So, how familiar are you with Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland? Well, even if you haven’t read the book, as I do, at some point in your childhood you’ve seen the film or animation of it, right?
I’ve seen both the Disney film and the television animation when I was a kid. And since I was so innocent back then I never suspected that there’s something more behind the story. I thought it was just an adventure of a young girl who’s bored in her life and then one day found herself in a fantasy world. It’s a typical children's story, right? So, who would ever think that there’s something dark inside it?
So, when I was growing up, that’s the time I finally heard some strange story behind Alice. Some say that Alice is schizophrenic, delusional, suffering from anxiety, or simply someone who’s having a mental illness. I also heard stories that it’s about drug addiction and that it shouldn’t be watched by anyone. But what’s the real deal with this children's story? Are all these conspiracies true?
Well, the answer to that is, who knows, right?
Okay, let’s start with the facts, which is about the author of this famous children's book or novel.
It was written by Charles Dodgson who used the pen name of Lewis Carroll. He was an English man born in 1832 in Chesire England. And before all his accomplishments in life, he was suffering from dyslexia or reading disorder. But despite this disability that he has, it never stopped him from becoming someone as great as he is now. He was a mathematician, logician, novelist, and even a talented photographer.
He was indeed a great person with lots of accomplishments, but behind all these, he more prefers spending his time with children. He finds it more comforting to interact with youngsters than with adults. Maybe it’s because he stammers all the time. He’s having difficulty speaking in the crowd and even in social gatherings.
Then one day, since he’s a bachelor and during his time, bachelors are welcome to spend a day with a family and were allowed to bring the kids for a picnic even without the presence of their parents, he brought Henry George Liddell’s daughters for a picnic on the afternoon of July 1862. They were accompanied by his friend Reverend Robinson Ducksworth. These three young girls were Lorina, Alice, and Edith.
Alice in particular was the one who caught his attention. They said Alice found that golden afternoon boring so they asked Carroll to tell them stories about anything, and that is the start of Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland.
All the three girls were amazed by his story, but it was Alice who asked him to write it down so she can read it over and over again. He was hesitant at first, but since he was fascinated by this young girl Alice, he then started to work on the manuscript.
After working on the first version of his Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, he then gave it to the little Alice. And one afternoon when a visitor saw the book in Liddell’s home, he then suggested that it deserves to be published. But since Carroll was a perfectionist, he revised the story and even perfected the illustration of his manuscript.
Well, he wasn’t the one who illustrated the pictures of each character in the published version. It was his friend John Tenniel who meticulously enhanced the illustration of his characters. And then the first edition was published in 1865 with the title Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland.
But before the book was even published, something happened between Carroll and the Liddell. They abruptly stopped Carroll from seeing their daughters, which no one knows the reason behind it. And that’s where the dark story began.
Some speculated it’s because of Carroll’s questionable closeness to the children. That maybe he made an inappropriate move to the girls, especially to Alice. That he became too affectionate that their parents found it unsuitable. But to this day, no one can affirm that these things are true. He even denied that he was in love with the young Alice, who’s only eight at that time.
The thing that strengthened the speculation about this inappropriate action was the torn page in Carroll’s diary. That someone tore it from his diary was because he mentioned the name of the girl that he’s falling in love with. And since he also mentioned that he couldn’t make a move because it’s a sin and that he should stop himself from committing it kind of made the assumption believable.
What’s even darker in Carroll’s story is the fact that he’s fascinated by young girls’ naked photos. He took hundreds of photos of different people and different classes, but many of them were photographs of young girls wearing nothing. He finds young girls’ innocence endearing at that time. But since photographing children without their dress on was quite acceptable during that era, they found no malice in Carroll’s obsession. They said that their parents were even present in all his photograph sessions. But even so, if you’ll see it in our modern time, there’s something wrong with it? Isn’t it?
Aside from Carroll’s obsession with young girls’ photographs, Alice’s story has its own questions to be answered.
Many think that it depicts drug addiction or taking drugs. That maybe Carroll was taking one himself since opium was so popular during his time. Imagine Alice got bigger when she ate the cake, and then got smaller when she took the mushroom where she saw the caterpillar while having his hookah. But in the kids’ minds it's pure fun, right? Just like the teapot talking in Beauty and The Beast. But the way Alice is having so many delusions in this story will somewhat storm you with questions of why and what does it mean, right? There’s this moment in the story that Alice even sees her hands getting bigger or smaller, which will now question you why?
Anyway, these are just the conspiracies I’ve gathered through reading and watching videos about the dark things behind these famous children's books or stories from a hundred and fifty years ago. We’re of course not sure if these theories are true. So, it’s up to you if you will believe in it or not. All I know is, there’s something wrong with an adult man having a fascination with young girls’ naked photos and innocence, regardless if it’s acceptable in their time or not.
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