By Michelle, Ria & Leah
While the Caterpillar’s calm aura deceives the reader into believing he is a harmless character, his constant and subtle use of mind games leaves Alice questioning her own identity throughout the remainder of her time in Wonderland. The Caterpillars so called “advice” leaves Alice even more unsure about herself and her surroundings than she was prior to her encounter with him.
While the Caterpillar’s calm aura deceives the reader into believing he is a harmless character, his constant and subtle use of mind games leaves Alice questioning her own identity throughout the remainder of her time in Wonderland. The Caterpillars so called “advice” leaves Alice even more unsure about herself and her surroundings than she was prior to her encounter with him.
- Based on the picture of the Caterpillar on page 35 and his description, he seems intimidating, looking over her, literally and figuratively. We see that Alice is on her toes, only her eyes peeking up above the mushroom, in fear of him.
- The reader cannot see his face in the picture; it is shadowed and turned away, with smoke around him, giving him a shadowy, mysterious feel.
- The Caterpillar continues to ask “Who are you?”, as if Alice is unimportant, he undermines her. He is demanding, and treats Alice as id she is below him.
- Every time he asks her who she is, her insecurity grows, loses herself even more, when she responds, she does so “rather shyly”.
- The Caterpillar is made to seem like a wise character, Alice tries to find answers, thinking he is “all knowing”, but most “all knowing” characters twist their knowledge and power to deceive.
- Since Alice believes the Caterpillar is “all knowing” and wise, she tries to find answers from him, but ends up with none, even more confused than before.
- The Caterpillar doesn’t know who Alice is, and says this so many times, that Alice begins to take on his mentality, and doesn’t know who she is.
- The Caterpillar is strangely indifferent towards her, he is one of the characters in Wonderland who gives her the least amount of respect, while she clings on his every word, desperate for answers.
I agree that the Caterpillar is the main villain in the story due to his messing around with Alice's mind. The worst kind of villain is not one that harms you, but instead makes you feel insecure and confuses you. The point about the Caterpillar's face never being shown and the smoke surrounding him shows that he is sinister. Overall I find the Caterpillar the main villain due to how he confuses Alice and makes her feel unsure about herself and her identity.
ReplyDeleteThe constant mysterious aura that the caterpillar gives off as well as the way he comes across as "all-knowing" certainly make him seem like a villain. The way that he gets into Alice's head is also absolutely a villan-like move. Playing mental games with a poor young girl, who is still growing mentally, is a whole lot scarier and effective than the actions any other character in the book performed. This is also the most well-formed and backed up hypothesis in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with this thesis. I like how you guys(girls) used not only the text but the picture itself to support your thesis. The way the caterpillar is described and pictured shows him as a mysterious character with something to hide. In the picture it looks like he has human hands and sleeves coming out of his body, which leads me to believe he could be just a person in disguise as a caterpillar. This arises many questions as to who he really is.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the idea of pinning the Caterpillar as the villain of the story, as it gave me a completely different viewpoint on the role of the Caterpillar in this tale and on this character as a whole. The mysterious atmosphere surrounding the Caterpillar, induced by the haze of smoke around him, makes his effect on the security and success of Alice in Wonderland questionable. The great deal of evidence that was provided truly brings about a good point; that when Alice seeks advice from the Caterpillar, all he does is play with her mind and make her question her identity. In my opinion, a psychological villain is much worse than any sort of other villain.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that the caterpillar is the villain of the story makes logical sense. The idea behind the story is that Alice has no idea who she is and has no sense of self. The caterpillar constantly is making her question her identity and confusing her more forcing her to be more scared and confused in the Wonderland.
ReplyDeleteI found this argument to be very convincing and original. I agree with a point brought up in an earlier comment that stated that the worst kind of villian is not the kind that harms you physically ,rather the villians that cause you to question yourself. Overall, this group did a very good job.
ReplyDeleteI found this argument to be the most convincing. The way they gave examples of explaining the caterpillar and how, as someone mentioned, never harmed Alice, but in return toyed with her, and confuse her. I also like how they pointed out how the caterpillar spoke down to Alice, and brings out her insecurities and indecisiveness. This group did a really splendid job of describing the caterpillar as the villian in Alice.
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ReplyDeleteThe argument made here is very well put together and convincing. Whether or not the Caterpillar is the villain, this argument is the most persuasive. The Caterpillar is deceitful, but is all knowing at the same time. Any character that has the ability to guide and lead Alice, but chooses not to, is in fact a villain. The story heavily relies on Alice and her own personal identity, and the Caterpillars attempted destruction of her morale, is something that it truly horrible. The group did an excellent job through the organization and persuasiveness of the writing.
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