Historical Context- Alice in Wonderland

Political Satire

Caucus Race

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"'In that case,' said the Dodo solemnly, rising to its feet, 'I move that the meeting adjourn, for the immediate adoption of more energetic remedies -'" -p.34

"They began running when they liked, and left off when they liked, so that it was not easy to know when the race was over." -p.34

"Everybody has won, and all must have prizes." -p.35


Early in the novel, Alice is swept by her Pool of Tears and encounters a Duck, Dodo, a Lory, and an Eaglet. In order to dry themselves up, Dodo proposes the Caucus race while entails running to the creatures are tried. Caucus, in fact, is a political term defined as "a meeting to select a candidate or promote a policy" (Wordnet, Princeton University). Caucus is not a race, implied by its definition and the context in the novel that everyone are winners. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Caucus is a rather new term from United States as a "meeting to iron out differences in order to present a unified front from exerting political pressure". The childish nature of the race itself in Alice, the Dodo bird presenting Alice with a thimble as prize (when it was her possession). Also, it is possible that Lewis Carroll is satirizing at the function of political parties, candidates literally "run" in elections to be voted into office; however, their usefulness to the public is doubtful. There is no significant outcome to the caucus race except for drying, which questions the function of a caucus race, and in the political context, the function of a caucus.

The Walrus and the Carpenter

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"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

                                                       -Through the Looking Glass
                                                          The complete poem can be found here.

    This is a poem that Tweedledee and Tweedledum tells Alice to keep her from leaving. The story is about a walrus who lures the young oysters to have a walk with him and the carpenter along the beach. Eventually, the walrlus and the carpenter devour all of them. The walrus pretends to sob, which is ironic as he is the one who contributed to the oysters' death.

    The poem is quite structured and has a generally regular rhyme scheme (abcbdb). The alliteration and rhyme provide a playful, song nature. An example of this is vivid in the quote above:
                                                       "The time has come," the Walrus said,
                                                       "To talk of many things:
                                                        Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
                                                        Of cabbages--and kings--
                                                        And why the sea is boiling hot--
                                                        And whether pigs have wings."

     The alliteration of "s" sounds is emphasized in this stanza and slows down the timing of the words. The "s" also contributes a slithering snake sound. The rigidity of the verse is reinforced with strong alliteration. It is interesting to note that despite the sense of structure in the poem, the content rebels against the orderliness and is composed of nonsense.

    Lewis Carroll's purpose in writing this poem has been analyzed and the answer remains ambiguous. In fact, there are many discussion boards dedicated to asking for the interpretation of the poem. Some have claimed that The Walrus and the Carpenter is a parody on religion, and that the Carpenter mirrors Jesus. However, according to Gardner (1960), John Tenniel (the illustrator)was given the choice to draw either a carpenter, butterfly, or baronet since it was compatible with the poem's meter. Therefore, the significance of the carpenter may have been overestimated, and Carroll's choice of animals is not as intentional as readers perceive it to be.

    There is a possibility that an underlying political message is installed in the poem; however, the analysis is based on readers' own interpretations. The political message may not be directly represented by the characters, but the general characteristics the Walrus and the Carpenter portray. For example, the Walrus displays a pretentious front, and this is exemplified when he acts sympathetically for their death (which he caused),

    ""I weep for you," the Walrus said,
    "I deeply sympathize."
    With sobs and tears he sorted out
    Those of the largest size.
    Holding his pocket-handkerchief
    Before his streaming eyes."

    On the other hand, the Carpenter is (for better or for worse) unsympathetic and is more "honest" than the Walrus. He does not pretends to be cordial with the oysters, and rarely does he speak as much as the Walrus does. Instead, he straightforwardly eats them without further ado. The walrus and the carpenter are antagonistic and the little oysters are the victims. If we were to translate this into a political statement, does this follow the correlation of size and power (The bigger an animal is in Wonderland, the more power it holds. An example would be the Queen of Hearts) that is predominant in the novel? Are oysters members of a lower class, representative of a more ignorant (they were easily lured by the walrus) population in society? On the other hand, to what extent is The Walrus and the Carpenter simply a moral tale? The oysters who followed the Walrus were all youngsters, so does this imply that children should listen to the older and wiser adults? Does the moral of the poem involve the fact that curiosity has consequences? The oysters readily hopped to shore because of their own interest in other animals, as the walrus and carpenter.

    The interpretation of The Walrus and the Carpenter remains a mystery. For children readers, the lesson of the poem is to not follow strangers, similar to other fairy tales, such as Little Red Riding Hood. For adult readers, the poem may be making political inferences at capitalism, social class, and British imperialism. The poem is open to many interpretations and Carroll's original intent may be over-analyzed. Perhaps the poem is written for the sake of randomness to fit with the nonsensical nature of Alice in Wonderland itself? However, this answer seems to be unsatisfying as more and more readers make sense out of the non-sense culture of the book, and what seems to be a pleasant children's book may only be the surface to a more political and personal (Alice Liddel) perspective.


 

"Organized Chaos"...

was how The Beatles' producer attributed to the  song, "I am the Walrus" which was sung by John Lennon, who was later noted to have regretted to use the Walrus since it was the "bad guy" in the novel. Oftentimes, The Beatles were inspired by Lewis Carroll and wrote songs with references to Alice in Wonderland. Besides "The Walrus and the Carpenter", "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is another Carroll-inspired song.
The lyrics and additional information can be found here.