(Illustration from the book)
Studying a child's mind is comforting but in it there are also many things of adult life like punishments, manners, division, and don't talk unless
we speak.. Alice in the story has learnt about punishments and is thinking to punish her kitten but then remembers that she is the one who has done more mistakes than the kitten
and if she is punished, she will not be given dinner for 50 days! Alice like all children however prefers the punishments to not making mistakes.
The half asleep Alice who is half talking to herself and half talking to the kitten imagines a place inside the looking glass house which is supposed to be gentle and as pleasant as Alice is.
But the fear for punishments, and the too much manners which were taught confuse her and make the wonderland different from the wonderland she had imagined.
The Alice in the story is an allegory of childhood which is lost by the cultural and moral conditioning of adulthood.
The sunny sky has become pale because Alice is not again seen through the waking eyes.
But there is still hope that there will be some children who will stay in their golden dreams eternally.
"Meanwhile, we'll drink your health -- Queen Alice's health!" she screamed at the top of her voice, and all the guests began drinking it directly, and very queerly they managed it.
The sentence shows the dangers of adulthood. Alice was dreaming to be the queen in the chess game but after she becomes the queen, she has to face many problems.
"I can't stand this any longer!" she cried as she jumped up and seized the table-cloth with both hands: one good pull, and plates, dishes, guests, and candles came crashing down together in a heap on the floor.
Alice comes out of the dark wonderland but assumes the dream to be nice because of her simplicity.
The author perhaps wants to state that the darkest things of adulthood look like dreams to children.
The game of chess is played by someone else who is unknown to us. We are part of the game but there is no fun in becoming the Queen. Alice, the eternal child pretends and then turns the Queen back into the kitten.
Alice is finally obsessed with a question about who was dreaming, she or the Red King? and asks it to her kitten.
The author had convinced himself in 'Alice in Wonderland' that Alice would amuse herself by telling stories to her little children after she grows up.
However, in 'Through the looking glass', the author is terribly grief-stricken by the loss of Alice; so he wants her to listen to this new fairy-tale before she hears the voice of dread,
is laden with bitter tidings and becomes a melancholy maiden.
There is mention of the unwelcome bed (adulthood, death) in the prefatory poem and at the same time, there is the eternal Alice who immediately turns the queen (adulthood) into a kitten (childhood).
The unwelcome bed in the first line of the poem may also refer to marriage.
Some children have a most disagreeable way of getting grown-up: I hope you won't do anything of that sort before we meet again.
Letter to a child-friend by the author.
(28 April 1868)
But weddings are not very exhilarating scenes .. and I think you'll have to excuse me from attending yours.
P.S.—I never give wedding-presents; so please regard the enclosed as an unwedding present.
(8 December 1897)
The author wants Alice not to pay attention to the raving blast (society) and instead considers both him and the grown up Alice as older children who are afraid of bed-time (death).
The author is perhaps the Red King who has remained silent throughout the chess game and has no interest in progression.
The Red Queen stands for women and adulthood those who are interested in progression.
Alice in the game takes over the Red Queen and puts the Red King into checkmate. However she likes the attitude of the Red King.
Alice came out of the game, but the Red King was too timid to break everything.
So, he was dreaming about Alice.
In the chapter with Tweedledee, it is mentioned that the Red King is dreaming about Alice, she will vanish if he stops and that she is not real.
This makes it clear that the eternal Alice in the story is a character created by the author in his dreams and so she is more like the author himself than like anyone else.
In the chapter with Humpty Dumpty, Humpty Dumpty asks Alice not to grow older than seven. Alice replies that one can't stop from growing.
Humpty Dumpty clarifies that one can't but two can and with proper assistance of another, it is possible for one not to grow older. Humpty Dumpty was trying to save the fishes who didn't pay attention to him
and were caught and eaten in the last chapter. It seems to me that the author wants his readers to follow the advise of Humpty Dumpty, otherwise they will have to face the consequences.
The poem Walrus and the Carpenter mentions about how the little oysters were tricked and eaten by the Walrus and the Carpenter.
Alice later believes that both of them were evil. Another poem recited by the White Knight says about the very old man who caught butterflies, made mutton pie of them and sold them to the sailors. These reflect the feelings of the author.
There are negative remarks about the poems by many "evidence of a neurotic inability to accept reality, the fantasy of childhood created by the obsessive dreamer, by a psyche dreamily withdrawn from life", "Carroll's female friendships ended when the girls reached the age of 14", "a man who seemed never to love another woman, but to live as a child obsessed with little girls","something voyeuristically anti-growing up in Carroll, something that attempts to freeze Alice in time and to prevent her from growing up".
But according to me, the poems are notable because they signify the importance of everlasting childhood.
I have not seen thy sunny face,
Nor heard thy silver laughter;
No thought of me shall find a place
In thy young life's hereafter -
Enough that now thou wilt not fail
To listen to my fairy-tale.
A tale begun in other days,
When summer suns were glowing --
A simple chime, that served to time
The rhythm of our rowing --
Whose echoes live in memory yet,
Though envious years would say 'forget'
Come, hearken then, ere voice of dread,
With bitter tidings laden,
Shall summon to unwelcome bed
A melancholy maiden!
We are but older children, dear,
Who fret to find our bedtime near.
Without, the frost, the blinding snow,
The storm-wind's moody madness --
Within, the firelight's ruddy glow
And childhood's nest of gladness.
The magic words shall hold thee fast:
Thou shalt not heed the raving blast.
The bed-time death song matches with the rhyme of 'Hush a bye baby', the lullaby from nursery rhymes. The lines also imply that the assurances such as "everything will go well always in adult life" are not true. Alice fortunately (in the story) finds a solution for every problem because she is a character dreamed by the author.
Then followed a confused noise of cheering, and Alice thought to herself, `Thirty times three makes ninety. I wonder if any one's counting?' In a minute there was silence again, and the same shrill voice sang another verse;
`"O Looking-Glass creatures," quoth Alice, "draw near!
'Tis and honour to see me, a favour to hear:
'Tis a privilege high to have dinner and tea
Along with the Red Queen, the White Queen, and me!"'
Then came the chorus again: --
`Then fill up the glasses with treacle and ink,
Or anything else that is pleasant to drink:
Mix sand with the cider, and wool with the wine --
And welcome Queen Alice with ninety-times-nine!'
`Ninety times nine!' Alice repeated in despair, `Oh, that'll never be done! I'd better go in at once -- '
The last lines of the poem 'A boat beneath a sunny sky' concludes the Alice series mentioning about children who stay 'Ever' in wonderland even when the summers go away and for whom life is always a dream.
A boat beneath a sunny sky,
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July
Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear
Long had paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die.
Autumn frosts have slain July.
Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.
Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.
In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream
Lingering in the golden gleam
Life, what is it but a dream?
