Lewis Carroll (1832.-1898.

Alice in wonderland
Author: Lewis Carroll (real name-Charles Lutwidge Dodgston). Was an English writer and
mathematician, whose two stories of Alice in the amazing world and her adventures there have become classics of children's literature. Lewis Carroll graduated from Oxford, where he taught mathematics (1855. - 1881.). In 1861.he became an Anglican priest .Four years later, his sories for children were published under the name ''Alice in Wonderland'' and was immediately a success.His second book ''Mirror hunt'' appeared in 1872. and was equally popular. He adored photography, so we could say he was talented amateur photographer.

The main character: Alice lives a typical '' vicorian-era girl'' life. She's a bit too bored
sometimes so she falls asleep next to her sister on a riverbank. She's seven,and like every other child at her age,she's extremely curious. Alice wants to know everything and she's not afraid of anyone. Just like every victorian girl she's classy and decent. Her kindness is visible in few situations. She's young,optimistic,smart and adroit.

Brief summary: Young girl named Alice falls asleep on a riverbank. She sees a white rabbit
with a waistcoat that is talking to itself. Alice follows it,because she's curious, until she enters a rabbit-hole and starts falling down slowly. When she lands, she is in a room with a table and a key on it. A little door leads into a wonderful garden. But it is so small she can t go through.Then she notices a small bottle labeled Drink me on the table. Alice drinks it and becomes very small. But she forgot to open the door and cannot reach the key. She now eats a cake labeled Eat me and become very big. She shrinks so much she is forced to swim in her own tears. Then she meets other animals and gets out of the water. The Mouse wants to tell a dry story in order to dry but the Dodo suggests a caucus-race.When she got dry, Alice enters the garden. She goes to a house and drinks from a labeled bottle, making her grow again. She is so big she cannot get out and all the animals gather to make her leave. They throw pebbles at her, which are in fact pieces of cake. She eats one and shrinks again.She runs from the house into the wood and meets a huge puppy.Later she sees a caterpillar sitting on a mushroom and smoking a hookah. The caterpillar tells her that eating one side of the mushroom will make her either shrink or grow. Then she finds a cottage where a Fish-Footman delivers an invitation from the Queen to play croquet to a FrogFootman. She enters and meets the Duchess in the kitchen with her baby. A cook is making a soup and is putting a lot of pepper making the air unbearable. The baby is crying so Alice takes it outside where it changes into a piglet. She leaves him and runs into the woods until she comes upon the Cheshire very mysterious animal.Alice goes on until she meets the mad Hatter and the March Hare, who are having a tea party with a sleeping Dormouse. Alice finds

them confusing because they ask riddles to which there is no answer and pretend that there is no room for her but there is.Suddenly, she finds herself in the room where she landed. She uses a piece of mushroom to grow there right size and enters the garden where the Queen is having a croquet game with flamingoes for sticks and hedgehogs for holes. Alice is invited to play. The Queen orders anyone who disagrees with her to be beheaded. Alice finishes the game and is the only one not to be sentenced.The Queens then asks a Gryphon to take Alice to the Mock Turtle in order to hear its story. The Turtle tells Alice about the time when she was at school and learned subjects like reeling, writhing or fainting. Next they attend a trial, where the King, assisted by the White Rabbit, tries to find who has stolen some tarts. Alice starts growing and tips over the jury box. The Queen asks to sentence the accused now and to hear the verdict later. Alice protests and is sentenced. She replies to her that nobody cares and that they are just a pack of cards. The cards start jumping at her face and that is the moment when she wakes up from her dream.

Impression:The book was really interesting and I'm not a fan of Sci-fi,but I enjoyed
reading it. I've picked it because I saw Tim Burtons version of this story and got interested. The book is not a typical tale or story for children,it's a mixture of mystical creatures and social problems. I can connect to Alice. She's a little girl lost in a unfamiliar world,trying to find herself and escape obstacles. She succeds in the end against all odds.

Themes, motives and symbols: The theme is an unknown world that actually symolizes
our real world and people we meet down the road,discovering that world. Some of them help us to reach our goal,some of them knock us down just when we are near our dream,some of them power we try to oppose.

Quotations:
Alice: ''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?' Ah, that's the great puzzle! I believe that every situation changes person a bit, and makes us different, thats what makes life beautiful.

Karla Blakovi 2.b