I cleaned out a closet and found a lost and forgotten bag of Trick-or-Treat candy...Almond Joy, Yummmmm! I decided then and there that as a reward for cleaning out the closet and in preparation to, once again, go off sugar for a while, I would eat the entire bag.
And, that's how, 3/4 of the way though eating a giant sized bag of coconutty goodness I got the last sugar high for...hopefully life, but probably until Saturday, and stumbled on the solution to a literary question that has haunted English majors for a, ummm, really long time.
What the crap is the meaning of Alice in Wonderland?
Existential extremes!
I know, brilliant! Huhh??? Hear me out.
As long as Alice was looking for directions and answers outside of herself, from others or from her environment she was always confused. She chased futilely after a rabbit with a pocket-watch (time), and vacillated between feeling huge, dangerous and ridiculous in her environment, to tiny, out of control, and obscure in her environment.
When Alice asks the Cheshire cat which way she should go he directs her inside herself.
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.
`I don't much care where--' said Alice.
`Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.
`--so long as I get somewhere,' Alice added as an explanation.
`Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, `if you only walk long enough.'
Maybe I've,"walked long enough" or maybe I'm ready to look at some of the extremes in my life...or possibly the sugar is making that disembodied cat-toothed grin talk in ways it never before has; but I'm thinking I'm on to something here. Know who you are and where you want to go, and BAM, life isn't a series of frustrating extremes, like eating an over-sized bag of candy in a day. Less rabbit chasing no more navigational directions from grinning, disappearing cats; just me enjoying all the wonder.
Too bad I'm not an English major Or that I'm out of sugar. Cuz, I think I'm on to something here.
OK so, it's possible English majors or at least their professors had this question handled a couple generations ago. I'm a Recreations major, maybe in my quest for excellent rock climbing and canoeing knowledge I missed out on the Alice in Wonderland Real Life Applications 101 course. If you're yawning and/or rolling your eyes, then, "Off with your head".
And now....I'm off to slay the Jabberwock!
Dude! You have to read Never Let Me Go! Sometimes I read books that just don't make sense to me and I feel like I'm missing some deeper meaning that only really cool people can see. Obviously if you can find meaning out of Alice in Wonderland you'll be able to with this other book.
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