Down the Rabbit Hole: Lessons We May Learn from Alice

1965 Recording of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland
Professor Joe Goldblatt
It is Sunday morning and whilst millions of others are watching the television news and a few others are sitting in a pew at their place of worship, I am listening to a 60 year old recording of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. I have selected this diversion as my own personal mirror to continue and try to figure out how our advanced, best educated civilisation has fallen down the rabbit hole into a dark abyss of war, pestilence, and intolerance.
This 1965 recording featured many of the greatest stars of the London stage including a nine year old girl named Karen Dotrice playing the title role who later went on to perform the role of young Jane Banks in the blockbuster film Mary Poppins. As I listen to her naive and strangely wisened voice encountering all of Carroll’s amazing characters I am reminded that often we learn best from the mouths of babes
Several times each year I visit local primary schools to encourage understanding and respect for different faiths and beliefs. At the end of these programs as a Hindu, Muslim, Baha’i, Christian, Buddhist, Jew, and constables from Police Scotland stand before the pupils I ask the 100 or so young people what they have learned from meeting these folk from many different faiths and their local police?
One nine year old boy looked carefully at each of the faith leaders wearing their different ritual garments of turban, skull caps, crosses, and peace sumboles and police constables with their badges, drew a deep breath and then said
“I have learned how the world REALLY works!”
And so does wee Alice as she tumbles down her rabbit hole. Now, as I listen to the variety of delightful and marvelous voices floating from the loud speakers of my high fidelity record player, I also begin to learn how the world works. Instead of being judgemental, I believe we must now try even harder to understand one another.
Several decades ago I visited the Harry Ranson Center at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas and explored their extensive Lewis Carroll archive. I viewed hundreds of photos including those of the little girl for whom Alice in the fabled story is named. Carroll conceived Alice‘s Adventures in Wonderland as a story to entertain three little girls names Lorina, Edith, and Alice whilst rowing up the river Isis near Oxford, England with his friend the Reverend Robinson Duckworth in 1862.
In his journal, Carroll described the story as Alice’s Adventures Underground. This fantastical tale has been translated into 174 languages and never been out of print for 160 years. The popularity of the story may have something to do with the many anthropomorphic characters of White Rabbit, Gryphon, Lobster Quadrille, Mock Turtle, King and Queen of Hearts and others that Alice meets during her adventures underground.
I believe we are meeting some, but not all, of these same characters today above ground in the worlds of politics as well as live entertainment and other strangely intersecting stratas of modern society. As we meet each of these figures, similar to Alice, we are trying to our best understand their strange behaviours and we are also trying to survive their bizarre behaviours.
At the end of Alice’s adventure, the Queen of Hearts famously sentences Alice to death by proclaiming “Off with her head!” Just before the evil deed actually happens a colourful pack of playing cards rains down upon her face and Alice’s sister awakens her upon the bank of a river by brushing leaves away from her face. A few minutes later Alice wanders away to imagine all the curious happenings for herself.
As the music soars to a climactic conclusion upon my sixty year old recording, I also imagine I also wander away in my mind’s eye and suddenly imagine that hopefully in a few years we shall brush away from our eyes the leaves of confusion, misunderstanding, and despair and once again imagine a world that embraces respect, tolerance, and a sense of wonder for all things great and good. Perhaps we too shall awaken from this evil dream and find ourselves upon the bank of a river and as did wee Alice, using our imagination to create a much better world for us all.
Professor Joe Goldblatt is Emeritus Professor of Planned Events at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, Scotland. His views are his own. For more information about his views visit www.joegoldblatt.scot
An uplifting post that certainly raised my spirits. Thank you for sharing your journey alongside Alice.
Thanks Gerry. We shall see you two soon!!!