Alice in Wonderland Wordplay
Personification, pun, syntax, and diction, these are some of the different devices of wordplay that authors use. Authors use wordplay for many different reasons. They use it to poke fun at the weaknesses and problems of the society; they also use it to make their literature more fun, and interesting. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is an example of a book that also serves as a satire. Lewis Carroll was born and raised in England during the time of Queen Victoria. In that time, and also in the book, there were two social classes, the elites, and the commoners. The elites would be the Queen of Hearts, the King, and also the Duchess. The commoners would be the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and most of the other characters you meet along they way in the book. One example of it being a satire is on page 79. “‘And who are THESE?’ said the Queen, pointing to the three gardeners who were lying round the rose tree; for, you see, as they were lying on their faces, and the pattern on their backs was the same as the rest of the pack, she could not tell whether they were gardeners, or soldiers, or courtiers, or three of her own children.” This scene is showing how people didn’t judge other people by their character or personality, but rather by their title or social status. The Queen couldn’t recognize them without seeing their suits. Many other authors use this to express their opinions about an issue in society. Some examples are To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. To Kill a Mockingbird, is a satire because it tells the authors point of view on the issues of racism through Scout, the main characters, point of view. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a satire because it shows the authors view of slavery, through the adventure that Huck and Jim go on. Another reason that authors use wordplay is to make their literature more fun and interesting. Lewis Carroll uses a lot of different types of wordplay in all his