“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” is a story written by Lewis Carroll in 1865. This story was initially created to entertain children, as Lewis Carroll always enjoyed entertaining children and making them happy. Although the situations Alice encounters throughout this story seem to be those of complete fiction and imagination, Alice is a reflection of Lewis Carroll himself and in some cases, his readers.

Lewis Carroll was born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, he was the oldest of eleven children growing up. As a child, he did not have many friends in school and constantly had to watch oer his younger siblings. Due to all the time Carroll spent with his siblings, Lewis Carroll became fond of entertaining children. Carroll was a man who had many interests, such as mathematics, philosophy, and religion.  He was a very bright man who loved learning new things. His many interests sometimes caused him confusion- he struggled in trying so many things to find a way to tie all his passions into one main focus.   Carroll discovered that by creating fictional stories for children he can both entertain children while carrying out one of his main interests: writing. Lewis Carroll, in being an older brother, grew fond of entertaining children. Carroll always loved to make his younger siblings laugh and smile. This role in his childhood led to his future. As an adult, Carroll wrote many stories for children, and in some cases, about children. Lewis Carroll first hand knew a girl called Alice, the daughter of his close friend Henry Liddell. Alice Liddell initially  inspired “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, after she asked Carroll to write her a story. Although was inspired by the daughter of Carrol’s close friend, Henry Liddell, Alice’s character reflected much of Lewis Carroll. In the beginning of the story, Alice was very bored with her life and lonely. Alice’s only friend was her cat, Dinah, to whom she talked about everything. Alice was different from other children she knew. She  had a wild imagination which often distracted her from her lessons. She wanted a world where everything was the opposite of how it was supposed to be. In the story, Alice had a connection with her cat, Dinah. Many would consider it unhealthy, or even peculiar that Alice connected so well with her cat. Alice’s connection with Dinah however, parallels to Lewis Carrol’s connection with children in his adult life. Many adults would not consider a child to be their friend, however in his adult life, Carrol befriended many children.

Alice was very lost in wonderland. She had no friends, and had absolutely no idea where she was going or how she would get home. In a way, Alice being lost in Wonderland can depict Carroll’s status in life. Lewis Carroll, having as many interests as he did, struggled to find his true passion. Lewis Carroll had a gift with children, he could speak to them as if they were people his age; he lived to make children happy and to entertain them. This can compare to Alice’s relationship with her cat, Dinah.

Alice had a very inventive imagination in the story “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. This is proven by the fact that at the end of the story, she wakes up from her dream about Wonderland. Although children do tend to have active imaginations, Alice’s imagination was rather remarkable. Alice was able to dream up an alternate world, where she made personal interactions with other creatures. One example of this is when she encounters the Cheshire Cat. The Cheshire Cat is a striped cat who always has a sly grin on his face. Alice, in meeting him found a consistent friend who appeared to her several times in the book. The Cheshire Cat was the only character in the story who gave Alice useful advice. Of course, since every other character Alice met was either mad or terrified of her, she was able to easily connect with the Cheshire Cat. Essentially, Alice’s character connects well with cats. Alice loves cats, and throughout the story talks a lot about cats and interacts with them. Alice’s connection with her cat Dinah and the Cheshire cat is similar to Lewis Carrol’s connection to Alice Liddell In the story, Dinah was Alice’s cat in real life. Alice Liddell was a real person in Lewis Carroll’s life, who inspired him and was a good friend of his. In Alice’s imaginary world, which was wonderland, the Cheshire Cat was her imaginary version of Dinah. In Lewis Carroll’s imagination, the Alice in the story, was his imaginary version of the real life Alice Liddel.

In essence, the story “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”  by Lewis Carroll can be analyzed as a direct correlation to Lewis Carroll’s real life. Lewis Carroll created relationships in the story such as Alice and Dinah, which can compare to his connection with children in his life. Carroll also created a character who becomes confused and lost in Wonderland. This can parallel to how Carroll was lost in life due to his many interests clashing with each other.