Alice as an Intellectual

Feb 10, 2020 - Alyssa Taranto

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Alice's Quest for Knowledge in Wonderland

In Anne Lawson Lucas’s article, “Enquiring Mind, Rebellious Spirit: Alice and Pinocchio as Non-model Children,” Lucas declares that Alice from Alice in Wonderland is a child seeking knowledge. Lucas continues, “Alice actively seeks to learn and to understand, and in so doing constantly queries and doubts and proclaims her own interpretation of things” (Lucas 166). Alice longs to have a world of her own, away from the boring, orderly world she lives in, so she dreams that she has run off to find a curious land of her own. 

The Logic of Wonderland

Since the adults in this new Wonderland have just as much logic and answers as Alice does, possibly even less, Alice often ignores the character’s non-sense and attempts to figure things out for herself. While Alice is trying to make sense of things, she realizes she also does not know enough to make sense of it all which leads her to believe she’s become a completely different person, perhaps, one of her friends she considers to be less knowledgeable than herself.

Class Expectations and Authority

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The article also includes that Alice’s middle class background could be the reason for the amount of shock each trial in Wonderland causes her. Alice is quite pampered and must abide by societal standards for her class. When she escapes to wonderland, she expects everyone there to be kind to her and listen when she talks like they do in her real world. What she finds, instead, is a satirical version of her world, where even the adults live in nonsense. Seeing this, she loses respect for supposed authority because she is not afraid of any consequences. 

The Journey of Self-Discovery

Alice certainly seeks knowledge in her quest through Wonderland. She is naturally curious as a child. Her upbringing instilled in her the belief that everything has a reason, to the point where she struggles to let go when she can’t find one. The final chapter of part one consists of her completely rejecting Wonderland and inadvertently reverting back to her real world. She thought that a lawless world like Wonderland would be fun, but in the end she is happy to be back to her safe, normal world.

Lessons Unlearned

Alice seeks to understand a lot of what is going on in Wonderland because she is taught in her real world that everything is a lesson. She tries to remember her boring lessons in hopes that they will help her through the trials she faces in Wonderland but is embarrassed to realize that she does not remember most of them because she thought they were too boring to pay attention to when she had the chance. She even tries to carry her lessons and morals over to Wonderland but quickly realizes that the people of Wonderland do not abide by the same rules.

Conclusion

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Alice's adventures in Wonderland serve as an exploration of knowledge, authority, and self-discovery. Through her experiences, she learns that the pursuit of understanding can lead to unexpected revelations, challenging her perceptions of reality and the world around her.

Work Cited

Lucas, Ann Lawson. “Enquiring Mind, Rebellious Spirit: Alice and Pinocchio as Non-Model Children.” Children’s Literature in Education, vol 30, no, 3, 1999, pp. 166.