Alice in Wonderland: Advice from a Caterpillar

When the Caterpillar asks Alice “Who are you,” she finds that she doesn’t know who she is anymore. The Caterpillar aggravates Alice’s uncertainty about her constantly changing size. Though she seeks guidance and compassion from the Caterpillar, she finds only further self doubt under its brusque scrutiny. Regardless, she defers to the Caterpillar’s authority, just as she did with the White Rabbit in the previous chapter. Alice’s confusion peaks when the Caterpillar seems to be able to read her thoughts, answering her unspoken question “just as if she had asked it aloud.” Her identity is so confused now that her thoughts no longer seem to be her own.

Alice has trouble reciting the poem “Father William” and finds that her inability to remember things she knows well shows the effects of Wonderland on her brain. Though the Caterpillar is a denizen of Wonderland, he has some familiarity with the poem that Alice recites, and he demonstrates his knowledge by pointing out that she has it “wrong from beginning to end.” The poem “Father William” (also known as “The Old Man’s Comforts”), by Robert Southey, is a didactic poem about the importance of living in moderation, and many Victorian children were required to memorize it. The Caterpillar proposes that Alice recite the poem to gauge how much she has changed. Alice’s mutilation of the poem occurs as a result of Wonderland’s effect on her brain. The Caterpillar’s contemptuous authoritarian presence compounds her flustered state.

The Pigeon accuses Alice of being a serpent, which causes her to doubt not only who she is but also what she is. Estranged from her old self, Alice has trouble defending herself to the Pigeon. The Pigeon reasons that since Alice exhibits key traits of a serpent, having a long neck and eating eggs, she must in fact be a serpent. Alice becomes trapped in this logic so that she becomes identified by a single action and feature. The Pigeon threatens Alice’s already shaken assumption of a stable identity.

At times we may  also find ourselves wondering and questioning,"Who am I?" and "Where do I belong in society?". People  may think that they should behave or become what others expect them to be, rather than discover who they are as a person or try to set themselves apart as individuals. Even as artists we tend to ask such questions, trying to find a place for ourselves, where we can express and share our work. Finding ourselves as artists, through our work is an on going process and as society changes, we try to make art that compromises who we are inside, to be accepted. That leaves the decision, whether as an artist to brave the storm of differnce and push the envelope, or to become subdued within the thinking of others who like the caterpillar might lead to belive that they know whats goin thorugh our minds.