AlanāsĀ ALICEĀ Appreciation Post: CURIOSITY
Alice is one of my favourite fictional characters of all time - if not my most favourite. Alice, maybe more than any other character, makes her own narrative:
The story is whatever she can think of
The setting is wherever her fantasy world is
The characters are whoever she creates
The time is whenever she is sleeping
The nonsense is however odd her dream is
Virtually everything about the movie could be interpreted to revolve around Alice. From the introduction, when Alice is awake, she is a very imaginative and creative young girl and, when Alice is asleep, who has made a vivid Wonderland. The whole story is because of her.
Because of the wide scope of potential topics, Iām focusing on what I love most about Alice and what I find is an essential part of her character: her curiosity.
1) Alice: āIn this world perhaps. But in my world, the books would be nothing but pictures.ā
The first example of Aliceās curiosity is, I believe, her unconventionality. Sheās not in a classroom but outdoors, sheās not on the ground but in a tree, sheās not with a book but with her cat, sheās not paying attention but making a daisy chain. Rather than paying attention to her history lesson, let alone a book with no pictures, Alice would fantasize of her own world of nonsense as displayed in her song āIn a World of my Own.ā Unlike her sister who is limited by sense/logic, Alice can explore new things creatively and curiously.
2) Alice: āNow this is curious! What could a rabbit possibly be late for? Please, sir!ā
The primary example of Aliceās curiosity and what starts the majority of the story: the White Rabbit.. She also knows that ā[she] really shouldnāt be doing thisā since ā[she hasnāt] been invited and curiosity often leads to troubleā but her curiosity and sense for adventure is too strong. Much later in her āVery Good Adviceā song, she talks about the downside of such passionate curiosity: āBe patient is very good advice, but the waiting makes me curious. And Iād love the change, should something strange begin.ā
3) Alice: Why? What did happen to the oysters?
Interestingly enough, as curious as Alice is to know where the White Rabbit is going, Alice is also curious to know what happened to the Oysters. This might be because she wants to know what happened to fellow curious characters (=āThe oysters were curious too, werenāt they?ā, āAye, and you remember WHAT happened to themā¦ā, and āPoor things!ā) but I think itās primarily because she just like hearing interesting stories. Ā
Related to above, Alice just likes hearing lovely songs too and especially if she wished for it: āAll the flowers would have very extra special powers, they would sit and talk to me for hours.ā Alice enjoys this curious garden of interesting plants and animals as she listens to āGolden Afternoonā song.
5) Alice and the Caterpillar
After Alice follows some interesting smoke through a leafy jungle, she finds a hookah-smoking Caterpillar sitting on a mushroom. Although the Caterpillar is more questioning than Alice, she is interested in what heās doing and listens to his recitation.
Although Alice walks off when the Caterpillar is mean to her, she comes back when he calls, āI have something important to say!ā Although she seems to be far away and heās been rude, she still curious and wants to hear it.
When the Mad Hatter asks, āWhy is a Raven like a Writing Desk?ā Alice is instantly curious about it. Even though itās random, silly, and not really directed at her, sheās thoughtfully tries to figure it out. Ā Itās even more interesting that, in the time sheās taking time to solve the riddle, she could be searching for the White Rabbit.
So, this being my first appreciation post of Alice, I choose to appreciate a core personality trait;Ā Aliceās curiosity is seen throughout the movie and if it wasnāt for curiosity starting the story then we wouldnāt have had any adventures in Wonderland.
I, personally, find Alice getting sidetracked from finding the Rabbit so enjoyable and relatable because even when Iām doing something fun or entertaining, I too somehow get distracted or even procrastinate. Even when Alice is intensely curious about something, sheās still has the open-mindedness to explore other things.
