Alright folks, buckle up. Woke up this morning staring at that blank screen again. Decided to tackle that “Alice in Wonderland” symbol thing bouncing around my head. Honestly? Wasn’t sure where to even begin. Felt overwhelming, like falling down my own rabbit hole.
Grabbed my dog-eared copy of the book first. Like, obviously, right? Started flipping through it, just letting scenes wash over me. Didn’t touch any fancy literary criticism sites yet. Just me, the old paperback, and a notebook full of random thoughts.
Phase 1: The Jumble
- Seriously scribbled down EVERYTHING: The Rabbit’s watch? Yeah. The growing/shrinking potion? Sure. That damn grinning Cat? Obviously.
- Cards painting roses? Had it. Mad Hatter’s tea party? Why not? That weird trial at the end? Added that too.
- My list looked insane. Like the Queen’s garden after a croquet match gone wrong.
Needed coffee. Lots of it. Mid-pour, it kinda clicked – most stuff was just weird. Fun weird, but not necessarily symbolic weird. Had to filter the truly meaningful bits.
Phase 2: The Deep Dive (More Like Splashing Around)
Sat back down, stared harder at my messy notes. Started asking myself: “Okay, what stuff actually bothered Alice? What confused her? What just felt heavy?” Forget the Cheshire Cat’s grin for a sec. Why is it unsettling? What does the constant fear of growing too big or too small really mean to a kid?
Began crossing things out. The cards painting roses? Cool image, sure, but felt more like a plot point than a symbol carrying weight through the whole story. Bye-bye.
Phase 3: The Core Five Emerge
Suddenly, it felt clearer. Five things kept poking their heads up, demanding attention:
- The White Rabbit: Obsessed with time! His giant pocket watch? Not just quirky. It screamed stress about schedules, being late, the relentless tick-tock of boring adulthood bearing down. Like Alice, I felt that pressure too.
- Eat Me/Drink Me: This hit hard. The pure chaos of losing control of your own body size? How helpless Alice felt? Yeah. That felt like a big one – losing your sense of self, puberty maybe, just the sheer terror of the unfamiliar.
- The Cheshire Cat: Oh man, this cat. Not just a disappearing trick. That grin staying behind? Freaky. Digging deeper, it felt like the symbol of absolute unpredictability. The fact that logic doesn’t always rule here. Rules mean nothing. Terrifying and freeing, maybe?
- Mad Tea Party: Oh boy, was I gonna skip this at first. Just seemed like nonsense! But then it struck me: it isn’t just silly. That endless circle of pointless arguments, changing seats, unfinished riddles? Pure frustration with meaningless rituals and circular conversations. Alice tries SO hard to make sense of it. She fails. Boom. Symbol.
- The Queen of Hearts: The obvious one? Yep. But why? The screaming “Off with their head!”? Yeah, dramatic. But the core? Absolute, terrifying power that makes NO sense. Justice as a whim. Pure, chaotic injustice disguised as authority. Felt that rage building as I read.
Phase 4: Putting Meat on the Bones
Okay, had my five. Now came the slog. For each one, I went back into the book. Found specific moments. How does the Rabbit’s panic infect scenes? When exactly does Alice feel most powerless eating/drinking? Wrote down quotes. Wrestled with putting the feeling into words. Took ages. My keyboard suffered. Many snacks were sacrificed.
The Cat and the Tea Party were the killers. So slippery! How do you pin down why senselessness feels like a symbol? Just kept re-reading passages until the sheer weight of the absurdity felt like the point itself.
Phase 5: Wrap Up & “Oh…” Moment
Finally typed the last bit about the Queen. Leaned back. Realized something: these symbols? They aren’t separate. They weave together this giant nightmare/playground about growing up. Rules change constantly. You feel too big, too small. Authority feels terrifying and random. Time rushes past. It’s confusing as hell!
It wasn’t about finding some secret hidden meaning someone else planted. It was about tracing what pressed on Alice most, what bothered me as a reader. Honestly, felt good. Like figuring out a puzzle on my own. Messy? Sure. Perfect? Nah. But real. That’s the record of it. The end.
