Through the Looking-Glass is a novella by Lewis Carroll for audiences of any age. To fully understand the plot of the short story, it is strongly recommended that one reads Alice in Wonderland. It gives the reader more knowledge and background information, also, it prepares the reader for the marvellous story that is to come.
In Through the Looking-Glass, Alice faces various obstacles and experiences many grotesque situations. Moments like the above helped the theme, the true meaning of the story stands out. Without exception, the one key and useful idea that can be taken out of Through the Looking-Glass is that experiences and mistakes are vital for preparation for the real world/adulthood. Alice faced countless road blocks that lead to many other obstacles and in conclusion, a knot was created. The only way it could be untied was if Alice cleared her mind and looked at the whole picture. In some cases, Alice failed to succeed in her mission and instead of holding a grudge over it, Alice used what she learned and applied it to the adventures that were still to come. The experience and failure is what really kept Alice going, wanting more until she was victorious in her quest against, and with the wonderland.
The setting of the real world in Through the Looking-Glass is Victorian. In those times, the mirror was called by the name of "looking-glass." It was a piece of glass(with a foil back) that was used to look at yourself. The manner in which it presented images was backwards, the image was reflected. Lewis Carroll played with this idea of opposite reactions and actions in the story very interestingly. In one case, he uses reversal when the White Queen bleeds and then pricks her finger. Sometimes he uses distance, like when Alice has to walk towards the Looking-Glass house in order to get away from it. Also, he played with cause and effect in the scene where Alice and the Red Queen have to run to stand still. Even though these ideas were smart and symbolic, they made no sense because they were not consistent. Alice was not required to run in order to stay still in other parts during the story, this strongly implies that what we were reading was parody.
A very honest, and accurate symbolism in Through the Looking Glass was the chess game. Although one might say that it is the theme, it is actually the adventure that leads to clarification of the theme.
"It’s a great huge game of chess that’s being played—all over the world—if this is the world at all, you know."
The following quote by Alice is used to imply that not only is the real world a metaphorical game of chess, but, the world of Wonderland is as well, literally!
Like Alice, we are also pawns in our own lives, damned to move one step at a time as time progresses with little consciousness of what it to come and what is around us. Sometimes we have the opportunity to knock down major obstacles, but, sometimes those road blocks can get to us and cause a major set back in our game of life, and/or chess.
"Of all the strange things that Alice saw in her journey Through The Looking‑Glass, this was the one that she always remembered most clearly. Years afterward she could bring the whole scene back again, as if it had been yesterday—the mild blue eyes and kindly smile of the Knight—the setting sun gleaming through his hair, and shining on his armour in a blaze of light that quite dazzled her—the horse quietly moving about, with the reins hanging loose on his neck, cropping the grass at her feet—and the black shadows of the forest behind—all this she took in like a picture, as, watching the strange pair, and listening, in a half‑dream, to the melancholy music of the song"
The quote above appears in chapter eight of the book. Not only is it the longest sentence In both of the books, it also is the most photographically vivid image creating quote. The description in the quote is given to the white knight in the game of chess. He is an aberration among all the characters, he is the one and only character in the two books that treats Alice with kindness and acceptance. This makes him the most real out of all the personas that Alice has meet, everyone else triggers feelings of hatred and loneliness inside of Alice, he does not. I feel that this knight can be used as a symbol of hope and courage. The knight is the one person among many others that helps Alice and truly cares for her.
Through the Looking-Glass causes Alice to face many situations beyond her control in which she is forced to reconsider her identity. In turn, she doesn't change as much as she matures. Although she still inhabits her childlike innocence, Alice maintains her maturity by developing an ability of ignoring the absurdities of life. Her child-like innocence is still located in her heart due to her constant aptitude of finding enjoyment in anything and everything. Even though Through the Looking-Glass is packed with thrilling, and confusing content, it still manages to tell a story in which Alice learns many valuable lessons about life.
"Life, what is it but a dream?"
This question ends the poem that concludes Through the Looking-Glass. It reminds us that one can never really know if life is a dream. Consisting of fleeting memories and meaningless conclusions, sometimes life can feel as pointless as a dream. Sometimes, certain occurrences can happen in real life that makes one wish that life was a dream. Finally, sometimes we just can't find real life captivating enough and we have to create our own world.
Sometimes we have to change many times to find who we truly are.
"I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then"
In this second response, I greatly considered the comments I received from my teacher in the previous response. I was instructed to watch out for my grammatical errors, and I did. I kept very close attention to my grammar, tenses and point of view in this response.
No comments:
Post a Comment