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James Henderson
Children’s Lit
Alice in Adolescence

A young woman is coming of age in the mystical and fantastical world of Wonderland Alice Begins as a young innocent girl but after experiencing many adventures she grows up. Throughout the story there is a repetition of several themes Time, size, images of motherhood and birth, and the constant question of who are you? All these things lead to the assumption that this is a story of a young girl entering adulthood.
Time is one of the most important aspects in Alice in Wonderland. Two characters in particular show opposite sides of a concern for time. One depiction of a view of time is how the white rabbit is so concerned with time that it is basically all he thinks about. It is actually funny how his utter concern for time takes up most of it. The white rabbit’s view of time can be viewed as adult’s depiction of time. In the Disney version he is constantly repeating “I’m late; I’m late for a very important date!” As a person grows older time becomes a more important aspect of their lives. There are several reasons for this, one is that adults have a certain schedule they must follow to get through their lives, another is that as a person grows older time is of the essence and things seem to move more swiftly. On the other side of the spectrum there is the mad hatter’s view of time. Time is not a huge issue for him he just sits around all day sipping tea. He itemizes time and says to Alice “If you knew time like I know time…” as if time is a person whom you can talk to; therefore you mustn’t be concerned with time. This is more of a childish view of time. Children are less preoccupied with time then adults are because to a child time is not of the essence they believe that they have all the time in the world. Also in a Childs eyes time passes very slowly but, as one grows older time passes much more quickly. These two different views of time are important to the story...