THE IDEA OF BEING ADOLESCENT ON ALICE’S
CHARACTERIZATION IN LEWIS CARROL’S ALICE’S
ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
CATHARINA RISA DANIATI
Student Number: 014214009
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
i
THE IDEA OF BEING ADOLESCENT ON ALICE’S
CHARACTERIZATION IN LEWIS CARROL’S
ALICE’S
ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
CATHARINA RISA DANIATI Student Number: 014214009
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
iv
v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My deepest gratitude goes to my Lord, Jesus Christ, who has given me His blessings and has guided me in finishing this undergraduate thesis.
I would also like to thank Gabriel Fajar Sasmita Aji, S.S., M.Hum. as my advisor, “Thank you for your time and advice, Sir. I could not be able to finish my undergraduate thesis without your help”. Not to forget Ms. Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum. as my co-advisor, “Thank you thank you”.
Very big thanks I give to my parents who have given me their best love and guidance to me and to my family. I thank my brothers, om’io and Aniki my sister te’i, “May God bless you all and bring the happiness for you. I love y’all”.
To all English Letters lecturers and staff, librarians, and security men, “Best regards for you all because without your helps I would not be able to finish my study here”.
My friends of 2001, especially Dita, Sindha, Olin, Endra, and Aryo, “Keep the friendship, guys. Thank you for our cheerful days and a lot of laughter”.
The last but not least, for those whose names cannot be mentioned here, thank you for all the help given.
vi
B. Problem Formulation……….. 4
C. Objectives of the Study……… 4
D. Definition of Terms……… 4
CHAPTER II: THEORETHICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies……….. 6
B. Review of Related Theories……… 8
1. Personality Theory……….. 8
2. Character and Characterization Theory………... 11
3. Biosocial Theory of Personality………. 13
C. Theoretical Framework……….. 16
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study……… 17
B. Approach of the Study……….. 18
C. Method of the Study………. 19
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS.……….. 20
A. The Analysis of Alice’s Characterization……….………….. 20
1. As A Child……….. 20
2. As An Adolescent………. 27
B. The Analysis of the Factors Influence Alice’s Characterization Changes………. 42
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION……….. 49
vii
APPENDIX……….. 54
A. Summary……….. 54
B. Major Character……… 56
viii ABSTRACT
Catharina Risa Daniati (2008). The Idea of Being Adolescent on Alice’s Characterization in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Yogyakarta: Departement of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.
Human can be changed by the surroundings and experiences. Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland tells the reader Alice’s changes from a child into an adolescent. She experiences many things that seem not to happen in children world and bring her into the idea of being adolescent.
The objectives of this study are to find out Alice’s personality in the story when she first comes as a child in Wonderland and after she becomes an adolescent and also to find out what factors that make Alice’s personality changes.
This study applies library research method and uses a psychological approach. This study also applies three related theories related to the topic. They are theory of character and characterization, theory of personality, and biosocial theory.
ix ABSTRAK
Catharina Risa Daniati (2008). The Idea of Being Adolescent on Alice’s Characterization in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Manusia dapat berubah karena lingkungan sekitar dan berbagai pengalaman. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland karya Lewiss Carroll menceritakan pada pembacanya perubahan – perubahan yang dialami Alice dari anak – anak ke remaja.. Dia mengalami berbagai macam hal yang tidak biasa dialami di dunia anak – anak dan membawanya ke pengertian menjadi remaja.
Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mencari taukepribadian Alice dalam cerita tersebut saat pertama kali dia datang ke Wonderland dan setelah dia menjadi remaja dan juga untuk mengetahui faktor – faktor apa yang membuat kepribadian Alice berubah.
Penelitian ini mengaplikasikan metode penelitian pustaka dan menggunakan pendekatan psikologi. Penelitian ini juga mengaplikasikan tiga teori yang berkaitan dengan topik. Teori – teori tersebut adalah teori karakter dan karakterisasi, teori kepribadian, dan teori biososial.
1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Reading a work of literature is an activity that gives readers not just information and amusement but also enjoyment and knowledge as well.
“Literature also gives us a special knowledge of life that is not identical with that of real intellectual and critical values. It is actually possible for a well-read person to make mature of life without having great deal experience” (Grace, 1965:7).
The readers learn how to face the life by the reflection of the conflicts or the problems which appear in the works which are sometimes similar to the problems that appear in the real life. The readers can also understand and study the characteristics of the people in literary works. “Literature has a special value over other disciplines because it puts ideas in a human context” (Henkle, 1977:86).
By reading, readers might discover the hidden fears, desires, and nervousness from the imaginational world of literary works. The reader can also use their imagination to see, hear and feel what a character experiences in the story.
From Penelope Lively’s introduction in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass” the researcher found
January 27, 1832, in Daresbury, in England's Cheshire County and died on January 14, 1898 in Guilford, England.
Carroll’s best remembered stories are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,
which was illustrated by John Tenniel and published in 1865, and the sequel of
Alice, appeared in 1871, entitled Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. The dream world of Alice became a part of English literature as Shakespeare.
By the time of Carroll’s death 180,000 copies of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland had been sold, and by by 1898 the Pall Mall Gazzete, conducting an inquiry into the popularity of children books was able to point out that only Shakespeare was quoted in the daily press more frequently than the two Alice’s books (Lively, 1993: xxiii)
Created in an afternoon boating, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland tells the readers about Alice’s adventure in her dream world, fantasy world with fantasy creatures. Penelope Lively states in her introduction of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass that Dodgson recounted to the children an exuberant fantasy about exotic creatures in a dreamlike setting (1993: xix)
way. Her body change in size as she eat or drink something, confuse with her own identity and also she met unusual creatures. One experience continued to another make Alice’s personality in her dream world change.
From the story, Lewis Carroll wants to tell not only children but also adult about self-changes that happen to children during their changes into adulthood affected by ones personality. By studying the self-change, the readers can acquire the idea of adolescence.
Human are changeable. That is why the changes that are happen to Alice’s personality will also be used by the researcher to support the finding of the idea of adolescence.
“Human beings are notoriously ambivalent and changeable, and literature’s strength, as I have said, is its ability to present people in their complexity” ( Henkle, 1977:18)
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the background study, the researcher formulated these questions to help the researcher analyze the story.
1. How is Alice’s characterization as a child and as an adolescent in the dream world in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?
2. What factors infuence Alice’s changes throughout her journey that leads her to be adolescent?
C. Objective of the Study
The aim of the study is to give answers to the question that have been formulated in the problem formulation. The objective of the study based on the problem formulation is to find out Alice characterization as a child in the story and as adolescent in dream world. This objective of the study is to make the main purpose of the thesis, which is to find out the factors that influence Alice’s characterization changes can lead to the idea of being adolescent appears in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland easier to be answered.
D. Definition of Terms
1. Dream Worlds
Dream worlds are a generally used plot devices in fictional works, most notably in science fiction and fantasy fiction. The use of a dream world creates a condition whereby a character (or group of characters) is placed in a fabulous and unpredictable environment and must overcome several personal problems to leave the dream world.
2. Characterization
6
CHAPTER II
THEORITICAL REVIEW
A. Review on Related Studies
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a novel for children by Charles Lewis Dodgson writing under the pen name of Lewis Carroll. Lewis Carroll was a
respected mathematician and logician, a member of the Oxford academic community, and yet a talented writer and enthusiastic photographer. His most remembered stories are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the sequel Through
the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There.
He is best known for Alice and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. These two books broke from traditional children's literature, which was expected to be realistic, educational, and above all, moral. In most children's books before Alice, authors condescended toward their young readers and did not provide much opportunity for a child to use his or her imagination. Carroll encouraged imagination and was quite determined that Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland would not have a moral purpose.
(http://www.bookrags.com/notes/aiw/)
Although intended mainly as a tale of fantasy story for children but it is also a book for adult because the story is tell the reader about adult world with its
rules and regulations made by the adult which is unusual for children.
The book also achieved great popularity among adults. Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland takes place during a dream; she follows a white rabbit into a rabbit hole and finds herself in a bizarre irrational world peopled by fantasy living thing. Keunjung Cho characterizes Lewis Carroll’s works as fantasies work. There are talking animals, a Queen that made from card, and other creatures which are presented in order to show fantasy world.
Fantasy is often characterized by a departure from the accepted rules by which individuals perceive the world around them. Wonderland and the Looking-Glass House, inhabited by talking animals, chess-pieces, and playing cards, reflect the vivid and playful imagination of a child. (Keunjung Cho, English 151, Brown University, 2003).
Even though many people like Alice’s stories, some people dislike it. The book, although generally and constantly received in a positive light, has also caught a large amount of mockery for its strange and arbitrary tone.
One of the best-known critics is fantasy writer Terry Pratchett who has openly stated that he dislikes the book. L.Frank Baum, the author of The Wizard of Oz series, likewise disliked having his stories compared to Carroll’s, saying his books were fantasy “with purpose” while the Alice stories were just “nonsense”.
(http://www.solarnavigator.net/www.arabiantents.com/alice _in_wonderland.htm).
starting to enter the adolescence world, a new world where a child no longer child but not yet an adult.
B. Review on Related Theories
This part contains theories to help the researcher answer the problems that have been formulated in the problem formulation. The theories are theory character and characterization as the part of theories of literature, and personality theory and biosocial theory as part of theories of psychology.
1. Theory of Personality
To begin with, there are a lot of definitions for personality. Calvin S. Hall and Gardner Lindzey classify personality in their book, Theory of Personality, as the unique or individual aspects of behavior (1966:9). Still in the same book, Allport defines personality as the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustments to his environment (1966:262). Personality is dynamic because it is develop and change through time. Each individual adjust the environment differently one another, that’s why no individual has same personality. Carl Gustav Jung sees personality as the person lives by aims as well by causes (1966:78).
1.1 The Ego
The ego is the rational, civilized, reality oriented part of man (Thornburg, 1982:33). According to Jung, the ego is the conscious mind that made up of conscious perceptions, memories thoughts and feelings (Hall & Lindzey, 1966:79). The ego is in charge for one’s feeling and controls action, selects the features of the surroundings to which it will respond and also decide what and how instinct will be satisfied.
According to Erikson, generally task of the individual is to get a positive ego identity as he or she moves from one stage into another. The stages of each individual are:
- Infancy: achieving trust versus mistrust.
- Early childhood: achieving autonomy versus shame and doubt. - Play age: achieving initiative versus guilt.
- School age: achieving industry versus inferiority.
- Adolescence: achieving identity versus identity confusion. - Young adult: achieving intimacy versus isolation.
- Adulthood: achieving generativity versus stagnation.
- Mature age: achieving ego integrity versus disgust, despair. 1.2The Personal Unconscious
1.3The Collective Unconscious
The collective unconscious is the psychic residue of man’s evolutionary development that accumulates as a consequence of repeated experiences over many generations (Hall & Lindzey, 1966:80). Individual inherited the experiences from others surround him and repeated the experiences over and over.
What individual experience and learns is influenced by the collective unconsciousness. In Hall and Lindzey’s TheoryofPersonality mentioned thatthe structural components of the collective unconsciousness are called archetypes, a universal idea which holds a large part of emotion that formed from experience that repeated constantly for generations.
Archetypes consist of systems; the persona, the anima and animus, the shadow, the self, the attitudes, and the functions.
- The Persona
The persona or the public personality which is born because of the demands of one’s environment,
- The anima and Animus
- The Shadow
The shadow consists of animal instinct of human that responsible for the appearance in conscious and unpleasant behavior that may be hidden by persona.
- The Self
The self holds the systems together and provides the personality with unity and stability
- The Attitude
There are two major attitudes of personality, extraverted attitude which orients to the objective world, and introverted attitude which orients to subjective world.
- The Functions
There are rational and irrational functions. Rational feeling consists of thinking and feeling while irrational function consists of sensation and intuition.
2. Theory of Character and Characterization
Between many elements of the novel – plot, setting, theme, and point of view – character is the most important aspect in the novel. Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms states character as a literary genre, a short, and usually witty, sketch in prose of a distinctive type of person’. Further he states that a character is the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work. The characterization of one’s character can be expressed by their dialogue, what they say, and by the action they do.
In literature, there are two sorts of characterization, which are stable and change character. Stable character is the character that doesn’t experience important change in his outlook and disposition, he remaining essentially the same from beginning to the end of the story. Change character, in contrast, is the character that experience important change in the story, “either through a gradual development or as the result of an extreme crisis” (1957: 20).
Human characteristic is different one to another. Every stage of human life also has different characteristic. Based on Justin Pikunas’ Human Development: An Emergent Science, there are six stages of human life; they are prenatal, infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and senescence. Each stage has different characterization. Here, the childhood and adulthood stage are highlighted as the discussed stages.
who format their self-concept and gains in communication skills and autonomy. Interacting with those outside the home make them realize their role. Childhood stage also characterized as a group-mindedness person.
The person who is in adolescence stage described as a person who has increase his self-awareness and personality reorganization. They also develop in terms of peer relation which resulting many ambiguities and conflict. This stage also characterized as a stage to prepare an adult life with its greater responsibilities.
3. Biosocial Theory in Personality
Adolescence is the period of transition from childhood to early adulthood that occupies changes in biological changes and social development. According to Rice in The Adolescent: Development, Relationships, and Culture, ‘people disagree about when it begins and ends’ (1996: 3). The transition from one stage to the others is uncertain and gradual. The development is depending on such varied factors as the surroundings, culture and biological.
Biological changes include sexual maturation and physical growth. Individual must learn to adjust his own changing body. In order to adjust to the changes, the adolescence is often struggling within himself.
Social development is how individual understand their eventual function as adult in society. To understand their function in society individual learns directly from experience but because the experiences of adolescents are rapidly increased, they sometimes find themselves without the necessary skills to cope with new experiences. An individual have to struggle in order to find their function in society which have positive and negative side.
The positive (or syntonic) side of the struggle is a sense of identity – a sense of continuity and consistency of the self over time. The negative) or dystonic) side is a sense of confusion about one’s identity or role – a lack of certainty about who one is, or about the part one is playing in the scheme of life (Kimmel&Weiner, 1985:34).
they live. Individual in order to be suitably socialized must be able to develop their emotion to others and to adapt the norms, values, ideas and also rules of his culture.
Emotions are compounded by the fact that adolescents generally mature more slowly emotionally than they do physically, intellectually, and socially. This causes many of their behaviors to seem immature. Subsequently, many behaviors are emotionally upsetting because an adolescent does not have the emotional skills to deal with many situations encountered (Thornburg, 1982:71).
The young adolescents usally begin to feel confident in his mental and intellectual ability. He begins to value his aspirations and eager to realize some of them. Young adolescents also increased his desire to show off skill.
The central developmental task of adolescence is the formation of a coherent self-identity. There are four basic identity statuses.
- Identity diffused is the normal characteristic of early adolescents. They are lacking self-confidence and mask their feelings with an expression of apathy.
- Forclosure is the adolescents who become what others order them to become without really deciding for themselves.
- Moratorium is when the adolescents seem confused, unstable, and discontented.
C. Theoretical Framework
The reviews and theories mentioned above are needed in order to answer the problem formulation. The reviews will be applied as the references toward the analysis and the theories will be applied as the basic understanding to analyze the problems. Both are important and support one another.
To answer the first problem formulation, that is how Alice characterization as a child is and as an adolescent in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland character and characterization theory and personality theory will be applied.
17
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The object of the study is Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland by Lewis
Carroll. The story written by Lewis Carroll, pseudonym of Charles Lutwidge
Dodgson, was first published in 1865 and it was an immediate success. First
published as Alice's Adventures Under Ground (1863) and was motivated by a
boating party with Alice Liddell and her sisters change into Alice’s Adventure in
Wonderland. The revised text also included illustrations by John Tenniel.
Alice was a publishing sensation, beloved by children and adults alike.
Lewis Carroll’s Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has been translated into 125
languages, including Japanese, Latin, Esperanto and Faroese. Now, there have
been over a hundred editions of the book. Translated into languages ranging from
Swahili to Esperanto, her fairy tales are go beyond only by Shakespeare and the
Bible for expressions that have entered the English language
Beside translated into many languages, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
has also adapted into movies and live performances including plays, operas,
ballets, and pantomimes. The first Alice movie is directed by Cecil M. Hepworth
in 1903.
The story that is used in this study was taken from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s
published in Everyman by J.M. Dent Ltd in 2004. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland itself consists of 98 (ninety – eight) pages and divided into 12 (twelve) chapters with illustration by John Tenniel.
Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a story about a young girl, named Alice, and her journey into a dream world. Alice follows a white rabbit into a rabbit hole and finds herself in a strange world and meets with strange characters. There, she struggles to adapt with the creatures around her and also to find her identity because she starts to change sizes and she cannot identify who she was or who she is.
B. Approach of the Study
For the approach, the researcher uses the psychological approach because it is the suitable approach to answer the questions stated in the problem formulation. Since the researcher tends to analyze the personality and changes into adolescence, the psychological approach provides suitable explanation.
Psychological approach is very useful to analyze the personality of the main character and to analyze the changes that can bring the researcher into the idea of being adolescence.
C. Method of Study
To collect the data for this study the researcher uses the library research. Taken as the sources, the data are divided into two categories. They are primary and secondary data.
The primary data is a story by Lewis Carroll entitled Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland taken from Everyman by J.M. Dent Ltd, which is object of the study. Some of the secondary data used by the researcher were taken from Theories of Personality by Calvin S. hall and Gardner Lindzey, Hershel D. Thornburg’s
Development Adolescence 2nd Ed., Pikunas’ Human Development : An Emergent Science, Adolescence: A Development Transition by Douglas C. Kimmel and Irving B. Weiner, Abram’s A Glossary of Literature Terms, Wellek and Warren’s
Theory of Literature, Wilferd Guerin’s A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature, Grace J. Craig Human Development, The researcher also takes data from internet to find some information that cannot be found in those books.
20
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
This chapter contain of the analysis of the study. The first analysis will
discuss the characterization of Lewis Carroll’s main character in Alice’s
Adventures in Wonderland as a child and as an adolescent. The second analysis
will talk about how Alice’s characterization changes through the journey can
bring the idea of adolescent.
The researcher analyzes the character of Alice, as the main character, only
in her dream world because the story basically happens when Alice fall a sleep.
The entire quote in this chapter taken from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, the ninth edition, published in
Everyman by J.M. Dent Ltd in 2004.
A. The Analysis of Alice’s Characterization
1. As a Child
Alice in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is the main character in Lewis
Carroll children book. Alice is a young little girl who gets into the fantasy world
through a rabbit hole. As a young little girl, she has a good personality and acts
like any ordinary little girl. She tends to be polite to another, and talks to her self
wonders about the things she never knew before. That is why she asks a lot about anything.
a. A Polite Girl
It is obviously shown by the writer that Alice is described as a polite girl. There are many explicit words that say that Alice is a polite girl or act as a polite girl such as: `I'm afraid I can't put it more clearly,' Alice replied very politely,’ (Chapter V, Page 41), `I don't know of any that do,' Alice said very politely, feeling quite pleased to have got into a conversation,’ (Chapter VI, Page 54), `My name is Alice, so please your Majesty,' said Alice very politely;’ (Chapter VIII, Page 69).
One of the words that show politeness is the word ‘please’. As a polite girl, Alice always uses the word ‘please’ as her way to show her politeness like shown in chapter II when Alice said ‘If you please,sir-‘ (Chapter II, Page 15) to the Rabbit.
Besides using the word ‘please’, the way Alice shows her politeness is by seize herself not to laugh in front of the person who does silly things. Doesn’t want to hurt anyone, Alice tries not to burst in laugh when she thinks that the Dodo and his friends do silly things which is unusual things for her.
For Alice, what they did is such a silly things and makes her want to laugh but because she wants to be polite Alice prefers to keep silent instead of laughing in front of the others in order not to hurt others feeling. It also happens when she has conversation with the footmen.
Alice laughed so much at this, that she had to run back into the wood for fear of their hearing her; and when she next peeped out the Fish-Footman was gone, and the other was sitting on the ground near the door, staring stupidly up into the sky (Chapter VI, Page 54).
When the fish-footman and the frog-footman give invitation from the Queen to the Duchess they do such a silly thing. Alice considers it as a funny thing that she wants to laugh. Fearing she will be heard by the others and try to be polite, she runs to the wood and burst in laugh.
Alice always tries not to hurt anyone, and she manages it by being polite as far as she can.
Alice did not much like keeping so close to her: first, because the Duchess was very ugly; and secondly, because she was exactly the right height to rest her chin upon Alice's shoulder, and it was an uncomfortably sharp chin (Chapter IX, Page 76).
b. A Lonely Girl
Just like any ordinary little girl, Alice sometimes feels lonely without friends. She feels that she has no friends and she can do nothing but crying when she feels lonely.
When Alice is confused about her own identity she feels that she is all alone without friends and she is tired of being alone.
"--but, oh dear!' cried Alice, with a sudden burst of tears, `I do wish they
would put their heads down! I am so very tired of being all alone here!' (Chapter II, Page 15).
After finally Alice has friends, the Mouse, the Dodo and friends, she makes mistake by telling them story about her cat, Dinah which makes them leave ‘…and Alice was soon left alone’ (Chapter III, Page 27).
Alice begins to feel lonely again and nothing she can do but cry: ‘And here poor Alice began to cry again, for she felt very lonely and low-spirited’ (Chapter III, Page 27).
c. A Curious Girl
Alice is a curious girl and it is obviously written in the text that Alice is a curious child. “…, for this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people” (Chapter I, Page 12).
Alice follows the white rabbit into the hole because of her curiosity. Alice goes through the rabbit hole because she sees the talking rabbit with human attribute which is a never before seen creatures for her.
…, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat pocket, or a watch to take out of it. And burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge (Chapter I, Page 7-8).
When Alice falls into the rabbit hole she’s wondering she will fall through the earth: ‘I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! (Chapter I, Page 8).
As a young little girl, Alice tends to be a ‘want-to-know everything’ girl. She always want to know something that unusual for her and never been seen in her life.
Alice had been looking over his shoulder with some curiosity. `What a funny watch!' she remarked. `It tells the day of the month, and doesn't tell what o'clock it is!' (Chapter VII, Page 60).
Alice curiosity is a common thing for children. Their curiosity can make them get into a never before experienced world and make them see new thing. d. A Tearful Child
that she fits enough to pass through the door but Alice cannot reach the key on the table. She tries to reach it ‘and when she had tired herself out with trying, the poor little thing sat down and cried.’ (Chapter I, Page 11). Alice breaks down crying instead of being calm and finds the solution. In chapter II when she realizes that she cannot get into the other side of the door because she is too big to pass it ‘she sat down and began to cry again’ (Page 13). She says to herself that she has to be ashamed to cry like that but she still crying.
You ought to be ashamed of yourself,' said Alice, `a great girl like you,' (she might well say this), `to go on crying in this way! Stop this moment, I tell you!' But she went on all the same, shedding gallons of tears,…’ (Chapter II, Page 13-14).
Alice is a tearful little girl, she always cries when everything doesn’t go like she wants to be. She does nothing but cry.
e. An Obedient Girl
Alice is tending to be afraid to refuse something that is actually wrong and tend to be the person who the environment wants her to be. In chapter IV she meets the White Rabbit which mistakes her as its housemaid.
Very soon the Rabbit noticed Alice, as she went hunting about, and called out to her in an angry tone, `Why, Mary Ann, what are you doing out here? (Chapter IV, Page 28).
Instead of telling the truth, Alice prefers to keep in silence and follow White Rabbit although it is not her own will because she is afraid.
It also happens when Alice meets the Gryphon in chapter X. They order Alice to recite ‘Tis the Voice of the Sluggard’. Alice is afraid to disobey it, so even she thinks that it was strange and knows that it will all come different, she still manage herself to recite it for them.
Alice did not dare to disobey, though she felt sure it would all come wrong, and she went on in a trembling voice:-- (Chapter X, Page 88) Instead of doing different thing Alice prefer to do what the other person order instead of deciding something for herself.
f. A Thoughtless Mouthed Girl
When Alice first comes into her dream world, she tends not to mind her word. She always says something she wants to say without paying attention whether her words offend someone else or not.
In chapter II, when Alice meets with he mouse in the pond of tears, she talks about her cat named Dinah and slips words that her cat is good in catching mice.
`Well, perhaps not,' said Alice in a soothing tone: `don't be angry about it. And yet I wish I could show you our cat Dinah: I think you'd take a fancy to cats if you could only see her. She is such a dear quiet thing,' Alice went on, half to herself, as she swam lazily about in the pool,’ (Chapter II, Page 18).
also good in catching mice: ‘and she's such a capital one for catching mice—‘ (Chapter II, Page 18). Realizing that she talks to a mouse, Alice feels guilty and say sorry to the mouse and promise that they will not talk about it anymore.
‘Oh, I beg your pardon!' cried Alice again, for this time the Mouse was bristling all over, and she felt certain it must be really offended. `We won't talk about her any more if you'd rather not.' (Chapter II, Page 18).
Alice said that they will not talk about her cat anymore because she sees that the mouse doesn’t look happy with her story and she starts talking about dogs.
`Are you--are you fond--of--of dogs?' The Mouse did not answer, so Alice went on eagerly: `There is such a nice little dog near our house I should like to show you! A little bright-eyed terrier, you know, with oh, such long curly brown hair! (Chapter II, Page 20).
Alice story about dogs also makes the mouse unhappy because it says that the dog kills rats and by that time, she realizes that she makes mistake by telling the Mouse about the dogs.
And it'll fetch things when you throw them, and it'll sit up and beg for its dinner, and all sorts of things--I can't remember half of them--and it belongs to a farmer, you know, and he says it's so useful, it's worth a hundred pounds! He says it kills all the rats and--oh dear!' cried Alice in a sorrowful tone…. (Chapter II, Page 20).
Alice is a girl who doesn’t pay attention to her words and it sometimes becomes her weak and often offends another.
2. As An Adolescent
Murphy’s theory there are two kinds of changes, biological and social changes. Alice, in this story, also experiences these kinds of changes. Her changes in size show her biological change and her role changes in her environment shows her social changes in which the most important factor is peer group relations.
1. Biological Changes
Biological changes include sexual maturation and physical growth which is a characterization of adulthood. Alice in the story changes her body size time to time. She becomes smaller and bigger and keep changing size until the end of her dream. Her changes in size represent her changes from just a little girl into adult.
From the beginning until the end of the story, Alice keeps changing her body size. She changes from normal size into smaller or bigger than her normal size. She changes her size whenever she eats or drinks something.
And so it was indeed: she was now only ten inches high, and her face brightened up at the thought that she was now the right size for going through the little door into that lovely garden (Chapter I, Page 11).
After she drinks something from the bottle marked DRINK ME she turns into a shorter size. She change into bigger size after she eat a piece of cake. ‘Curioser and curioser!’ cried Alice…..;’now I’m opening out like the largest telescope that ever was!’ (Chapter II, Page 13).
Alice become large again after she drinks liquid from the bottle she found in the Rabbit’s house.
She feels that she drinks too much of it so that she cannot stop growing and becomes as big as the house.
It did so indeed, and much sooner than she had expected: before she had drunk half the bottle, she found her head pressing against the ceiling, and had to stoop to save her neck from being broken. (Chapter IV, Page 30). She turns into smaller size after she swallowed one of the cakes, and was delighted to find that she began shrinking directly’ (Chapter IV, Page 35). Alice keeps change her size for several times
2. Social Changes
a. An Identity Instability Girl
From the beginning until the end of the story Alice keeps changing her body size. This changing makes her confused of her own identity. She cannot manage who she is; even other creatures who meet her cannot recognize her as the correct person. Alice is not sure of who she is because everything happens to her today is so strange and she is unsure whether she has been change or not.
‘Dear, dear! How queer everything is to-day! And yesterday things went on as usual. I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is, Who in the world am I? (Chapter II, Page 14).
Alice believes that she has been change into another person suddenly and that she is now experiencing another person’s reality. She tries to figure out who she is and who she could possibly be. Alice worried that her identity has been displaced into her same age friend.
And she began to thinking over the children she knew that were of the same age as herself, to see if she could have been changed for any of them (Chapter II, Page 15).
She is sure that she is not her friend, Ada, because her hair is different from Ada’s hair.
‘I’m sure I’m not Ada,’ she said, ‘for her hair goes in such long ringlets, and mine doesn’t go in ringlets at all; (Chapter II, Page 15).
…and I’m sure I can’t be Mabel, for I know all sorts of things, and she, oh! She know such a very little! Besides, she’s she, and I'm I, and--oh dear, how puzzling it all is! (Chapter II, Page 15).
When Alice tries to recite a poem which comes differently from the one she used to know, she finally decided to believe that she is Mabel.
…`I must be Mabel after all, and I shall have to go and live in that poky little house, and have next to no toys to play with, and oh! ever so many lessons to learn! No, I've made up my mind about it; if I'm Mabel, I'll stay down here! It'll be no use their putting their heads down and saying "Come up again, dear!" I shall only look up and say "Who am I then? Tell me that first, and then, if I like being that person, I'll come up: if not, I'll stay down here till I'm somebody else"— (Chapter II, Page 15).
Not just for Alice, her identities also not clear for the white rabbit.
Very soon the Rabbit noticed Alice, as she went hunting about, and called out to her in an angry tone, `Why, Mary Ann, what are you doing out here? Run home this moment, and fetch me a pair of gloves and a fan! Quick, now!' (Chapter IV, Page 28-29).
The White Rabbit mistakes her as his maid servant, Marry Ann. It shows that Alice identity is not clear for the Rabbit who recognize her as the maid.
And 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 (Chapter IV, Page 28-29).
Alice is so surprised and frightened that she doesn’t have any chance to explain who she is, besides she is not sure who she is also, and Alice decides to follow the rabbit’s direction instead of explaining that the rabbit makes mistake.
This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, `I--I hardly know, sir, just at present-- at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.' (Chapter V, Page 39).
Alice replies the Caterpillar that she cannot explain herself because she is not who she used to be. She has changed a lot since she falls into the rabbit hole. When the Caterpillar force Alice to explain who Alice is, she still cannot answer it. Alice feels that she is not herself and she cannot understand herself either.
`I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, sir' said Alice, `because I'm not myself, you see.’ …`I'm afraid I can't put it more clearly,' Alice replied very politely, `for I can't understand it myself to begin with; and being so many different sizes in a day is very confusing.' (Chapter V, Page 39-41)
Alice cannot identify herself because she keeps changing through time, `I can't remember things as I used--and I don't keep the same size for ten minutes together!' (Chapter V, Page 41).
The Caterpillar tells her that one side of the mushroom will make her bigger and the other side will make her smaller. Alice first tries the right side, which makes her chin get stuck to her foot. Alice quite afraid for her sudden change but she relieved when finally she can manage her changes.
A pigeon flies into her face, assumes that she is a serpent because of her appearance, her neck grown enormously long that frightened the pigeon.
`Serpent!' screamed the Pigeon.
`I'm not a serpent!' said Alice indignantly. `Let me alone!' `Serpent, I say again!' repeated the Pigeon, but in a more subdued tone, and added with a kind of sob, `I've tried every way, and nothing seems to suit them!' (Chapter V, Page 48).
Alice denies that she is a serpent and says that she is a little girl.
`But I'm not a serpent, I tell you!' said Alice. `I'm a--I'm a--' `Well! What are you?' said the Pigeon. `I can see you're trying to invent something!' (Chapter V, Page 49).
Alice says it in a doubtful tone because of the changes happen to her all the day. She cannot surely identify herself even though she keeps telling that she’s a little girl.
`I--I'm a little girl,' said Alice, rather doubtfully, as she remembered the number of changes she had gone through that day. (Chapter V, Page 49). The pigeon still believe that Alice is a serpent because the pigeon ‘seen a good many little girls in my time, but never one with such a neck as that! No, no!’ (Chapter V, Page 49). The pigeon get surer that Alice is a serpent because she admits that she eats eggs.
Because of her changes, Alice feels that she was a different person the day before. Alice cannot explain who she was so she thinks that it is useless to tell about her adventures on the day before but she willing to tell her adventures since the morning.
‘I could tell you my adventures--beginning from this morning,' said Alice a little timidly: `but it's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then (Chapter X, Page 87).
b. A Sturdy Girl
At the beginning when Alice comes to the Wonderland she always try to be polite. She uses the word ‘please’ often and tries not to offend another. She also tends to obey other person’s order because she has no wits to refuse it. But she transform into a person who can hold to her own.
In chapter VII, Alice becomes brave enough to resist March Hare and friends who say that there is no room for Alice in the table but bravely
The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at one corner of it: `No room! No room!' they cried out when they saw Alice coming. `There's plenty of room!' said Alice indignantly, and she sat down in a large arm-chair at one end of the table. (Chapter VII, Page 59).
c. A Learner
During Alice’s journey in her dream world, she finds strange rules she never before faced. Alice starts to learn rules that are usually used in adult world. Not just learning rules, Alice also has to adapt to the rules of this new world and also learning new things.
Entering new world with new rules, Alice is not always understand to the rules she faced. In chapter VIII, when the King and Queen of Hearts are passing her, she learns that everybody has to be lying down. She is a little bit confused to the rules which order them to lie down when the King and Queen pass the street.
Alice was rather doubtful whether she ought not to lie down on her face like the three gardeners, but she could not remember every having heard of such a rule at processions; (Chapter VIII, Page 67).
Alice thinks that the procession is useless if everybody lies down because it means nobody will see the procession. Alice cannot see the need of lying down so she stands on her place ignoring the rules made by them.
…`and besides, what would be the use of a procession,' thought she, `if people had all to lie down upon their faces, so that they couldn't see it?' So she stood still where she was, and waited (Chapter VIII, Page 67).
The chief difficulty Alice found at first was in managing her flamingo: she succeeded in getting its body tucked away, … , Alice soon came to the conclusion that it was a very difficult game indeed (Chapter VIII, Page 71).
Part of the problem in learning rule is that no one paying attention to the game’s rules. Alice feels that the others not play the game fairly and it make her confuse.
`I don't think they play at all fairly,' Alice began, in rather a complaining tone, `and they all quarrel so dreadfully one can't hear oneself speak--and they don't seem to have any rules in particular; at least, if there are, nobody attends to them--and you've no idea how confusing it is all the things being alive; for instance, there's the arch I've got to go through next walking about at the other end of the ground--and I should have croqueted the Queen's hedgehog just now, only it ran away when it saw mine coming!' (Chapter VIII, Page 73).
Just like particular adolescents, they sometimes ignore rules they faced daily. The new rule is to disobey the old rules. Here, Alice has to adapt that the others who play the same game are not paying attention to the rules of the game and she finds it confusing between the right and wrong.
d. A Stronger Girl
In chapter VII Alice comes into March Hare tea party. There, she participating adult activity, which is a tea party, and she comes up against some of the difficult creature she has ever met. She gets confused to their conversation which is, for Alice, wasting time. When Hatter gives a riddle to all of them Alice thinks that they will have some fun,
The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he said
’Come, we shall have some fun now!' thought Alice (Chapter VII, Page 59).
Alice try to find out the answer but she cannot find it and nor do the others, even Hatter who gives the riddle don’t have the answer.
`Have you guessed the riddle yet?' the Hatter said, turning to Alice again. `No, I give it up,' Alice replied: `what's the answer?'
`I haven't the slightest idea,' said the Hatter.
`Nor I,' said the March Hare. (Chapter VII, Page 61).
For Alice, it is wasting time by giving them a riddle with no answer.
Alice sighed wearily. `I think you might do something better with the time,' she said, `than waste it in asking riddles that have no answers' (Chapter VII, Page 61).
Alice tries to understand their way to manage the time. When the Hatter says that ‘it's always six o'clock now,’ (Page 62), Alice then understands why there are a lot of tea-things around them. It is because it always the tea time so that they don’t have time to wash the things.
A bright idea came into Alice's head. `Is that the reason so many tea-things are put out here?' she asked.
‘Yes, that's it,' said the Hatter with a sigh: `it's always tea-time, and we've no time to wash the things between whiles’ (Chapter VII, Page 62).
After Alice gets some experiences and trials which are never before happened to her, she starts become stronger and never breaks down crying like she used to be. She starts to manage her self to be calm and manage a plan.
It can be seen especially when she faces the court of cards with great confidence and brave. Alice is in the court and being asked silly things by the King and the Queen. In the end, Alice cannot be intimidated on the trial. She manages to fight her way through the king’s poor reasoning and also stands up against the unjust evidence. Alice also becomes braver than before and is brave enough to disagree to the Queen’s words.
`Stuff and nonsense!' said Alice loudly. `The idea of having the sentence first!'
`Hold your tongue!' said the Queen, turning purple. `I won't!' said Alice.
`Off with her head!' the Queen shouted at the top of her voice. Nobody moved.
`Who cares for you?' said Alice,’ (Chapter XII, Page 101).
By refuse the Queen’s command, Alice shows that she is not as polite as she used to be. She is now become a person who can manage herself and make decision to herself.
e. A Show Off Girl
Young adolescent tend to show off their skills. They usually show their knowledge off that they get from books and from what they learn in school. Alice again and again in this story repeats the lessons she learned in school although sometimes her knowledge is often lacking. When she first falls down in the rabbit hole, she said to herself wondering how far she falls down the hole.
knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, still it was good practice to say it over) (Chapter I, Page 8).
Even though there is no one there to listen to her, Alice still showing her knowledge off and uses the words that she doesn’t even know the meaning. Alice uses the words ‘latitude’ and ‘longitude’ because she thinks that those words are impressive.
‘- yes, that’s about the right distance-but then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I’ve got to?’ (Alice had no idea what Latitude was or Longitude either, but thought they were nice grand words to say.) (Chapter I, Page 8). After Alice’s fall is over, she finds a bottle on the table labeled ‘DRINK ME’. She was wise enough to check whether the bottle marked ‘poison’ or not.
It was all very well to say `Drink me,' but the wise little Alice was not going to do that in a hurry. `No, I'll look first,' she said, `and see whether it's marked "poison" or not'; (Chapter I, Page11).
Alice uses her knowledge to tests herself whether she still the same person as before or not. She performs the multiplication tables, but they come out incorrect.
Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is--oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate! (Chapter II, Page 15)
Fail to perform the multiplication; Alice tries to perform Geography which is ended with failure since she mentions the wrong city for each country.
The last subject she tries to perform is poetry that also leads her to failure in order to test whether she still the same person as she used to be or not because she cannot perform the right words.
I'll try and say "How doth the little--"' and she crossed her hands on her lap as if she were saying lessons, and began to repeat it, but her voice sounded hoarse and strange, and the words did not come the same as they used to do:-- (Chapter II, Page 15).
When Alice meets with the mouse in the pool of tears, she wants to ask the mouse how they can escape from the pool. Alice is not sure how to speak to a mouse, but she remembers words from her brother’s book and assumes that it was the perfect way to speak to a mouse.
So she began: `O Mouse, do you know the way out of this pool? I am very tired of swimming about here, O Mouse!' (Alice thought this must be the right way of speaking to a mouse: she had never done such a thing before, but she remembered having seen in her brother's Latin Grammar, `A mouse--of a mouse--to a mouse--a mouse--O mouse!' (Chapter II, Page 18).
When the mouse pays no attention to her and said nothing, Alice presumes that it might not understand English, `Perhaps it doesn't understand English,' thought Alice;’ (Chapter II, Page 18).
Considering that it doesn’t understand English, Alice decided to use the French language she knows from her French lesson book.
In Alice’s journey, she meet with the Duchess who is Alice doesn’t like because the Duchess always talks about moral. In an effort to show off the Duchess about her knowledge, Alice tries to demonstrate a lesson from astronomy but the Duchess seems not too interested to it.
`Which would not be an advantage,' said Alice, who felt very glad to get an opportunity of showing off a little of her knowledge. `Just think of what work it would make with the day and night! You see the earth takes twenty-four hours to turn round on its axis--' (Chapter VI, Page 54).
At the trial of the Knave of Heart, Alice understands quite a lot. She never been in the court before but she has read about courts in the newspaper so that she can identify almost everything there.
Alice had never been in a court of justice before, but she had read about them in books, and she was quite pleased to find that she knew the name of nearly everything there. `That's the judge,' she said to herself, `because of his great wig.' (Chapter XI, Page 91).
Alice even can identify the judge because he wears a great typical wig for judge. Alice also identifies the juror that stands in the juror’s box.
`And that's the jury-box,' thought Alice, `and those twelve creatures,' (she was obliged to say `creatures,' you see, because some of them were animals, and some were birds,) `I suppose they are the jurors (Chapter XI, Page 91).
She identifies it with a little bit bigheaded because she thinks that she has done well and not many girls at her age know it.
f. A Careful Mouthed Girl
Knowing that the mouse look inconvenient talking about cat and dog and doesn’t want to repeat the same mistake, Alice uses the initial letters ‘C’ and ‘D’ instead of saying the words ‘cat’ and ‘dog’ in front of the mouse. Alice learns not to make same mistake in order not to offense other creatures.
`You promised to tell me your history, you know,' said Alice, `and why it is you hate--C and D,' she added in a whisper, half afraid that it would be offended again (Chapter III, Page 25).
Although she almost makes the same mistake by mentions that she has eaten lobster to the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle, she catches herself just in time. She also stops herself from saying that she has had whiting for dinner.
`You may not have lived much under the sea--' (`I haven't,' said Alice)--`and perhaps you were never even introduced to a lobster--' (Alice began to say `I once tasted--' but checked herself hastily, and said `No, never') `--so you can have no idea what a delightful thing a Lobster Quadrille is!' (Chapter X, Page 83).
B. The Analysis of the Factors Influence Alice’s Characterization Changes
Alice’s journey in Wonderland brings her into a different person than she used to be when she first comes into Wonderland. Her changes from Alice as a little girl into Alice as adolescent bring the idea that Alice in wonderland can be considered as an adult.
a. Changes of the Body Size
In the beginning of the story Alice only change her size whenever she eats or drink something, in the end she is able to grow to a giant size without realizing it and without taking any dishes.
Just at this moment Alice felt a very curious sensation, which puzzled her a good deal until she made out what it was: she was beginning to grow larger again, (Chapter XI, Page 94).
She cannot stop it because now she is growing without the help of any material or other person.
b. Mistaken into Different Person
Adolescent often experience identity crisis that so relevant to adolescents. It happens because of the changing that comes in sudden so that it makes adolescent feel unsure about the identity. ‘How puzzling all these changes are! I'm never sure what I'm going to be, from one minute to another!’ (Chapter V, Page 51).
different person which makes her confuse. Her exploration to her own identity presents a child's search for herself as she grows older. Alice fears that her identity has been displaced; her fears show any child's uncertainty about their place in the world.
c. Hold Her Own
When she feels enough to join in the mad tea party, she decides to leave because she thinks that ‘this piece of rudeness was more than Alice could bear: she got up in great disgust, and walked off’ (Chapter VII, Page 64). Alice becomes a person who has confidence and wise enough to leave when she had enough. She can make decision for her own to leave from that place and not a girl who does things that is ordered by another.
d. Adapt to the New Surroundings
Another step to adulthood is to learn rules. In order to fit into the new environment, ones must adapt himself into the new surroundings with its people around. Being adolescence means learning new things, new rules, and knows the consequences. Things that are not be familiar with in children world starts to come into sight and bring new idea when one entering adolescence world.
Alice has to adapt the rules because the environment forces her to do so in order to be received by the others.
e. Confident to Herself
Alice becomes an independent person, she cries less often than she first comes into the Wonderland. She is now realizing that she has no one helping her so that she has to stand by herself. It shows in chapter VII when she finds herself in a long hall, unlike the first time, when she cried and couldn't maintain control of herself, she remains calm and uses her head to get to the garden.
`Now, I'll manage better this time,' she said to herself, and began by taking the little golden key, and unlocking the door that led into the garden. Then she went to work nibbling at the mushroom (she had kept a piece of it in her pocked) till she was about a foot high: then she walked down the little passage:… (Chapter VII, Page 65).
Alice becomes a stronger person because now she feels more confident facing the Wonderland. Alice becomes a person who has confidence and wise enough to leave when she had enough. She can make decision for her own and not a girl who does things that is ordered by another anymore.
She is much stronger than when she first arrived in Wonderland. Her confidence comes through when she saves the lives of the three gardeners whose head will be cut off because they get the wrong color of the roses.
`Off with their heads!' and the procession moved on, three of the soldiers remaining behind to execute the unfortunate gardeners, who ran to Alice for protection (Chapter VIII, Page 69).
`You shan't be beheaded!' said Alice, and she put them into a large flower-pot that stood near. The three soldiers wandered about for a minute or two, looking for them, and then quietly marched off after the others (Chapter VIII, Page 69).
Alice is horrified by the injustice; it is one of the marks of her basic concern and her growth as a person that she will refuse to be intimidated or won over by the others.
In the beginning Alice is crying a lot and often feels desperate, but in the end of the novel she reacts very self confident and able to hold her own. Through out the story, Alice grows in maturity and develops enough bravery against the wrong side. Instead of breaks down crying she bravely says that they are ‘nothing but a pack of cards!' (Chapter XII, Page 101) and there is nothing to fear.
f. Using Knowledge
Knowledge is one thing that can be getting by reading books, learning in school, or told by other person. Alice learns things from reading books and also from school. She uses her knowledge because she feels that she needs to test herself, showing off, or because someone wants to hear the lessons she has learn and wants to be aware of everything.
Alice remembers story that teach lesson by telling the trouble of thoughtless children who don’t do the proper things.
it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later (Chapter I, Page11).
The reason why she decided to find the word ‘poison’ first on the bottle, because she wants to be aware for her own sake and will not drink something from the ‘poison’ labeled bottle because she doesn’t want end up like other children who are not remember simple rules.
Alice uses her knowledge to tests herself whether she still the same person as before or not. She recites multiply, geography, and poem in order to find out whether she still the same person or not. Other use of the knowledge for Alice is to show off her knowledge to others.
The way Alice show her knowledge is often happens to adolescence, they tend to show off things they know and feel proud and confident when they can do it.
g. Realizing the Mistakes
To understand the function in society individual learns from experience but because the experiences of adolescents are rapidly increased, they sometimes find themselves without the necessary skills to cope with new experiences.
Alice makes the same mistake by mentioning Dinah to Lory and friends. She tells them that Dinah will eat a bird soon as she look at it and not considering that Lory is a bird kind of creature.
49 CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION
By finding out the characterization and the changes of Alice as the main
character in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the issue of the
idea of being adolescent is solvedby the researcher.
From the previous chapter, the researcher finds out Alice is characterized
both as a child and as an adolescent. She is polite to others by using the word
‘please’ whenever she needs help or ask something to another and it is obviously
written in the story. Alice acts as polite girl even though she doesn’t like the
Duchess because she doesn’t want to hurt someone else’s’ feeling. Her politeness
not only dedicated to others who know her, but also to other whom she never
before met.
Entering into new world which is extraordinary for her, Alice feels so
lonely, she feels that she has no friends and when she has some friends they leave
her one at a time. Alice start to enter new world which is enforcing her to find
new community and new friends who are understand and suite her. Her loneliness
makes her unhappy and low-spirited; Alice can do nothing but burst in tears.
Alice is also described as curios girl, she tends to be a
want-to-know-everything girl because she finds a lot of unusual thing that never before
Alice changes in this story shows that she is now grown up both biologically and socially. Her biological change turns her from normal size into bigger size. This change in size represent her change from little girl into adolescent.
Besides biological change, the social changes also transform Alice into adolescent. Each experience happen to Alice makes her stronger than before and changes her from a weak young little girl into a wiser and mentally stronger adolescent. Alice also tries to adjust herself with the rules in her new world and can maintain her self-control. Her social change makes her never breaks down crying not like when she first comes to the wonderland world. Alice turns from a tearful girl into a more mature girl and brave enough to hold against her own. She also becomes a person who can make her own decision. She doesn’t want to be commanded by another person including the Queen.
plays another person’s experiences. Those feelings make her doubt whether she is the same person as she used to be or not.
Alice is using her knowledge to decide whether she is still the same person or not. Even though her knowledge often lacking, but she tries to recites poems, multiplication, and geography to find out who she is. Not just for testing herself, Alice using her knowledge to show off her ability and it makes her proud even sometimes she doesn’t even know what she is talking about and the information she remembers from her lessons is usually completely useless or wrong.
Being adolescent means have to adapt rules which are unusual in children world. Adapt the rules also one of the way to get into the new adolescent environment. Not just adapt to the new rules, Alice has to learn new rules and new things. It is not easy for Alice to adapt the rules, she feels that some rules are useless and some others are strange and less people obey it and are not paying attention to it. Alice concludes that the new rule is not to obey the rules. She also learns that there are consequences for them who are not obey the rules.
52
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Website addresses
http://www.bookrags.com/notes/aiw/
http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/wonderland/
Classic notes on Alice in Wonderland
http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibition/online/carroll/ http://dictionary.reference.com
