Reading Notes: Alice in Wonderland, Part A

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- The scene in Alice in Wonderland with the caterpillar was always my favorite. Alice had just recently come to wonderland after chasing the white rabbit. In the time that she's been there, she has gone through various size changes, from very large to very small. At the point when she meets the caterpillar, she is very small and is quite put out about it. She's also terribly confused about where she is and what's going on. She comes across this caterpillar, sitting on a mushroom and smoking a hookah. The caterpillar is terribly grumpy and vague, and not being at all helpful as far as Alice is concerned. Of course, Alice herself is quite confused and is probably quite irritating to the caterpillar.
- The caterpillar is a slow moving and thinking individual, he doesn't see much point in rushing. Much of the scene is taking up by silence while the caterpillar puffs on his hookah. I always thought he had the proper approach to life. He asks what he views as a simple question, and receives a confusing and somewhat nonsensical reply from Alice. Being a quiet, thoughtful, and rather torpid creature, he doesn't grasp the concepts behind Alice's confusion and just sees the young girl as being obtuse. It's no wonder that he's grumpy about the whole situation.
- Eventually, the caterpillar displays some measure of sympathy for Alice's predicament. As he's leaving he tells her that one side will make her smaller and the other side will make her larger. He doesn't specify what he's referring to, but eventually Alice realizes that he means the mushroom upon which he was sitting. He also didn't specify which side will accomplish which goal, which I think is very true to the character of the caterpillar. Alice can figure that our for herself.
- I have always thought this story begged to be told from the caterpillar's point of view. How is he perceiving this strange little girl who came barging into his life, asking weird questions, providing even weirder answers, and just being a general nuisance.


Bibliography: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Web source.