Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, is recognized by all as the silly fairy-tale author of stories such as Alice in Wonderland and it's sequel Through the Looking Glass. However, little is known about what drove him to write such obviously fantastic stories. Themes such as nonsense and fantasy, education, drug abuse, racism and prejudice, money, malnutrition and public health are touched upon throughout his works. While only speculation can be offered, it is clear that these topics were developed as a result of real life experiences. Carroll's childhood had a strong impact on his writing, mostly because of his playful nature. "By this time [age 8] Lewis Carroll was very fond of inventing games for the amusement of his brothers and sisters," (Kelly 3). As a child, Carroll was very attached to his mother "...Carroll's love and affection for his mother was exceptional" (Kelly, 2). Her death in 1851 had an enormous negative effect on Carroll's morale, which was at an all-time low, and when his father died, Carroll stated that it was "the greatest blow that has ever fallen on my life," (Gardner 9). During his adolescent years, he secluded himself from others because of his everlasting stammer.
This is similar to what happens to the duchess's baby turning into a pig," (Gardner 328). Alice is correct in saying the distance through the earth, but is incorrect when she wonders if everything will be upside down when she arrives at the other side. Children often have the misconception that "money makes the world go round" at an alarmingly young age. The diversity with which Carroll was faced throughout his life afforded him the opportunity to base his writing on many of his own experiences. "There wasn't room for one where she came from. The players all played at once, without waiting for turns, quarreling all the while, and fighting for the hedgehogs, and in a very short time the Queen was in a furious passion, and went stamping about, and shouting 'Off with his head! ' or 'Off with her head!' about once a minute. 'Which would not be an advantage', said Alice, who felt very glad to get an opportunity of showing off a little of her knowledge. As Carroll put himself into all of his works, so to does the reader become integrated in his fantastic tales. Education played a large role in Carroll's writing, as it was his treasure of varied knowledge that allowed him to expand upon the characters and depiction of Victorian England. The Queen makes it impossible for Alice to know the rules of the game, or even the rules of the country no matter how she tries. "The Queen's party is a perfect synopsis of the way in which unusual settings, methods, and characters in this strange kingdom are what set Alice in Wonderland so sharply apart from realistic modes, and what make it the epitome of fantasy," (Kelly 134). These adjectives are almost identical to how the Victorian upper class attributed to the Blacks and lower class. Throughout Alice in Wonderland, there are thousands of references to a bizarre fantasy-land. 'If everyone minded their own business', the Duchess said, in a hoarse growl, 'the world would go round a deal faster than it does'.
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Acceptance Essays
