English, analysis of Alice in Wonderland

The Confusion of Growing Up


             Growing up, a period of time between childhood and adulthood, is a difficult transition for everyone. Children struggle to find themselves and figure out who they are. In Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, motifs are used to show the reader how growing up is confusing and difficult for children, and sometimes makes them doubt who they are.

             Throughout the book, Alice constantly changes in size, growing and shrinking to extremes at random moments in time. She finds these changes traumatic because they leave her frustrated and confused. Alice is unable to accept the awkward changes and begins to question her own identity. She wonders aloud on page 9 and 10 if she is a different person today than she was yesterday:

“Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I
can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next
question is ‘Who in the world am I?’”... And she began thinking over all the
children she knew... to see if she could have been changed for any of them.

Alice doubts who she is so much that she starts to believe she has become totally different, not just in size, but in her entire being. She is so flustered by her changes she thinks that she is no longer Alice. The changes her body is going through confuse her into thinking that she has become one of her friends. Alice’s fluctuating height and size is a motif Carroll uses to help develop his theme, that growing up is difficult for children.

             In Chapter 5, Carroll’s uses the motif of changing size again, to establish his theme that children find growing up discomforting and frustrating, since they cannot understand everything their bodies are going through. Evidently Alice is suffering an identity crisis when the caterpillar asks her who she is. She has become so muddled by her growing and shrinking that she replies, “I—I hardly know, Sir... I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have changed several times since then” (pg 32). Alice cannot explain who she is in a world that is constantly altering her sense of self. She argues that since her body has gone through changes, she cannot be the same person she was before the changes occurred. When the caterpillar demands that she elaborate on her response, Alice says, “I can’t explain myself, I’m afraid... because I’m not myself, you see” (pg 32). Since she doesn’t understand the changes she is going through, she reasons that she cannot understand herself and thus, must not be who she normally is. Growing up has made Alice doubt that she knows herself.

             After her meeting with the Caterpillar, Alice bites a piece of a magical mushroom, which makes her grow extremely tall. Her sudden growth spurt has disturbed a pigeon, which screams that Alice is a serpent about to steal its eggs. The Pigeon’s accusation causes Alice to further doubt who she is. Already shaken from her belief that she is her normal self, Alice has trouble defending herself. She tries to deny the pigeon’s allegation, but falters when it asks her what she is; “‘I—I’m a little girl,’ said Alice, rather doubtfully, as she remembered the number of changes she had gone through that day” (pg 38). All the changes Alice is going through confuse her to the point where she not only doubts if she is Alice, but if she is human. Like before with the caterpillar, Alice cannot explain who she is. Growing up (literally) has made her think she isn’t herself. She struggles to gain a sense of identity while also maintaining a comfortable physical size.

             Lewis Carroll’s theme, that a child’s sense of identity is shaken by his or her experiences while growing up, is developed and enhanced by his usage of motifs. Rhetorical devices, such as imagery, symbolism, and motifs, can assist in the development of themes.

AP Lang-Comp, Excerpt Journals

for I Know Why The Caged Bird Cries

*my English teacher kept this assignment because she said I did exactly what she wanted, so beware if you copy word for word, as she might be YOUR teacher!

Chapter 4
“...[Whites] were different, to be dreaded, and in that dread was included the hostility of the powerless against the powerful, the poor against the rich, the worker against the worked for and the ragged against the well dressed.” (20)

As a child living in the South, Maya Angelou describes her town’s segregation as being so complete that she often wondered if “whitefolks” actually existed, or if they were just characters in the stories told to children. She cannot imagine what the whites look like. She only knows that they are “different,” and very dangerous. Intuitively, she dreads them with a fear that is learned, if not taught. Though she may lack the ability to fully comprehend the racism, the unspoken pressures of society cause her to shrink away from the whites and approach them with apprehension. Angelou classifies the whites as wealthy, well-dressed bosses who reign over poor and ragged working blacks. Though the events in the chapter that triggered her to describe her dread—“and in that was included the hostility...”—occurred during her youth, the author uses her adult voice to describe the emotions the whites triggered inside her. This set up shows the lasting effects of the Southern segregation and racism on Angelou.

Chapter 18
“[The blacks] basked in the righteousness of the poor and the exclusiveness of the downtrodden. Let the whitefolks have their money and power and segregation and sarcasm and big houses and schools and lawns like carpets, and books, and mostly—mostly—let them have their whiteness.” (110)

The differences between blacks and whites in the South are a result of segregation, racism, and grievances piled upon grievances. Oppressed and powerless, the blacks work tirelessly to make ends meet. The whites, on the other hand, seem to have everything at their fingertips—“money and power... and big houses and schools.” The unfairness of the world torments the blacks. In their desperate search for something to give them hope and ease the pain of the injustices they suffer, the blacks find spirituality.
The church addresses the need of the blacks for something to believe in. The blacks reason that, because of the suffering they have endured, they must be loved by God. They will be saved by their “righteousness,” while justice is dealt to the whites. The wounds of the blacks are soothed by the idea that the whites will burn in hell for eternity. God will balance the scales.
Throughout the text though, each time the blacks try to find peace through their belief in the impending Judgment Day, they eventually return to reality to be weighed down by the injustice of their condition. Although the blacks attempt to preserve their dignity and pride in the face of racism, they are dispirited by the juxtaposition of all that is present in the white world and all that is lacking in the black.

AP Lang-Comp, Chapter Summaries

for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings


Chapter 4
The reader discovers Maya’s profound love for her brother Bailey through her adoring and worshiping tone. As she describes her childhood, Maya’s voice is young and naïve. Maya narrates her occasional trips with Bailey into the white part of town, which occurred whenever Momma felt it necessary for them to eat fresh protein. This trip, for her, always brought intense feeling of dread, as the “whitefolks” were considered dangerous and foreign creatures by the black children.

Chapter 9
At seven-years old, Maya finally meets her father when he unexpectedly visits Stamps. At first, his large stature, striking beauty, and flowing language fill Maya with pride, until she becomes afraid that people will compare her to him and come to the conclusion that she is not truly his daughter. Then, her father announces that he will be going back to California, and offers to take his children with him. While this move fills Maya with apprehension, her story becomes even more choked with fear when she discovers that she and Bailey are actually going to meet their “Mother Dear” in St. Louis.

Chapter 19
Men, women, children, and babies all are crammed into the Store, trying to listen to the radio. An intense boxing match is being broadcasted. The match, however, has a higher meaning: it is a fight between a white man and a black man for the World Championship. The tensions in the scene can be felt, as Maya incorporates suspense and drama into her writing. At last, the victory—proof that there is justice in the world—goes to Joe Louis, the “Brown Bomber,” the black boy, and the new Champion of the World.

Chapter 24
Childish overstatements, including the belief that she will die from pain, are interspersed within Maya’s writing as she narrates getting two cavities. Momma takes her to the white dentist in town, believing that he will do the job because he owes her a favor, but the dentist refuses to help, and spits out a cruel racist comment before rudely walking away. Momma collects herself, tells Maya to stay outside, and then enters the office. Once Momma comes out, she takes Maya to a black dentist in Texarkana, who quickly takes care of the rotten teeth. That night, back in Stamps, Momma tells Uncle Willie what happened inside the office, and Maya, who had made up her own creative version, is much disappointed.