Poison, Death, and Drugs: The Unholy Trinity
November 5, 2009By now it should be apparent that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is more than just a simple children’s book. If one looks at it, it is embedded with dark underlying themes, symbols, and references that would be deemed inappropriate for the children of our day. That is, if they weren’t so subtle. Most children would not identify or understand the metaphors and references that are embedded into Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, but perhaps a more mature mindset can. On the contrary, some of these references are indeed incredibly apparent, perhaps even to children. They may or may not be blatantly apparent, but one can surely say they are there.
Even in the first chapter, there is a reference to poison. This reference is not subtle at all, as it is written in the very text itself that Alice fears being poisoned by the bottle labeled “DRINK ME”. It seems a bit ironic that Alice would follow a white rabbit in a waist coat murmuring to itself without two thoughts but hesitates to drink from a bottle that says “DRINK ME”. A little girl would most likely be more concerned about returning back to what she is familiar with than being poisoned and killed. Why does Carroll make references to poison so early in the book if it was intended for Alice Liddell, a little girl? The text itself states that Alice had
”read several nice little stories about children who had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts, and other unpleasant things, all because they would not remember the simple rules their friends had taught them: such as, that a red-hot poker will burn you if you hold it too long; and that, if you cut your finger very deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds; and she had never forgotten that, if you drink much from a bottle marked ‘poison,’ it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.”
Why would a girl who had previously displayed no caution all of a sudden have such unusual paranoia?
There are also many subtle references to death in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. According to The Annotated Alice, when Alice falls down the rabbit hole and compares it to falling down the stairs in her house, a “death joke” is being made. It may be a bit extreme to say this, but perhaps falling down the rabbit hole itself is a metaphor for death. Another subtle reference to death is where Alice claims that she will drown in her own tears. This could possibly be symbolic of how the lack of control of ones own emotions can lead to ones ultimate downfall. However, the most obvious thing in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland that can be related with death is a key plot point itself, the plot point being the actions and statements of the queen of hearts. The queen is known to issue death sentences oh her own personal whims if something displeases her, possibly a reference to the “Reign of Terror” in France, as it is assumed by many that Lewis Carroll made many references to the French and their language in his tale. Her catch phrase is “Off with their heads!”, a line implying the intent to kill. Notably, the king of hearts often gives pardons and the queens sentences have a tendency to not get carried out. Perhaps this is a nod to both of Carroll’s audiences, the mature and the young.
There is also a subtle reference to drugs in the form of the caterpillar. It claims that he is smoking a “hookah” which is a long tobacco pipe. Tobacco is not something illegal, but it seems slightly out of place for being in a children’s book. What is more significant than the fact that the caterpillar is smoking from a hookah is that the caterpillar doesn’t seem to be in a state of normalcy. From reading the text of the book one can get the idea that Alice has an aversion to the caterpillar due to this seemingly out of world state, and perhaps also because of the fact that the caterpillar gave Alice incredibly short replies and kept repeating itself when asking Alice questions.
Poison, death, and drug references aren’t the first things that come to mind when one hears “children’s book”. Then why would Carroll put in so many underlying, negative references? Unfortunately, the only absolute answer to that question belongs to a man who has long passed away, so for now, one can only wonder.
This Blog Entry was influenced by the following posts by Melissa H. and Brendon L. about some of the negative ideas brought up in the book.
Christian Long
Katherine H.
Melissa H
Rivu D.
Alex E.
Sylvia A.
I agree with you that poison, death, and drugs are not things the average person thinks of when they think of a children’s book. However, we have to keep in mind when the book was written. At that time smoking was very common, and children’s stories were much darker. Smoking was not officially declared unhealthy until the 20th century, and the Grimm brothers published their gruesome tales in the early 1800’s. Carroll’s book, published in 1865, was not long after the dark Grimm tales and was before the declaration of smoking to be unhealthy. As Mr. Long has often told us, times were harder back then, and many stories were told as cautionary tales telling children what not to do.
My mom has told me that when I was little I asked her to read me the story of Snow White. It was the Grimm brother’s version of the story, so when she reached the part about the Queen ordering her huntsman to cut out Snow White’s heart and bring it back to her, she changed the words, trying to protect my childish innocence. I knew the story, however, and stopped her saying, “No, you messed up. She is supposed to tell him to cut her heart out!” So much for childish innocence. The truth is, it’s not the children who cannot handle the death references, it is the adults who want to protect their innocent little angels.