Alice In Wonderland is a story known by all.
children's literature is about a little girl, Alice, who falls through a rabbit hole and .
finds herself in a silly and nonsense world. Alice journeys through this world, .
finding herself involved in different situations with various different and curious .
animals. At first glance, this seems like an innocent fairy tale of one girl's travels .
though a strange, fairy tale world. However, the more frightening underlying story .
is one about a girl maturing away from home in what seems to be a world ruled .
by chaos and nonsense. Alice In Wonderland can be seen as a coming of age .
story. It follows the growth of Alice from an undisciplined child to a wise young .
woman. This growth can be seen as two-parted. First, Alice must learn that rules .
are essential to civil, adult life. Then she must learn that if rules are followed .
blindly, then society becomes a tyranny. These truths are played out in the .
metaphors of children's games. Other themes which play themselves out in .
the story are Alice's growth into adulthood, size change, and adaptability.
The main, backbone theme of Alice In Wonderland is that of Alice's growth .
into adulthood. She comes into several new situations in which adaptability is .
absolutely necessary for success. She shows progress throughout the course of .
the story. For example, in the beginning, she can barely keep herself from crying, .
and, by the end or the story, she is self-possessed and able to hold her own .
against the most baffling Wonderland logic.
Connected closely to the growth into adulthood theme is that of size .
change. The dramatic changes in size hint at the radical changes the body goes .
through during adolescence. During these size changes, Alice talks to her feet .
and learns some of the new ways of her body. The key, once, again, is .
adaptability. Alice's size changes also bring about a change in perspective, and .
she sees the world from a very different view.