being in wonderland is about. Just as Peter Pan encourages us to believe in fairies,
Alice would return from wonderland and encourage her peers to think in all types of peculiar
ways.

5. Another character that embodies the whimsical thoughts of wonderland is the Caterpillar,
also known loosely as the “hookah-smoking” Caterpillar. If there were ever a mysterious
character with a colorful imagination, it would be the Caterpillar. He would ask Alice “Who are
you?” (Carroll 58). Caterpillar is a very straight forward character with very simple questions
that unearth extremely deep issues within the main character. Children also have this same
tendency, the most innocent and simple of questions that can quickly throw an elder into a panic.
Simplicity seems to be a main theme with this character; often the view of this character is askew
since he is viewed as complicated. Rather, the reason for this character is to provide an example
of how as one grows older one tends to over complicated things. Therefore, caterpillar is an
excellent creative embodiment of the whimsical nature of wonderland.
By examining Lewis Carroll’s disposition for children, his relationship with Alice
Liddell, and the whimsical pseudo logic of his characters presents that the author created a
fantasy world where all act and think with the intense imagination of children. Many of Carroll’s
characters may have been based on real people such as the character of Alice. It would be
sensible to assume, though this story was originally a simply spun tale, there is a lesson that
Charles Ludwig Dodgson meant for his readers to know. That lesson was taught by Alice,
Caterpillar, The Mad Hatter, and many more characters such as the Queen of Hearts; the
strangely overcomplicated adult society is lacking the spark of simple knowledge that children
know. Charles embraced this in his real life with the children he encountered and it eventually
lead to the wonderful classic “Alice’s Adventure’s and Wonderland”. Such as the story, perhaps
it is time to head the advice of a good author and spirited characters; do not let one’s inner child
escape and take note of one’s surroundings as a good jar of Orange Marmalade could pass by.

6. Annotated Bibliography
Curran, Jane. "Local Lives - Alice Liddell." BBC News. BBC, 21 May 2009. Web. 3 May 2015.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/content/articles/2009/05/21/alice_feature.shtml>
The internet article “Local Lives- Alice Liddell” discusses the life and personality of Ms.
Alice Liddell. She was the inspiration for Charles Ludwig Dodgson’s, a.k.a. Lewis
Carroll, Alice for the story “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. It discusses her family
life. Alice’s mother was very influential in Alice’s life. More than once Mrs. Liddell was
called a ‘King Fisher’ a bird famously known from hovering above the water before
hitting its target and even stalking fish from a branch high above. Mr. Liddell was a
scholar, both he and his wife were influential people that intended on passing this social
trait onto their children.
Carroll, Lewis, “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass.” New York:
C.N. Potter, 1960. 3-89. Print.
This book is the topic of this research paper. It is a classic novel about a girl who falls
down a rabbit hole into a rather quizzical land called ‘Wonderland’ after chasing a white
rabbit with pink eyes wearing a waistcoat. Many times during her adventure, little Alice
is faced with some peculiar characters and situations that she somehow does not question.
She would travel from one end of ‘Wonderland’ to the next, encountering danger as she
enters the court of the Queen of Hearts or ‘The Red Queen’. Eventually, Alice would find
her way home just in the same place she had entered ‘Wonderland’.

7. SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” SparkNotes.com.
SparkNotes LLC. 2005. Web. 30 Apr. 2015.
This source is from Sparknotes.com. It breaks down the story of “Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland” in a way many can understand it. In short, Spark notes editors review the
theme and each chapter in a detail fashioned in layman’s terms. Spark notes makes it
easier to understand the meanings of a story and also translates the slang, dialect, or
language differences into a modern terminology for the readers. This page provided a
review of the book, discussion, notes, questions to prompt critical thinking, and other
extremely helpful sources to pursue more research.
"The Lewis Carroll Scrapbook Collection: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson “Lewis Carroll” (1832-
1898)." Charles Lutwidge Dodgson: A Chronology of His Life. The Library of Congress
(Global Gate way), 19 July 2004. Web. 3 May 2015.
<http://international.loc.gov/intldl/carrollhtml/lclctime.html>.
The Library of Congress provides this site and its sources to the public for educational or
recreational pleasure. This page in specific recites a chronological time-line of Charles
Ludwig Dodgson’s life. Other links on this page lead you to credible sources on the
subject, details of his career, childhood, and more. There is an enormous amount of
information about Charles Ludwig Dodson as a photographer, mathematician, and as
Lewis Carroll the writer can be found on this website. The Library of Congress is funded
by the U.S. government and this is just one of the very many subjects that can be found
within it.

8. Reeves, Erin. "Charles Ludwig Dodgson (Lewis Carroll)." University of Colorado. Web. 3 May
2015. <http://math.ucdenver.edu/~wcherowi/courses/m4010/s08/erdodgson.pdf>.
The essay is about Charles Ludwig Dodgson as a mathematician and a great math
scholar. It describes the many influences he had in the math world while also juggling his
two hobbies of photography and writing. In fact, it is a true statement that Charles
Ludwig Dodgson nearly became famous through photography. It is also true that Charles
Ludwig Dodgson did in fact become famous from some of his literary works such as
“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass”. He wrote under
a pen name of “Lewis Carroll” and until many years after his death was not known for his
works; Charles’ writing was only well known by those closest to him, such as his
colleagues
“Lewis Carroll – Poets.org – Poetry, Poems, Bios, & More”. Academy of American Poets. 1
May 2015 <http://www.poets.org/poetphp/prmPID/78&gt;
Lewis Carroll was a pen name for Charles Ludwig Dodgson. He was a professor at the
Christ Church in Oxford, England. He attended Christ church and received his Masters
degree before becoming a professor of Mathematics. During His time at Christ Church he
became a profound photographer and wrote the story “Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland” and “Into the Looking Glass”, two works he would become insanely
famous for after his death. It is a little known fact that Lewis Carroll a.k.a Charles
Dodgson was nearly famous for photography and was a pioneer of the art.