Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll is a story which poses many questions with its strange and nonsensical world. As young Alice Little encounters fantastical and odd characters in Wonderland, her notions of what makes sense are challenged. Alice attempts to apply her experience to this new world and finds at every turn that Wonderland operates by a different set of rules. These new experiences call into question many of the things Alice believes, among them, her very own identity. One passage in particular stands out on the topic of Alice’s identity and what role it plays in her behavior:
“She generally gave herself very good advice (though she very seldom followed it), and sometimes she scolded herself so severely as to bring tears to her eyes; and once she remembered trying to box her own ears for having cheated herself in a game of croquet she was playing against herself, for this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people.”
As shown, Alice is a girl whose personal identity is not yet fully formed. This is understandable as she is quite young and an identity is something which takes time and experience to develop. This passage poses a question, just how greatly are our own identities influenced by the values, goals and actions of those around us? This question is one which fits well with the themes of madness and nonsense which are so prolific in Wonderland. The story suggests some complications as well as an answer in the way characters behave towards Alice when she tries to apply her logic to the things they say and do. Because Alice comes from a reality with a different set of rules, her expectations of things to come and how other characters will behave are not realized. In stark contrast to the seemingly unintelligible chaos of Wonderland, Alice has grown up in a rigid and orderly world with guidelines in place to regulate her behavior to fit it. In order to match these standards, Alice molds her identity in an abnormal way by playing the role of a harsh caretaker towards herself. From this, Alice finds herself a lawful and organized character trapped in a world of chaos and disarray.
Because of the upbringing she received in the world she has lived in, a part of Alice recognizes that she doesn’t want her identity to be that of someone who deserves scolding or cheats in games. Alice takes measures to correct negative behaviors in herself due to the expectations of those around her. In our youth, the way we are treated by others helps to form our identity, as do our own values and goals with our time in life. Because we do not exist in a vacuum, we as individuals are amalgamations of our experiences and interactions with others. If we could know how many minds of others have influenced us and see how many lives have touched our own, we might realize how much we share with those around us.
Alice’s role as a sane and reasonable character causes her to stand out from the rest of Wonderland. This is how the story answers our question of how greatly we are influenced by our world and the people who surround us. What would be defined as nonsense to her in her world, makes sense to those who live in this world and vice versa. The world around us is what defines how we are labeled. Our identities as sane or insane, right or wrong, good or evil, vary depending on the company we keep. A world like Wonderland, which is by our set of standards abnormal, would label a young girl like Alice insane. It’s no different from how our societies would view the Mad Hatter if he lived in our world. Our identities as people and how we are labeled are not static. People adapt and change to fit their world when the rules and the people who make them are different.