Happily Ever After…

So in my blog Curiosity Killed the Alice my parting words were “and they lived happily ever after…”. This got me thinking about Alice’s happily ever after. Is Alice happier after her journey to Wonderland? Would she have been better off never chasing that white rabbit?

We all know this is significant for Alice but I don’t think she does. Children rarely understand the impact certain events have on them. Even though it was just a dream, it was a powerful one with many hidden messages that would take her a very long time to uncover and comprehend. I bet that years down the line Alice is still realizing new things about that journey to Wonderland she took so long ago. I’m not sure if happy is the right word to describe Alice after she awakens from Wonderland. I think a better phrase is ‘in awe’. It’s like a kid that just saw Santa Clause or the Tooth Fairy; something that seemed to pop right out of their imaginations and into their real lives.

Staying with the idea that it’s something Alice has always dreamt of, but never expected, was it really what she wanted? Like my fellow blogger Abbie P., I’ve found some lyrics that remind me of Alice.

“What kinda dream is this?
You could be a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare
Either way I don’t wanna wake up from you
(Turn the lights on)”

This is from the song “Sweet Dream” by Beyonce that replays constantly on the local top 40 radio station (uhh..that I love of course!). While I was jamming out doing blogs I heard it and I instantly felt the connection to Alice in that part of the song. First of all “What kind of dream is this?” That’s the question we’ve all been trying to answer from day one, when Alice fell down the rabbit hole. It goes on to talk about the contradiction, is this just a dream or a nightmare? It’s funny though, because the song still uses the word beautiful to describe the nightmare and I think that is similar to Alice’s situation. Yes, this Wonderland is a bit nightmare-ish, but it is still beautiful in it’s own way. All of the hidden tid-bits of symbolism and social commentary are truly genius and that’s what makes Wonderland so amazing. The last line of those lyrics really hits me, though. Even though this is something scary and new to you where you don’t know what to expect, you STILL want to be apart of it, regardless of the risk. This just proves that the experience and journey are much more valuable than the end result.

So, I don’t think Alice lives ‘happily’ ever after. That’s not quite the emotion I felt when I finished this story. When I ended Alice’s journey with her I felt a sense of relief, that it really was a dream, disappointment that it was over and a feeling of growth and maturing of Alice and myself.  It was almost like that moment when you watch one of those feel-good movies and you sit there and sigh, thinking about what a great story it was and replaying certain scenes in your mind and appreciating the director’s (or author’s in this case) creativity. So amidst Alice’s fumbles and stumbles through Wonderland there was some light at the end of the tunnel.

• What did you think of the book as a whole when you were done reading?
• How did you feel when the journey to Wonderland was over, and we were brought back to reality?