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The Style of "Alice..."

© Erica Davis

Charles Ludwig Dodgson was hardly someone who took a room by storm, turned heads, or otherwise seemed overly remarkable. In fact, he was a shy mathematician who was extremely religious and never married. It is then remarkable that he seemed to become an entirely different, more exuberant man, and sometimes absurd although always polite man, in the presence of children. He adored children. One child in particular, one girl named Alice, would actually go on to change his life and his career, and be the hero of one of the most enduring children’s’s books of all time.

Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles Ludwig Dodgson. He was a writer from an early age, creating stories to entertain his siblings, living in rural England with little else to do. He had a rather uneventful childhood, followed by uneventful college years, aside from the fact that he was an academic. Dodgson was a very intelligent man, and went on to lecture on Mathematics at his own college, Christ Church. There, he was noted as being dull, boring, introverted, quiet, etc etc. This was of course, to fellow adults. In the company of children, he seemed to change entirely. He spoke in riddles, enjoyed puzzles and games, and was always up for a walk, storytelling, or playtime.

In 1856, at Christ Church, he met the three daughters of the Dean. One of which was Alice Liddell. This little girl would become perhaps the most important friendship in his lifetime. He spent time with her and her sisters, playing, talking, and telling stories. On one of their outings, he began a tale about a little girl being pulled into a rabbit’s hole. Every outing he would tell just a little more, and finally in 1864, he gave 5 year old Alice her Christmas present. A bound copy of “Alice’s Adventures Underground.” A year later it was published and 6 years later Alice was sent “Through The Looking Glass.”

Carroll’s books were so illogical, and so absurd that children couldn’t get enough of them. They read like a riddle. Alice’s adventures had her meeting the weirdest people AND animals, with funny names, almost talking in a language all their own and doing things you would never believe!

This was in the days before Dr. Seuss and “The Cat In The Hat.” Carroll had the Mad Hatter and The Cheshire Cat, who disappeared slowly, tail first, leaving only his devilish grin for Alice to speak with. Even “The Wizard of Oz” wasn’t around yet, and we must wonder how Alice’s “Adventures,” must have effected the writing styles of authors like Dr. Seuss and Frank Baum.