The following quotes are taken from Sylvie and Bruno by Lewis Carroll.

1. “...[To] me it looked like this natural action of a lover, who, even while his heart was singing “She is Mine!”, would fear to paint his happiness in the cold phrases of a written letter, but would wait to tell it by word of mouth.” (431)

If Charles Dogdson indeed had interest in Alice, then his hidden emotions were definitely displayed well through Arthur and Lady Muriel as Alice. Arthur had great affections for Lady Muriel in the text. As we all know through many researchers, Charles would write about his entire life through letters, but there is a time span where no one can find any letters. This passage from the text brings us back to letters. “...fear to paint his happiness in the cold phrases of a written letter...” so Dogdson did not put his feelings in letters. “...would wait to tell it by word of mouth” so there are clues he might have told Alice, or another love, his true feelings, but just didn’t put it down on paper in case someone were to discover it.

2. “The first rule is, that it must be a very hot day -- that we may consider as settled: and you must be just a little sleepy -- but not too sleepy to keep your eyes open, mind. Well, and you ought to feel a little -- what one may call “fairyish”...” (432).

I enjoy Carroll’s description of how people can enter a world of fantasy and fairies. This description could refer back to his discovery of the Alice world on a hot summer day when going on adventures with the Liddell sisters. Perhaps if everyone uses their imagination on a hot summer day, we could see fairies, and also enter magical worlds that will bring us back to how we were as children, playful and not worried about the many things we shouldn’t have to worry about, but instead, just search for fairies and strange little creature of the woods.

3. ‘”A hare is a sweet, gentle, timid animal -- almost as gentle as a lamb.” (441)

The comparison of a hare to a lamb makes the hare seem such innocent angelic creatures. Lambs are baby sheep, requiring special attention from their parents. Without help, they can not survive. Such dear creatures, you can not help but feel even more sorry for the deceased hare through the comparison.

This is the picture of the dead hare in Sylvie and Bruno. I was curious of the image as it is not in the course anthology. Such a sad picture.

The following quotes are taken from The Clandestine Adventures of Alice in Saudi Land by Jasmine Bager, which can be found here. The article portrays how the Alice books have a huge impact on different cultures of the world and has changed lives for the better. 

4. “I do not know any of them, but as soon as I hug them, we are sisters, brought together by a love of reading.”

I envy this close-knit relationship people develop through reading. Many times I have tried to convince my close friends of guys to read, inevitably failing. But it doesn’t prevent me from constantly annoying them to read books I enjoy.

5. “We had only one daily English class; all of our other courses were taught in Arabic, though we socially spoke accent-less English to each other. We knew better than to reveal our Western books to our Arabic teachers who considered what we were reading to be blasphemous because the stories depicted “unsavory” characters.”

My interest in science fiction, futuristic technology, and fantasy, such as dragons and sphinx, pushes me to use my imagination when I read many books. Sadly, this does not apply to my science classes; so i must block that part of my mind while attending lecture. The quote reminds me of science classes and how my interest does not apply to real life, though i wished it did.

6. ‘“Do you think that Alice seems Saudi to you?” asks book club president, Haifa AlOwain with a mischievous smile. A few hushed moments later, answers morph from a definite “No, she is not at all!” to “Maybe she could be, in certain ways.”

Whimsical and curious, Alice is a heroine who is in charge of her own destiny. The story drifts from dreams to reality. Many Saudi girls are daydreamers, escaping into books or the world wide web to cope with our social and cultural restrictions.’

The second half of this article reminds me of Emma Watson. I follow her on Twitter and can’t help but admire her push towards sexual equality. To me, Emma might just be the closest thing to Alice in real life. She went on a great adventure through Harry Potter, and now achieving her goals day by day, helping people through it all. She’s inspirational, just like Alice.

An image of Emma Watson.

7. “Those across the pond — or the desert, rather — can identify with Alice, just as little American girls can, to this day, 150 years after her tale was first told.”

1. “There was also a Beaver, that paced on the deck, / Or would sit making lace in the bow : / And had often (the Bellman said) saved them from wreck / Though none of the sailors knew how.” (393)

A wonderful display of how animals affect humans more than they believe. Beavers are important to the nature of the world, creating dams. The dams create luscious environment for frogs and other creatures, preventing too much water from entering an area.  

An adorable beaver working on a dam.

2. “But at length he explained, in a tremulous tone, / There was only one Beaver on board; / And that was a tame one he had of his own, / whose death would be deeply deplored.” (396).

The beaver is now a part of their family now, so of course a butcher wouldn’t be able to kill the beaver. This is similar to Alice’s family in Carroll’s story when they have Dinah as a pet, and several other kittens; precious to Alice and the family. The relationship between animals and human are strange; we dislike some animals, but other animals we adore with all our heart. 

The beaver for the Bellman’s crew is like my dog, Chubby, in my family. His death would be irreplaceable. 

3. “He was thoughtful and grave - but the orders he gave / Were enough to bewilder a crew. / When he cried, “Steer to starboard, but keep her head / larboard!” / What on earth was the helmsman to do?” (398)

I can’t help but relate this to the most popular anime in Japan, One Piece. 

In this anime, a crew of pirates are on a journey to search for the greatest treasure the world has ever seen, One Piece. The main character is erratic and an unusual captain, but his crew will follow him until the end of times. His orders are not the greatest, and he needs assistance from his crew, almost like family, but they are able to surpass every obstacle they face. 

The anime, One Piece.

4. ‘”I skip forty years,” said the Baker, in tears,”’ (401)

Just like Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland, it is no surprise Carroll would include himself in The Hunting of the Starks as the Baker, just as he was the Dodo bird, most likely. Why is 42 so important to Lewis Carroll?

5. “While the Beaver confessed, with affectionate looks / More eloquent even than tears, / It had learnt in ten minutes far more than all books / Would have taught it in seventy years.”

Some books can not teach the lessons in life. It can not teach life lessons, nor friendship. And obviously the friendship between the Beaver and the Butcher was created through emotions. 

There were several instances throughout the last few chapters of Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There that revealed a kind Alice, a strong conquering Alice, and a child having a “normal” dream.

1. “Startled as she was, Alice was more frightened for him than for herself at the moment, and watched him with some anxiety as he mounted again.” (234)

Alice, only a child, was almost arrested by a red knight, but he falls off his horse as he reaches to arrest her. We are able to see a kind Alice worry, or at least scared for the knight, when he tumbles down his horse. Many children, I included, probably would not have been worry for someone, or something, if it were to become injured attempting to kidnap me. 

2. ‘To a student of logic and semantics all this is perfectly sensible. The song is “A-Sitting on a Fate”; it is called “Ways and Means”; the name of the song is “The Aged Aged Man”...’ (243)

And

“Of all the strange things that Alice saw in her journey Through The Looking-Glass. this was the one that she always remembered most clearly.” (243)

What if Carroll traveled to the future and listened to “The Mystery”? In all joking aside, this brings us back to the reality that no one really knows what a single thing really is. The world could unanimously give an object a name, but is it truly the name? In this passage, Alice is simply a child, but someone learning, and her conversation with the knight is burned in her memories. And it makes sense, because she is maturing to realize there are more to something than its name. Something can have multiple names. It’s quite astonishing. 

This reminds me of a wonderful series I encountered a few years ago called Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. A truly long and dense series, the main character, Kvothe, is able to call forth upon the wind at the end of the first book when angered as someone breaks his musical instrument. There are many instances when he is asked what the wind truly is, or a rock. Perhaps when you truly understand something, it will react at the most important times of need. 

The book cover of Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

3. “It was a golden crown.” (248)

And 

‘”I never expected I should be a Queen so soon...”’(250)

A great example of Alice, the conqueror, conquering the chess board, with assistance, and becoming a queen. But this is also another example of Alice, the child, wishing to one day be queen. It is not surprising Dodgson included this passage, as Alice Liddell was intended to marry into royalty, and this is Dodgson allowing that dream to come true, through his own story.

4. ‘”Wrong, as usual... the dog’s temper would remain... Then if the dog went away, it’s temper would remain!”’ (254)

This reminds me of many dogs I know when you make them angry, and so they remain angry throughout the day until you please them. I recall my friend tricking his dog to go to the park, but he never intended to take him to the park. The dog was upset at his owner the entire day. Of course, I do not recall doing this to my own dog; he chases me when I steal his bone. 

5. “There were three chairs at the head of the table: the Red and White Queens had already taken two of them, but the middle one was empty.”

The middle is always the highest position, so Alice came and Alice conquered. Because Alice in Through the Looking Glass and what Alice Found There is a representation of Alice Liddell, it is no surprise she deserves the middle seat. Alice Liddell is the middle of the three daughters as well. The way Dodgson is able to include the great Alice Queen with the adorable Alice Liddell is spectacular.

6. ‘”I’ll shake you into a kitten, that I will!”’ (266)

Every child deserves to have some mischievous moments in their life, right? It’s what being a child is all about! And this is an example of one of Alice’s bad moment, picking on someone smaller than her. Of course, i’d probably be angry too at the Queens.

7. ‘”Tell me, Dinah, did you turn to Humpty Dumpty? I think you did - however, you’d better not mention it to your friends just yet, for I’m not sure.”’(271)

Carroll enjoys playing with names and reserving the letters around taken from another name. Had he always planned to have sequel in hopes to include Humpty Dumpty? As Dinah was also in the first book.

I remember the first story I’ve ever read that included names and reversing letters around was Harry Potter and the Chambers of Secrets, when Tom Riddle announced his name would be “I am Lord Voldemort”.

Kate Bernheimer’s lecture over the Grimm’s Fairy Tale and recent Fairy Tales was interesting as she speaks about the fact that not all Fairy Tales are for children, and she begins to question, what are fairy tales? It’s not a simple question to answer. Many things can be fairy tales, from the Grimm’s tales to America’s Journey Westward migration.

1. “Fairy Tales taught me how to live.”

It is understandable that Kate learned from fairy tales as she grew up. Fairy tales can teach a child so much. It first begins with nursery rhymes, half a page of beautiful simple stories taught to toddlers before they could read or even write, and those nursery rhymes, such as Humpty Dumpty, are placed within fairy tales, such as Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland, which are taught to children across the globe.

These fairy tales have so much happening in the one to two hour long movie or book. Characters, princesses, princes, animals, and wild creatures all have great character development, and a moral to teach for the young people in life. It is not surprising why all children love fairy tales and some fall so deep in love they can not help but go back to fairy tales multiple times, even as an adult.

2. “...Write my stories from fairy tales...”

and

“There is no definitive version of a fairy tale.”

Many great novels out there are based on a fairy tale one way or another. There are so many cliche but they work and attract readers. One of the greatest series out there, A Song of Ice and Fire, I believe to be based on many fairy tales operating at many different levels, which is so attractive to all different types of readers. Sure it may be based off of history as well, but nevertheless, the different characters revolve around a certain cliche or fairy tale.

For example:

Bran Stark: The boy traveling to the North to save Westeros from the White Walkers. An innocent boy at the beginning of this series, but becomes a formidable for to the White Walkers, and possibly a hero.

Arya Stark: An innocent girl at first, just like Bran, works her way to become this powerful girl for revenge. In some ways, she's the Mulan of Game of Thrones.

As you can see, there can be many more examples, but Game of Thrones does definitely have a fairy tale aspect to it, for adults. DefiNutley not children.

Arya Stark from A Song of Ice and Fire.

3. Lurid

Probably the biggest question of the night goes to: what should we consider lurid? What should be considered innocent? Or pure? Perhaps fairy tales are meant to have both?

As I recently rewatched Disney's Alice's Adventure in Wonderland, I can't help but think of a certain scene which I thought was lurid. Disney's version included the Walrus and Carpenter scene from Carroll's Through The Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. Disney's version had the clams as cute little creatures, and you can't help but feel sorry for them after the Walrus eats them. How sad is that? This is suppose to be a disney movie, so they should have escaped or someone to save the day. But that doesn't happen. Quite lurid, is it not?

The Walrus and Oyster from Disney’s Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland, although the story itself it taken from Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. You can see how frighten the baby clams are when approached by the monstrous Walrus.

I remember I saw this movie when it came out, but I do not remember most of it; I just enjoyed it. It was different than the Alice books and movie I watched as a child, but after rewatching it (sadly not with the class, but by myself this morning) I realized this edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is great. 

There are so many differences between this rendition and Carroll’s own version of Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland and it is expected because Tim Burton had no intentions of making this simply a live-action movie of the fairy tale, but a sequel, as well as a combination of both Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There and Jabberwocky.

1. ‘”Wait, this is my dream.” said Alice. And she pinches herself, trying to wake up. 

She often says this throughout the movie, and it surprises me as no one told her that she was in her own dream. Perhaps she believes it is a dream because her father told her at the beginning of the movie that she can pinch herself to wake up; but even so, she does not wake up. I enjoyed how in this rendition, a dream is a part of your life. Your dream affects you - the message I received from watching this movie.

2.  

The Clubs, featured in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland

Compared to:

The Cards featured in Disney’s Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland.

When comparing Walt Disney’s Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland to Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, you can’t help but realize that the latter is much darker and not child-friendly as the former. I thoroughly enjoy this different perspective as the Disney version does not make the cards, the queen, or rather any part of the movie scary. Just like what Kate said in the Grimms-Frank talk, Disney uses beautiful color and animation to hide the dark parts of their story, and they do so effectively with Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland. But Tim Burton is able to turn this into a closer version of a Grimm’s fairy tale with the killing and dark shadows and blood. 

3. “...Favorite trio of idiots...”

Oh I do love this saying, probably my favorite quote from this movie. The Mad Hatter, The Marsh Hare, and the Dormouse are probably my favorite characters in this movie. I was not expecting the Mad Hatter to be such a loving character, but it is not surprising as he plays such an important role in the stories. 

“Why is a Raven like a writing desk?” was repeated five times. I thought Tim Burton would have his own answer, but to my disappointment, he did not.The answer was the same as the one given in Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland, that the Mad Hatter also did not know the answer. I wonder what his answer would be if he had to answer.

The trio featured in Disney’s Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland.

4. “...but I don’t need them. I have you...”

and 

“It is far better to be feared than loved.”

This gave the Red Queen more life as a character than Carroll was able to accomplish in his stories (I believe). One can’t help but sympathize for the mad Queen as she is not able to feel love throughout the story, though she wishes for it dearly. Her followers follow by fear and her family dislikes her. Though she may be evil, doesn’t every one deserve to be loved some time in their life?

5. “Nothing ever gets accomplished with tears.”

Perhaps the most wise thing said in this movie, which is true. One can continue to feel sad after a death or a poor decision, but only to mature, you have to overcome such feelings. Learn from your experiences, not let it drag you down. 

I find it interesting how the Caterpillar is changing at this moment, turning into a cocoon and then a butterfly, and at the same time, Alice is realizing her destiny to kill the Jabberwocky. It is ingenious to have both occur simultaneously. 

6. “...Believe in six impossible things...”

I enjoyed how Alice listed six things that were impossible, but happened in the movie, right before she slayed the Jabberwocky. The scene was done perfectly, setting up a fight at the top of a “tower” for Alice to defeat the creature and everyone below would see her a heroine, the one they’ve been waiting for. 

This is also said in Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There but there was not an emphasis on it, but instead one line. I’m glad there was an obvious reason Tim Burton included it.

The cover of Jabberwocky.

1. “Alice did not like shaking hands with either of them first, for fear of hurting the other one’s feelings...” (182)

I believe anyone whom have known twins can relate to Alice’s feelings. From my observations, it seems that twins, or very close brothers, are on alert when it comes to getting attention. A beautiful woman marrying one over the other would obviously make one jealous, and also if one makes a significantly higher grade than the other on a test.

These are the twins I’ve known since Middle School, Kevin and Matthew Nguyen.

2. “After the Walrus and Carpenter have gone to sleep, the ghosts of two oysters appear on the stage to sing and dance and punish the sleepers by stamping on their chest.” (187)

I clearly remember this scene on Disney’s Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland. The oysters were clearly beautiful innocent creatures while the Walrus and Carpenter were complete vulgar characters, and it saddened me when the Walrus ate the oysters. 

It was not a scene for children. This relates back to the Grimms-Frank talk Thursday. The speaker often said, “What is a fairy tale?” And some of her works were not for children, as some fairy tales are so dark. This is one case of a dark scene in this fairy tale.

3. “Molly Martin, in a letter, suggests that Tweededee’s “Ditto, ditto” underscores the doubling of twins and the identical forms of objects and their mirror reflections.” (190)

In the television show, Pokemon, there is a creature name Ditto. Now I understand why it’s name is Diito, it has the ability to take the form of any other Pokemon, just like a mirror reflection. Just something fun i’d like to mention!

The Pokemon, Ditto. It has the skill to copy and take the form of anything.

4. ‘”When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”’ (199)

Alice, in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, said almost the exact same thing about her father. I often do it as well, it’s enjoyable and gives me ideas for any short story i’d like to write about. Flying, going to another world, all these impossible things that is not possible for me, is something I often think about. 

In the CW, DC television, The Flash, no one believes Barry Allen, but he always goes for the impossible. So whenever i encounter anything about the “impossible”, no matter how irrational it may be, I’d like to believe it may be true. It brings mystery and excitement to the world. 

A poster of The Flash. Chase The Impossible.

5. ‘”When i use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more or less.”’ (213)

I must admit I believe I have read Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, but I do not remember several parts of the book.

1. “The King immediately fell flat on his back, and lay perfectly still...” (147)

and 

“In chess play the loser often signifies defeat by turning his king flat on its back.” (147)

I can’t help but appreciate Carroll’s writing to incorporate the king’s feeling when the player decides to forfeit, or actually putting the king on his back. This analysis is wonderful, and I must say that I may have never noticed this if it were not for the annotations. 

2. ‘”It’s a great huge game of chess that’s being played - all over the world - if this is the world at all, you know.” (163)

Life is a chess game, such an often spoken metaphor that it has now been a cliche, but a powerful cliche. My favorite anime, books, movies, etc. have incorporated chess into their story some way or another, and the pieces of the game all have a certain role that you can’t help but love.

My favorite anime of all time, Code Geass, have two brother, sworn enemies, attempting to steal the throne from their father. They are also two wonderful chess players, and their battlefield is always a chess game to them, manipulating their comrades to achieve their goal. 

Sometimes, chess is not that important to the story line itself, but instead because it is such a beautiful game, you just have to incorporate it into your story, like Harry Potter.

3. ‘Alice looked round her in great surprise. “Why, I do believe we’ve been under this tree the whole time! Everything’s just as it was!”’ (165).

I enjoy that Alice’s dreams have not changed since Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. It shows that rather someone may mature in real life, their dreams may remain the same, with similar meanings, throughout their lives. Alice’s dream still has strange creatures but nevertheless, interesting.

4. ‘”I wonder what’ll become of my name when i go in? I shouldn’t like to lose it at all - because they’d have to give me another, and it would be almost certain to be an ugly one.”’ (176)

Your name is important, it’s who you are. Losing your name signifies you not knowing who you really are. You respond to people when they call your name, most of the time (unless you are purposefully ignoring that person). When someone with dementia or amnesia can not remember their name, they also do not remember their past or their environment; this is the case when you lose your name - you must search for it.

The Caterpillar often asked Alice, “Who are you?” in the first story, in which Alice does not know who she is. But she better understands who she is at the beginning of this story.

Always concerned about your grade, always worried about the future, that you just can’t enjoy the now of today. It’s like an epiphany that struck me during my organizational meeting... and I just felt so serene and tranquil. 

It’s one thing to hear it, say it, but another to feel so free from the distractions in life. My fellow members were sitting there in boredom, just wanting to leave so they can go to the PCL and study for future tests. “This is fun guys, talking about this program.” And they stare at me with awe. Even I was amazed by what I said. I definitely felt more energetic than usual.

Now the worst thing about this week... is writing about my worst thing about this week. Nothing truly bad has happened to me! I’m distraught because I don’t know what to write about. Sharing this may make me feel uncomfortable because other people are having a bad week. Perhaps I should feel guilty, but... 

No. We are all awake, so there’s always another day!

I read this a long time ago and thought it was an appropriate article to share!