How Alice Got to Wonderland (Ted Gioia, Conceptual Fiction)

Those tracing the history of this now famous work 

typically focus on the catalytic role of the young real-

life Alice, ten year old Alice Liddell, in inspiring the 

story. But I have a different opinion, and see the other 

adult, the forgotten Reverend Duckworth--a talented 

singer, who was then a fellow at my alma mater Trinity

College, Oxford--playing the decisive role in shaping 

the peculiar character of Alice in Wonderland. In 

Duckworth's account of the day, he provides these 

important details:  "I rowed stroke and he rowed 

bow...and the story was actually composed and spoken 

over my shoulder for the benefit of Alice Liddell."

And why is this important?  This unusual setting for 

literary invention helps us understand why Carroll's 

narrative has the distinct flavor of a tale aimed 

simultaneously at children and adults. As readers of

this classic are aware (and even more so, readers of 

Martin Gardner's marvelous annotated version of the 

work), this book is much more than an amusing story 

for young children, but a multilayered work filled with 

many things--allusions, puns, philosophical specu-

lation and humorous asides--far more suited to an 

audience of grownups.  These coexist with the fantastic

fairy tale elements that no doubt delighted the Liddell 

sisters.  So give the fine Reverend his due for forcing 

his friend to extemporize in a manner suited to both 

young and old.

Carroll was neither the first nor the last to instill adult 

concerns into stories for children--other bearers of 

tales, from Aesop to Lemony Snicket have done the 

same.  But Carroll is the preeminent master of this 

distinctive breed of fictive multivalence, mixing in 

wildly different elements in a provocative manner that 

anticipates postmodern narrative techniques, even

while understanding the demands of composing stories 

for younger readers.  This balancing act, never easy, 

would be beyond many celebrated authors who write 

with skill and success for either adults or children, but 

would be flummoxed trying to do both at the same time.

The memorable characters--the Queen of Hearts, the 

Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, and 

others--provide much of the magic here.  They are the 

parts of this story most often remembered and 

discussed...and most easily transferred to other media 

via the book's numerous adaptations.  Of these, there 

are no shortage: Carroll's work has inspired films, 

cartoons, video games, graphic novels, stage 

productions, operas, radio broadcasts, and theme park 

rides.  But the real essence of Carroll's achievement, 

namely his unique mixture of the playful, profound

and paradoxical, is far less easy to transplant into other

formats.  For this reason, even those who think they

are intimately familiar with the story of Alice from 

these adaptations are likely to be surprised and 

delighted when they first encounter Carroll's book.   

This in itself offers a valuable lesson.  In our day and 

age, many are inclined to see a story on the printed

page as one-dimensional, as inevitably falling short of 

the technologically-enhanced tales shown on the

screen, turbocharged with special effects, 3D, and

all the other advances that Carroll--himself a devoted 

photographer fascinated with the visual image--could 

never have anticipated.  Yet with this particular story 

the roles are reversed.  When grappling with Alice in 

Wonderland, the movie or computer screen is the flat, 

undifferentiated surface, while the printed page takes on 

extraordinary depth, conveying a plenitude of meanings

and marvels that cannot be "enhanced" or even 

replicated by the most advanced digital tools.

And that may be the greatest wonder of Wonderland.