The Virtual Coffeehouse

During our discussion of Alice in Wonderland we touched upon a variety of themes and ideas. Of these we talked a lot about rules and authority. We questioned how rules work in our lives and how figures of authority within Lewis Carol's novel are all rather absurd. Dr. Schacht also suggested that rules ultimately become the tools of authority.

I think looking at the rules and authority that surround both Alice and Pip allow us an opportunity to see just how similar their childhoods are. Although the books are immensely different, their child-like protagonists seem to experience rules and authority in similar manners. Each are given a set of rules. Pip who has been 'raised by hand' has learned to follow these rules through physical threat. Although we are not told how rules are enforced to Alice, it is clear that she too has learned that following the rules is essential. I think most evident however is the similarity in authority figures. Almost all the adult figures (minus perhaps the white knight) are absurd. In a world like Wonderland this may not be surprising, however in Dickens realistic world of Kent the adults are seemingly supposed to be believable, rational individuals. - Far from it. From the very beginning Pip is surrounded by a rather self-indulgent, hard handed Aunt -(who I tend to think of a Dolores Umbridge type of character for those that read Harry Potter lol) - Although he finds a friend in Jim, his uncle is actually quite cowardly, uneducated and judging by the scene where he wants to follow the soldiers until they catch the convict he reminds me a little of an over grown child. Even Uncle Pumblechook who we briefly meet in the beginning seems to be depicted as a deplorable, overweight old man who drinks too much. Sadly, both Pip and Alice seem to be surrounded by ridiculous, rather irrational adults thus impacting the quality of their childhood.

Lastly, as touched upon in other posts I do believe that the education of each of these children is an interesting point. Alice who did go to 'real' school relays poems, a little bit of math, and other small pieces of information that she has learned. Pip who also goes to school learns very little but at least seems to know the basics to reading (unlike Jim). I think that Pip has more of a 'social' education in that he was raised by hand, and seems to far more in tune with hands on activities (i.e. knew where the blacksmith tools were and which were which, was roaming around in the graveyard)- I'm not sure if this is because of his gender or because of his class.