How does "Alice" influence "Snow?"

"Curiouser and curiouser!"

 

One of my academic sources that I am using for research on my Capstone is Broadview Press's second edition of Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."

“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” is one of my favorite children’s stories of all time. This timeless classic has inspired many fantasy tales for both children and adults. I am using this particular copy of “Alice” not only because of the fantasy elements in the story and how they might inspire me, but because there is a very interesting introduction that explains of the themes and subtext in the story, as well as the history of the book. In these passages, we also learn more about the structure and characters of "Alice" in both a Victorian and modern context.

I am thinking of how this story and characters is influencing my own story. As I read through the introduction, I take note of things and how they might apply to my characters.

One point mentioned is that Alice is interesting for both fitting into the orphan ingénue stereotype (a popular type of a character in Victorian children’s literature, and even today’s children literature, I would say) while simulateously defying it. Alice had parents, but in Wonderland she was alone.

I thought about this myself with the main character of my story, Snow. I wanted Snow to face many challenges in her life alone, forcing her to be courageous and strong, but I did not want to her to be cliché. “Alice” inspired me to make a compromise.

Snow, like Alice, is alone through a good portion of the book, overcoming a great many obstacles by herself, thus learning more about herself and summoning strength, courage and patience that help her grow and mature.

Snow’s parents are both mentioned in the book, but neither is interested in raising her. Her mother was a raging monster, her father is a disinterested, spoiled God-like character. Both exist in the story, but neither wants to take responsibility for her. She is raised by an adoptive father and friends throughout the story. However, through her adventures, there are periods where she is alone and must use her wits and good sense to guide her.

I also am interested in the descriptions of “Wonderland,” in how it may help me shape the world that I am creating. “Wonderland” is curious because…well, actually, it’s just curious period, but it’s curious because truly anything is possible and it does not follow a lot of the same structure common for books set in fantastical lands. It is not like many fantasy stories where there are certain races like elves, dwarves, etc. There are no big cities and towns like in Narnia or Oz. You have humans and animals interacting in a bizarre setting.  

I think perhaps my setting may be a bit more traditional. I have a world map drawn. There are cities and world conflicts. There are wars, depressions, people reference other parts of the world. There are races in my world. In Wonderland, generally a type of a character is seen only once (only one March Hare, only one Cheshire Cat, etc), but I am interested in playing with themes of racism in my story, so I have humans, beasts, Gods, wood-creatures, and “halfways” (in the story this is a derogatory term for anthropomorphic type creatures.)

A rough sketch of the world of "Snowfall"

Though I have already developed much of my story, it’s very interesting to read and learn more about this book that I have always adored and has helped shape how I write my children’s stories. It inspires me and this source has been helpful in influencing where my story goes.