A Moral From Within: Finally Revealed!

December 3, 2009

Filed under Carl K.

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So, we just got back our in-class essays today, and at first I was scared of what I was about to receive, hence that I assumed that I thought I completely bombed it. However, apparently I was actually able to get my point across in a logical way that my paper can be taken seriously. This made me happy 🙂

The main focus of the essay was over one, of the many, morals that the Duchess has found, and explain how it relates to Alice’s adventure through Wonderland (thus far up to Ch. 9). To me, most of her morals didn’t really make sense to me. Like “ ‘Tis love, ’tis love, that makes the world go round,” or  “Birds of a feather must flock together.” Reading again time after time still lead me no where. Until I found this one particular moral she brought up.

“Be what you would seem to be“

I like this one because I can understand it easier than the rest, and also I’ve figured out that this can be applied to Alice’s adventures in Wonderland. I believe, what the Duchess means, that you should want to be seen by others as you want them to see you. For my essay, I gave it the title “A Moral From Within,” meaning that the Duchess’s moral is to be found within Alice’s adventure, and for her to come to an epiphany in realizing who she really is. Here is my introductory paragraph for everyone to see:

In Chapter 9, the Duchess finds lots of morals in many things. One of her many morals, that she has shared with Alice, is “be what you would seem to be” (pg. 93). One could look that this one particular moral is part of the reason why Alice is wandering through Wonderland. Although she, herself doesn’t know, the meaning of her adventures is to find out who she really is.

So to wrap up my entire essay in a tiny nutshell, I basically explained my supposition on how Alice comes to find herself from all the various experiences she’s witnessed throughout the journey in Wonderland. And as I am explaining that, I’ve picked out different quotes and references that help support my theory and to show the symbolism, that Carroll has most likely suggested, behind some of the encounters. Like the changing of sizes, the caterpillar, or even the Cheshire-cat. Those were all intended to help guide her in reaching her long-awaiting epiphany.

Also, I specifically named this post as A Moral From Within: Finally Revealed! because I haven’t fully finished my conclusion, and I would like to take this time to finish my closing thoughts. So please bear with me on this:

For the most part, Alice’s journey was way to give her a chance to finally see a different side of things. At first, she was a young, arrogant girl who thought she knew mostly everything. However, because of the various experiences and encounters, in Wonderland, her ways of thinking and perceiving have been dramatically altered, to only give her greater insight in life. Thus making Alice more conscious of the world, and herself.

If you want to elaborate, more of my essay than what I’ve posted, feel free to ask me. Now since you have just finished reading over my thoughts, I would like to know your opinion whether this moral could best describe her journey, or any of the other morals best describes her journey.  And why?