After reading Alice in Wonderland, I found many archetypes related to growing up and the adult world. I remember wanting to read this book as a child, but when I finally got my hands on it, I had absolutely no clue what was going on. I didn't understand ANYTHING (maybe with the exception that the door to the garden represents the Garden of Eden: idealistic and perfect or maybe even the unattainable adult world). But for the most part I didn't understand how any of this information connected. Despite this devastating blow to my self-confidence I moved on. Now that I have read the book again (as a growing adult), I notice its references to the adult world (its archetypes) that a child could not possibly understand.
The reason I could not understand this novel as a child was because I was not experiencing what Alice was experiencing in the novel. In other words, I was not at the point in my life where I reached sexual maturity. But now that I am in the process of this phase, I feel what Alice went through because ALL teenagers have been through the same life stage: puberty, just some sooner than others.
Another symbol in this general archetype is the drink me bottle, which could possibly indicate the hardships and naivete of a child entering the adult world. Also, the fact that Alice keeps changing sizes could possibly represent the idea of growing not only mentally but also physically.
When I read this novel as a child, I could not connect the facts. But now that I realize it, my understanding of this novel as a child is the same perspective that Alice sees herself. What I felt, finding the adult world confusing and unbelievable and nonsensical, was the same that Alice felt. And I only realized it after going through this phase of maturity. So even though I failed to realize it back then, Alice shows obvious archetypes that can only be seen when the reader is feeling the same pressures as Alice, or essentially when one's perspective changes due to maturity.
~ Simon L.
No comments:
Post a Comment