Figurative language and imagery in alice's adventures in wonderland
In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass there are many times when the author, Lewis Carroll uses figurative language in a humorous and realistic way.
- Irony is shown with the Queen of hearts. One would think that she would be nice, loving, and caring since she is the heart playing card, but that is not the case at all. Instead of possessing those characteristics she is easily angered and at times she burns with fury and she turns a bright red color and starts to yell "off with their heads."
- There are also many cases where the author uses repetition. One of those instances was when the main character Alice says "Curiouser and Curiouser." Another instance was when the Mock Turtle say "Soup of the evening, beautiful soup! Soup of the evening, beautiful soup!"
- Personification is shown with multiple characters in this story. One character was the White Rabbit. He is symbolized as a workaholic adult who is always rushing around and rushing through life. He is always moving around and going from place to place without ever stopping to smell the roses and enjoy life. He could be considered a symbol of an adult because he never stops working and he is always busy. He also was described as being dressed like a human and not like a rabbit. The quote "It was the White Rabbit returning, splendidly dressed." Another example of personification was with the caterpillar. What caterpillar smokes a hookah? This is personification because he is doing a human-like thing. "..at last the caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth." The final example of personification I will be talking about is with the Chess in the Looking Glass portion of the book. The chess were actually used to represent Alice's kitty. She is using game pieces to represent objects and people from her world. Quote from the text says "Lets pretend that you're the Red Queen, kitty."
- In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland the author uses similes to help the reader better understand what he is trying to say, that is why he compares an object or person to something else. This is shown when he says "Away went Alice like the wind." The author was trying to show how fast Alice was moving, and that puts an image into the readers mind and it helps them better imagine what is going on. another instance where this occurs is when he says "Mad as a hatter." Hatters were usually very crazy, because when they would make hats they would breath in toxic fumes. This is why Carroll used this as a simile. Carroll also used similes when talking about the Red Queen, saying that "she frowned like a thunderstorm" and "for a moment like a wild beast." Both of these lines are comparing her actions to wild and untamable things. Both of those characteristics match up very well to the Red Queens personality traits.
Imagery is shown throughout the whole story very well. Carroll did an excellent job of painting pictures of the book in the readers minds. When he explained Wonderland, the Looking-Glass World and all the creatures that inhabited those places he used vivid words and he really went into great detail. When we met the Mad-Hatter, The March Hare, and The Dormouse Carroll really explained what each of these creatures were like and that helps the reader create a visual image of each character and it helps the reader better understand them. This occurs when he describes Wonderland too, by him going into detail it helps the reader create a visual image and then the story becomes much more exciting and interesting because we can visually see it and it becomes our own little "world" because of our imaginations.