Advice from a Caterpillar, by Arthur Rackham (1907)
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Rabbit heads past me in such a hurry. Oh, why must he must always be so late? Doesn't he know that catch-up is just exhausting? No matter, I have no plans. The queen has hardly sought my council as she does Rabbit's, as useful as she's found it in the past.
All of a sudden, a strange girl comes sauntering through the brush, her eyes wild with amazelment. What is to be amazeled about? I am simply myself: a caterpillar enjoying his vapors. But judging by the girl's look of bewilderence, she hardly knows a dodo from a dove. Sensibly I ask "Who are you?"
"I- I hardly know, sir, just at present - at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then" she replies. So indecent to use such absurd reasoning. If she wasn't who she was this morning, how can she know she's different now? Nonetheless I... play along with the poor child, "What do you mean by that? Explain yourself!"
The unfortunate girl then proceeds to rattle on and on about nonsense. But that is all well and good, since we're all mad here. However, it's very rude to be nonsensical and to simply go nowhere with it! She insists so unreasonably for me to tell her who I am. What an awkward question for someone who has not simply introduced themselves, so I ask again "Who are you?"
Turning herself about in a huff and marching into the dangerous wilderness, and obviously not knowing where in Wonderland she was heading, I felt it only cautionary to give her a little advice. So I call her back, and I say "Keep your temper." Everyone knows that no one gets truly mad, well I mean angry mad, in Wonderland save for the Queen. And should this little soul come across the Queen, a temper would be the last thing she needs.
And just to make sure she is of sound mind, I ask her to recite some simple literature, something that any ordinary toddler could memorize. But oh mercy! She continues to spout nonsense and an incorrecticle recitation of "You are old, Father William..." Completely wrong!
After I have said so, she suddenly expresses a sensible thought: to be her original size! But she does NOT stop there: apparently, according to this ruffian, "Three inches is such a wretched height." The nerve! Nonetheless, I, for the last time, offer my charitable sense to this poor, lost girl. "One side will make you grow taller, and one side will make you grow shorter," I say. She looked bewildered, and I had just about reached the end of my nerve. "THE MUSHROOM OF COURSE!" I announce, and head away. What a nonsensical girl: I hope Wonderland is merciful to her.
Author's note: This story is a retelling of the chapter in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland where Alice meets the Caterpillar. I wanted to retell this story in the Caterpillar's perspective because the Caterpillar actually proves to be the most logical and forward thinking characters in Wonderland. Also, Alice's encounter with the Caterpillar is the first one she has with any creature in Wonderland. Not only that, but it is the first interaction she has while under the influence of Wonderland itself: in the original text, Alice admits that she is thinking nonsensically and with much contradiction during her conversation with the Caterpillar. So I thought it would be interesting to see what things would sound like from the Caterpillar's perspective. He does, afterall, give Alice the most straightforward advice out of all characters from Wonderland: "Keep your temper."
Bibliography: "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll (1865)
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Andres,
ReplyDeleteI liked how you created a different perspective of the story. The caterpillar is a well-known character from “Alice in Wonderland”. Adding in the different thoughts that the caterpillar has about Alice’s ramblings created a humorous twist to the story. Also, how you changed some of what Alice said, to have it go from her speaking for long periods to you just using the phrase “prattle on and on about nonsense”. It was something very characteristic of the caterpillar.
What a great story! I really enjoyed reading this. It was a great idea to put the story in the caterpillar’s perspective. All of the dialogue and thoughts really help the story. I like how you made such a big deal about the first interaction. I think I might read the original story now. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI would suggest adding space between the paragraphs to help with the flow of reading.
I haven’t read or watched Alice In Wonderland in forever. I love the way you told this from the caterpillar's perspective, it put such a cool spin on the story. I also love the tone and language you used for the caterpillar. It really sounded like the way he would talk and words he would use. And I absolutely LOVE the picture you used also.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a very long time since I read/watched anything at all from Alice in Wonderland, but a lot of it actually came back to me when I was reading your story. I think telling the story from the perspective of the caterpillar was very clever - it was interesting to see how he might feel about the oddness of having Alice in Wonderland. I liked how you went beyond just the things he said to the actual thoughts he had, because the tone they established really fit well to me.
ReplyDeleteNice story Andres. I like that you changed the story to come from the caterpillars perspective. I like that the caterpillar was looking out for Alice, even though she did not realize it. His thoughts were very clear, and I like how you sort of added a little humor or quick wit to the caterpillars character. Also, I really like the picture you used. It has been a couple of months since I have watched Alice in Wonderland on tv, so this was very refreshing read. Now I want to go watch the movie! Once again, great job!
ReplyDeleteI loved this retelling. Alice in Wonderland was one of my favorite books when I was younger. I thought you did an excellent job retelling the interaction between Alice and the Caterpillar through the voice of the Caterpillar. When the Caterpillar asks Alice “Who are you?” is one of my favorite parts of the story. I think that you stayed true to the Caterpillar’s voice and really captured his personality.
ReplyDeleteHey again, Andres! Since I already commented on your introduction, I wanted to read another story and when I came across an Alice and Wonderland story I immediately started reading. I re-wrote the story of Alice and the caterpillar by changing the whole tone of the story and altering the characters. So I think it is awesome to see that you actually used the perspective of the caterpillar. He usually had a few words to say, if any to Alice so to see that he was thinking more is a great perspective. Awesome job!
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