Publisher's Synopsis
Alice the protagonist must find her way through this strange place called "Wonderland". She is a 7 year old girl who while sitting with her sisters falls asleep and enters this world by falling down a rabbit hole. She follows the White Rabbit who leads her on many adventures throughout the book.Lewis Carroll's book "Alice in Wonderland' is full of fanciful characters, each one adding a bit of humor and dimension to the story. When Alice falls down the rabbit hole she encounters various talking animals and an unusual Queen. Alice is the protagonist of the story, a little girl who goes on the adventure in Wonderland. The first character she meets is The White Rabbit, he reappears throughout the book and acts as Alice's guide, which is amusing because he doesn't seem to know even what time it is.The Caterpillar is like a very wise man who provides Alice with a way to control her growth. The Caterpillar who is not very friendly, is helpful by advising her to eat from the mushroom if she wants to change her size. The Caterpillar teaches Alice how to cope with the difficult situations she encounters in Wonderland. He shows her how to change size by eating the mushroom and thereby to adapt to her environment when needed. He is smoking a hookah on top of a mushroom. This character many felt was representing drug use with the hookah and the magic mushrooms which make her change size. This was one of the reasons cited for banning the book.Another character is a smiling cat who can disappear and reappear at will named the Cheshire Cat. It is funny because sometime the cat leaves but his huge grin remains behind. The Cheshire Cat represents the time between adulthood and childhood.He reveals to Alice how although you follow the rules the rules can change after you have become comfortable with them . She then moves on and comes in contact with the Hatter and The Queen of hearts. They play an important part as antagonists in the story The Hatter is the leader of a perpetual tea time. The Queen of Hearts is the mad tyrant who rules Wonderland. The Queen represents an old person who has become quite mad. As Alice grows stronger and uses reason more, the Queen is becoming less reasonable and mad.The Duchess approaches Alice and attempts to befriend her, but the Duchess makes Alice feel uneasy. The Queen of Hearts chases the Duchess off and tells Alice that she must visit the Mock Turtle to hear his story. The Queen of Hearts sends Alice with the Gryphon as her escort to meet the Mock Turtle. Alice shares her strange experiences with the Mock Turtle and the Gryphon, who listen sympathetically and comment on the strangeness of her adventures. After listening to the Mock Turtle's story, they hear an announcement that a trial is about to begin, and the Gryphon brings Alice back to the croquet ground.The Knave of Hearts stands trial for stealing the Queen's tarts. The King of Hearts leads the proceedings, and various witnesses approach the stand to give evidence. The Mad Hatter and the Cook both give their testimony, but none of it makes any sense. The White Rabbit, acting as a herald, calls Alice to the witness stand. The King goes nowhere with his line of questioning, but takes encouragement when the White Rabbit provides new evidence in the form of a letter written by the Knave. The letter turns out to be a poem, which the King interprets as an admission of guilt on the part of the Knave. Alice believes the note to be nonsense and protests the King's interpretation. The Queen becomes furious with Alice and orders her beheading, but Alice grows to a huge size and knocks over the Queen's army of playing cards.All of a sudden, Alice finds herself awake on her sister's lap, back at the riverbank. She tells her sister about her dream and goes inside for tea as her sister ponders Alice's adventures.
