Alice has a great deal of encounters as she charts her way through the unknown forests of Wonderland. Most of these meetings, however, end with her leaving in confusion to wander aimlessly without a destination. There is a pivotal turning point with Alice's encounter with the cat whereas she is given directions and it soon after this that our heroine finally reaches the brilliantly warm flower-beds she had been searching so long for. Also, The Cheshire Cat at this moment puts many of Alice's nonsensical experiences into perspective which no one has done thus far. During their conversation involving directions and which way to go, the cat gives her two choices and says, "'In that direction' the cat said, waving his paw round, 'lives a Hatter: and in that direction,' waving the other paw, 'lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they're both mad.' 'But I don't want to go among mad people,' ALice remarked 'Oh you can't help that,' said the cat: 'we're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." Cheshire Cat is, for the first time really, making sense and giving Alice an answer. The fact of the matter is, this entire world is mad, crazy and that's simply the way it is.
Also, when he re-appears at the Queen's croquet game later Alice recognizes him as a friend, as a sort of companion. She says after seeing his face, "It's the Cheshire Cat, now I will have somebody to talk to." This means not only can we speculate on the cat's role in the story, but Alice says it herself.
In the interactive story Inanimate Alice, the Cheshire Cat is replaced by a similar idea. His entity lives in Alice's imaginary friend Brad. Alice reveals to us that she has no real friends and talks only to Ben, similar to relationship with Alice and Cheshire Cat. They are both a voice of reason in a crazy and unruly world (because our world here is just as nonsensical as Wonderland). Ben acts as a guide and a sort of common ground for Alice to make sense of everything changing around her. Often a voice inside her head, Ben gives Alice advice, points her in the right direction and never truly leaves her side.
The Cheshire Cat has had an incredible impact on pop culture and is the most recognizable symbol and character in the Alice in Wonderland world. This is possible only because of his role as the guide and companion. We can relate to him unlike any of the other citizens of Wonderland.
We can see the Cheshire Cat as Wonderland's skewed depiction of Alice's own kitty Dinah. She frequently mentions the little critter throughout her adventures and wishes she could crawl beside her at each and every turn. Like Dinah, who Alice describes as a mischievous animal, the Cheshire Cat often lands the girl in trouble. When the Cheshire Cat is taunting the Queen of Hearts, in reality that may have been Dinah knocking over Mrs. Liddell's vase with Alice. Of course Dinah would make a quick and quiet escape from the crime scene! She would paw off and disappear leaving only a mischievous smirk behind.
That seems to be the source of Cheshire Cat's illusion-esque vanishing acts and his "grin from ear to ear." Cheshire Cat is Alice's companion, her one and only friend. And in the real world the only friend we ever see her playing with is Dinah. The Cheshire Cat is no more than an elaborated version of Dinah, of a normal cat. The only difference is that metaphor becomes reality for our multi-striped friend.
Each quirky trait Cheshire Cat has, all his strangeness and riddling are exaggerated cat-like behaviors. In folklore especially cats are often associated with witchcraft and mystery. Their silent approaches and disappearances always have (and always will) left people wondering about their curious "powers." Cheshire Cat is a representation of cat myths of both oast and present.
Interesting piece. The example you give of the Cheshire's advice to Alice is great. I'd like to hear a little more about how he functions, about his unusual way of appearing and disappearing, for example, as well as about other ways in which he guides Alice.
ReplyDelete