Comments on: Pre-Thoughts and Chapter One Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:55:55 +0000 hourly 1 By: Christian Long Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:16:21 +0000 Continue to smile at your mention of the rabbit’s vest being enough to inspire wonder on your part. I agree. But then again, we’re no longer “children” in the way that Carroll portrays Alice, so perhaps we’ve lost the vision that allows her to overlook that quirky detail.

BTW, I really appreciate this from your entry: “Not only does that make no sense and defy basic physics, but what relevance does that have to the story? The only explanation I can think of is that this is a sign that Alice is entering a world without barriers; that this world will make little sense.” Great point re: “a world without barriers.” Well said.

And then you said: “We all know that dreams seldom make sense, and even though Alice is somewhat fictitious, she must be the same. Yet I can not help but think that Carroll is shouting to us through the book that these weird occurrences are important.” We shall soon see!

By: Keith C. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:36:24 +0000 As I read your first paragraph I found myself nodding at your thoughts and questions.

The whole story is something that we have to let our imagination go and just read it like it is. I think that this is difficult for some of us to understand because we are so used to things going like they are supposed to and not in a “magical” way. We are used to humans walking and talking and rabbits hopping around with out clothes or watches. I believe we want to think this way because we have grown out of typical child “Fairy-Tale” story, and have been taught on a higher level of thinking. When we read some fiction story that we are not accustomed to, it catches us off guard and we began asking the WHY and the HOW questions instead of just going with the story.

In my analysis of chapter one I asked many of the same questions. Here it is if you would like to check it out.

By: Kristen K. Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:45:55 +0000 @Hersh T.: I agree in that the idea that Alice is entering a world sans limitations is a powerful concept. The next question is, what will Alice accomplish in a limitless world? Defying physics, size transformation, a sea of tears are, of course, immediate examples that come to mind. But what of the greater good? Will Alice be successful in doing something meaningful in Wonderland?

By: Hersh T. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:13:26 +0000 The idea that Alice is entering a world without limitations is a very intriguing idea. However, maybe he is suggesting that she is not entering a world without restrictions but simply entering a world where the restrictions do not mean anything. They are still there, they just do not pertain to anything she does or anything that can happen. Overall, without having read the book this was very thoughful and interesting.

By: Darcy S. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:59:32 +0000 Responding to you questioning the necessity of physics in the plot:

Luckily for us, we are given the Annotated Alice to analyze, which means we can refer to Gardener’s notes when our eyebrows curl in confusion due to Carroll’s loony story.

On page 13, note subscript 4, it reads:

“In Carroll’s day there was considerable popular speculation about what would happen if one fell through a hole that went straight through the center of the earth.”

No, it may not have a significant relevance to the plot, but neither does the marmalade, her sister reading in the first paragraph of the chapter, or descriptions of the hallways as she is chasing the White Rabbit. Many things in a story are not necessary, but simply add more appeal to a story. References to modern day speculations can help the reader become more engaged in the story because they can relate. Yes, this type of physics and questions were pondered by deeply thinking scientists, but society always has some way of dumbing down an idea so far that even a child can understand, and point out the idea/theory in a book.

(And we must keep in mind that no matter how hard he tries to keep two identities separate, Carroll can’t help but leak a little math into his story)

Finally, I very sincerely enjoy your explanation of the physics: “this world will make little sense.” As we all can predict, yes, it will make no sense. It’s nice of the author to warn us subconsciously beforehand.