Complete Alice in Wonderland - L. Carroll [101]
An Extremely Small Voice: It should be noted that in the original text, the words spoken by the gnat are in a smaller font. Due to the difficulties this causes for adjustable text on the Kindle, I have opted not to include this original formatting.
“She’s Got a Head on Her”: In Carroll’s day, postage stamps featured the profile portrait of Queen Victoria. Since Alice is the only human girl in the carriage (and perhaps even the only one in Looking-Glass Land!), the people have mistaken her rushing head for a postage mark.
“I Know You Are a Friend”: The Gnat’s speech here is quite mysterious. He may be implying that he knows Alice is a friend, because anyone else would have swatted him by now. He may also regard Alice as an old friend, simply because his own life is so short and he has now known her for several minutes.
The Goat’s Beard: Alice first vanished and appeared on the train by jumping over the brook. Now that the train is jumping over another brook, she vanishes again and appears back in the forest (although in another square).
Looking-Glass Insects: The nature of Looking-Glass Insects is curious—all of the ones pointed out by the Gnat seem to be artificially created, awkward and doomed to failure (and death). They may represent the lower class, or even the untouchables, of Looking-Glass Land society.
“It Always Happens”: This grim, touching line underscores the nature of being … not only for the insects of Looking-Glass Land, but for all mortal creatures.
The Nameless Wood: After the conversation Alice had with the Gnat concerning names as indicators of identity, it seems that Alice (having regarded names as not being important to insects themselves, if insects are inferior) has begun to lose her identity. This disconcerting effect is brought on by the primeval, non-sentient nature of the forest itself.
“I Know It Begins With L”: Alice may either be struggling to remember her last name (Liddell), or she may be confusing herself with her elder sister (Lorina). She may also be remembering the other White Pawn (Lily).
A Curious End: This chapter ends as an incomplete sentence, with the continuation, “Tweedledum and Tweedledee” being the title of the following chapter.
Chapter IV
Tweedledum and Tweedledee: These twins, derived from a well-known nursery rhyme, receive their most in-depth characterization here in Carroll’s work. They are forever at odds, contradicting one another’s ambitions as if battling each other to lay claim to a single identity. To “tweedle” means to twist, or contort.
The Overgrown Schoolboys: In his illustrations of the twins, Tenniel clearly drew on the inspiration of his prior pictures of John Bull, the epitome (in cartoon form) of the everyday Englishman. The “Tweedles,” in the same manner as Bull, wear the classic skeleton suit of 19th-century schoolboys. They are also dull, plucky, straightforward, stubborn and full of heart!
“First Boy,” “Next Boy”: Alice is jesting with them because they are wearing skeleton suits, the traditional wear of English schoolboys. “First Boy” was a titular honor given to the smartest boy who knew all the answers, while “Next Boy” (contrariwise!) would indicate his slight inferior.
The Carpenter’s Hard Times: In the illustrations, the Carpenter appears wearing the classic paper cap of the lower-class Victorian laborer. If he is wandering at the seashore of Looking-Glass Land, he may be an out-of-work shipbuilder. (He may also be responsible for working on the woodwork of the Ship of Fools, which we will see in The Hunting of the Snark.)
The Walrus and the Carpenter: Unlike most of the poems in the Alice works, this one is unique to Carroll and not a parody of an existing work. There are hints of the superstitions