Madeline Marquis

Mrs. Alstot

Child Lit. Per 3

8 December 2019

Alice Final ESA Essay

In ​Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, ​Lewis Carroll uses the character Alice to showcase

the many struggles of childhood including the struggle of not understanding what to do in a new

or unfamiliar situation, as well as feeling shameful about oneself when something is done wrong

that disappoints a figure of authority.

In the novel Alice portrays the common childhood struggle of being unsure how to act in

a strange and unknown situation. After the animals insisted that Alice get a prize, and offer her a

thimble, “Alice thought the whole thing very absurd, but they all looked so grave that she did not

dare to laugh; and, as she could not think of anything to say, she simply bowed, and took the

thimble, looking as solemn as she could,” (Carroll 36). With her hesitant actions, Alice seems to

be unsure what to do, as she has never been faced with this circumstance before. A child too,

would act rather skeptical when there is no adult to tell them how to handle the predicament they

are in. In addition to feeling doubtful about how they should behave in unfamiliar situations,

children often don’t pick up on social cues that adults would, and may say something they

shouldn’t. For instance, when questioned by the Queen about who the gardeners were, Alice

responds by rudely saying, “‘How should I know?’ said Alice, surprised at her own courage. ‘It’s

no business of mine,’” (Carroll 93). Alice’s harsh tone illustrates how she doesn’t understand

that in that certain situation she should have spoken more respectively. Alice is much like most
children in that they don’t quite get how to read someone’s tone yet, and how to differentiate

between when it is appropriate to speak your mind and when to just leave it alone and answer

kindly. Similar to Alice, one of the many struggles children face, is knowing the right thing to

do, in a situation they do not know how to handle.

Through Alice, Lewis Carroll also showcases the childhood struggle of disappointing a

figure of authority when something is done wrong, and feeling bad about oneself because of it.

When the White Rabbit tells Alice she shouldn’t be in Wonderland, “Alice was so much

frightened that she ran off at once in the direction it pointed to, without trying to explain the

mistake it had made,” (Carroll 43). In this passage it is shown that Alice was so afraid of the

rabbit being mad at her, that she just ran off without explaining herself. Young children can

relate to this quality because the last thing they want to do is let their parents down, so they may

often just accept the punishment and become upset, without trying to defend themselves. In

addition to the fear of disappointing someone whose opinion you value, children, as well as

Alice, may feel bad about themselves for messing up, so they just replay the moment over and

over again in their minds. For instance, when Alice knocks over the jury men it reminds her of

when she spilled goldfish the week before, and she shouts, “‘Oh I beg your pardon!’ she

exclaimed in a tone of great dismay, and began picking them up again as quickly as she could for

the accident of the gold-fish kept running in her head,” (Carroll 135). It is clearly demonstrated

how after making a similar mistake, Alice is reminded of and tormented by something that

happened to her previously, that might have traumatized her. Children experience this as well, as

they may feel embarrassed or insecure about something, and then suddenly that is all they can
think about. Carroll realistically illustrates through Alice, the childhood struggle of feeling

shame when something is done wrong, even if it is just a small mistake.

Lewis Carroll’s ​Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland ​ uses the main character Alice to

explore the struggles of childhood like the weight children feel from disappointing a valued

person, and being unsure of the right thing to do in a new environment.