Summary
Once outside, Alice climbs a nearby hill to get a betterlook at the garden near the house. However, every time she beginsto follow the path to the hill, she finds herself back at the doorto the house. Dismayed, she mentions her frustration to Tiger-lily,who surprises her by responding in perfect English. The Tiger-lilyexplains that all flowers can talk. The Rose chimes in and mentionsthat Alice does not look very clever. Alice asks them if they feelat all vulnerable. They explain to her that they are protected bya nearby tree that will bark at any approaching threats. The Daisiesbegin caterwauling and Alice silences them by threatening to pickthem.
The Rose and the Violet continue to insult Alice, butthe Tiger-lily reprimands them for their rudeness. Alice learnsfrom the flowers that there is another person like her in the garden.They describe the Red Queen, who now looks human and stands a headtaller than Alice. The Rose advises Alice to walk the other way,but Alice sets off toward the Red Queen, ending up back at the doorof Looking-Glass House. Once she sets off in the opposite direction,she eventually reaches the Red Queen.
The Red Queen is friendly but overbearing when she strikesup a conversation with Alice. Alice explains her plight to the RedQueen and mentions the garden, which prompts the Red Queen to remark thatshe has seen gardens that would make this one seem like a wilderness.When Alice mentions the hill, the Red Queen states that she hasseen hills to make this hill look like a valley. Frustrated, Alice tellsthe Red Queen that she speaks nonsense, but the Queen responds thatshe has heard nonsense that would make her claims seem as sensibleas a dictionary. The Red Queen takes Alice to the hill, where shenotices that the surrounding countryside resembles a giant chessboard.Alice spots a game of chess happening on the chessboard and expressesher desire to join the game. The Red Queen tells Alice that shemay stand in for the Tiger-lily as a White Pawn. The two begin abrisk run but remain in the same place. Once finished with theirrun, the Red Queen explains the chess game to Alice. Alice startsat the second square and must travel through the other squares.A different character owns each square, and once Alice reaches theeighth square she will become a queen herself. With a few finalwords of advice, the Red Queen bids Alice goodbye and disappears.
Analysis
Just like in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,Alice acts as an explorer in Looking-Glass World, recalling otherexplorers discovering new territories in the late Victorian era.Like the English Imperialist explorers of Carroll’s time, Aliceintrudes on foreign lands with preconceived notions about language,manners, and the way the world works. When she meets the livingflowers, she discovers not only that others do not share her assumptions,but that the native population perceives her as foolish. Alice’slack of knowledge about Looking-Glass World creates a culture clashin which her confusion over the flowers’ explanation of why treeshave “bark” and “boughs” inspires scorn in the flowers.
Alice fails to understand that in Looking-Glass Worldshe must do everything backward. She gets confused when the Roseadvises her to “walk the other way” to reach the Red Queen. Alicerelates to the Red Queen how she is “lost” because she does notrealize that in the mirror one has to move away from an object toget closer to it. The path seems to actively punish her for failingto understand the properties of Looking-Glass World, deliberatelyrearranging itself to get her off track. The principles of inversiondo not solely affect space and distance, but also movement. Thefaster Alice moves, the less distance she covers, so that when sheruns she never seems to leave her initial position.
Alice becomes a pawn in the game of chess and discoversthat Looking-Glass World closely follows the strict rules of chess.Alice can only move forward one “square” at a time, despite thefact that she seems to wield a degree of imaginative control overLooking-Glass World. While the Queen seems to “vanish” because shecan travel quickly across the board, just as a Queen has greatermobility in a game of chess. As a pawn, Alice has much more restricted mobilityand line of vision. Alice is not only a pawn in the game of chess,but also in the text of the book. The author has absolute controlover Alice’s actions and can move her around at will in the contextof the story as if she were a pawn.
