Sunday, March 8, 2015

Book Club Essay

There are a lot of things in reality that don't make sense to people. In "Alice in Wonderland" by Louis Carroll, Alice enters Wonderland. A world where out of the ordinary and sensible are mixed. In Wonderland, animals talk, cats disappear, and cardboard and other everyday objects have sentience. Alice has to deal with this, and she also has to confront the fact that justice system in this world is completely distorted, almost nonexistent.
 First of all, in Wonderland, the Queen and King are very cruel to their subjects. The queen, during her and Alice's croquet game, she was screaming "Off with his head!...off with her head!" This shows that the queen has no regard for the lives of people in Wonderland. The King is not any better. At the same time, he says, with an eager, maybe even ecstatic tone, "I'll get the executioner." It is probably shocking to Alice at how abusive the Queen is of her power. The Queen also seems to prohibit free speech . When Alice was about to insult the Queen, Alice changed her mind when she saw the Queen watching her. This shows how the Queen is like a dictator that does not like not knowing what other people are saying, so she haunts people and threatens them if they insult her.
  Also, the Queen and King have no regard for justice, and make up rules so people cannot speak in trials if they do not them to. The Queen also, during the trial of the Knave of Hearts, only wanted him to die because she thought that hearing the verdict was tedious, and it was less of a hassle if he was sentenced first. During the trial, the King did not want Alice to speak, and made up a rule so the trial could be over quickly. This shows that the King and Queen are very non caring about justice.
  The King and Queen are not very good people. They are power abusers, and do not care for anyone but themselves. They are the embodiment of a corrupt justice system.