#How Alice in Wonderland came to be written
5693 Dead, 836 since 1/20/09
(received from a couple of Texan)
It is not widely known, but a scholar has recently discovered a diary
kept by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, an English author who wrote under
the pseudonym Lewis Caroll. According to his diary, whose
authenticity and provenance has been thoroughly established, Mr.
Dodgson acquired a rare drug from an Indian holy man which enabled him
to go into a trance and, while in that transitional state between
wakefulness and sleep, to see the future at whatever time he chose, in
3D Technicolor and stereophonic sound.
He chose the Summer of 2010. It turns out that, after observing the
cultural and political activity in the United States, he was inspired
to write “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, a book much beloved by
both children and adults for more than a century. We now know, after
reading his diary, the identities of some of the people who served as
models for some of the memorable characters in that classic work.
For example, we can now say with some confidence that the famous
episode in his book which described a tea party conducted by the Mad
Hatter was merely a pastiche of several gatherings of men and women
observed by him to be engaged in what they claimed were “tea parties”
protesting every significant feature of civil and political life in
America during the preceding fifty years. In Lewis Caroll’s book, the
host of the tea party was originally named the “Mad Hater”, based on
Glenn Beck. Before publication, however, the name was changed to “Mad
Hatter”, thought to be more appropriate for younger readers. Other
characters were also based on people Caroll watched during his
drug-induced visit to the future. The Queen of Hearts, whose reaction
to every annoyance was “Off with his/her head”, was, of course, Sarah
Palin, whose relentless verbal attacks on reporters, Democrats and
everyone else who did not share her vision of “real Americans”, duly
impressed the author.
The White Rabbit, who obsessively worried about whether he was late in
satisfying his obligations to the story’s royalty, was actually a
composite of several Republicans observed by Caroll to be concerned
lest they be perceived as less than enthusiastic about the tea party’s
slogans. The one who seems to have been most influential in shaping
the White Rabbit’s literary personality was John McCain, whose ability
to conform to the tea party’s rigorous standards was especially
noticeable.
The Cheshire Cat, who directed Alice to the tea party at the March
Hare’s house, was based on the author’s observation of Phil Gramm, a
longtime purveyor of bogus economic theory and other
political/financial flimflams, most notably the notion, truly worthy
of Caroll’s imaginary Wonderland, that taking money from the working
class and transferring it to the rich would benefit the working class.
The Cheshire Cat’s ability to disappear when it suited him/her,
leaving behind only a grin, was Caroll’s way of illustrating the
peek-a-boo cunning of Gramm, who claims credit when it serves his
purpose but, when confronted with some embarrassing result of his
efforts, disappears behind his “aw shucks” East Texas Good Ole Boy
persona, muttering that he does not control the gullible crowd that
falls for his spiel.
It is somewhat satisfying to learn more about the inspiration for
Lewis Caroll’s fine book. That satisfaction is, however, dampened by
the fact that those of us who are living with the destructive and
hateful reality of the Tea Party, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and Phil
Gramm, cannot escape from it, as Alice did from Wonderland.
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Not dead, in jail or a slave? Thank a liberal!
Read my essays at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/zepps_essays/
Phlip
> Lewis Caroll’s fine book. That satisfaction is, however, dampened by
> the fact that those of us who are living with the destructive and
> hateful reality of the Tea Party, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and Phil
> Gramm, cannot escape from it, as Alice did from Wonderland.
Drew Freedman beat ya to it:
http://boingboing.net/2010/03/25/drew-friedmans-alice.html
That's your patron saint, guys! How DARE Drew make fun of such a
heroic patriot??!
I think y'all should go buy copies of The Nation in order to burn
them...