Year 8 Religious Education
Identity-‘Alice in Wonderland’ Study
Isabella Coman
Early in the movie Alice asks: ‘Who is to say what is proper?’ What do you think and why?
I think you should have your own opinion of what is proper and not proper. You should dress appropriately for different occasions, but not be forced to wear anything.
How important, in your opinion, are dreams?
I think dreams rare very important for an individual. People need to express their hitngs and have hopes and your own fantasy. In a dream, you can go where ever you want, when ever you want and do anything you want.
Alice thinks about ‘impossible things’ and is easily distracted. Are these positive or negative character traits? Explain.
I think that when Alice is distracted it isn't ever in the right time. You should always think of things that make you interested but you should also do it at the right time so you don't seem rude. You should always have a big imagination
How wise was it for Alice to follow the instructions to ‘drink me’ and ‘eat me’?
I don't think it was that wise to just assume that something saying eat me and drink me would be safe. But Alice did think that she was in a dream and that it wouldn't matter what she did in a dream.
Absalon asks Alice, ‘Who are you?’ How would you answer that question?
I would ask why he would want to know, and ask for his name first. But if he answers that I would state my name, where I come from.
Could your whole life be a dream? Why or why not?
Yes. I think it could be a dream because when ever you are dreaming yourself you don't think it is a dream until you wake up.
The cat says to Alice, ‘You’d better be on your way’. Does this imply that her path is mapped out in advance? What about you, could your path be predetermined? What do you think?
I don't anyones life can be mapped out, you make your own discussions in life and only you can change it.
When do you wish, like Alice, that you could wake up and it would all be over?
Sometimes I feel that when something bad has gone wrong or something is making me sad.
The Mad Hatter says to Alice, ‘It’s all about you, you know’. Is your life just about you? Explain.
I don't think that my life is all about me, I like to think that I care for everyone who comes into my life.
The Hatter also says to Alice, ‘You’re not the same…you’ve lost your “muchness”’. What did the Hatter mean and could this apply to you too?
I think the Hatter is implying that Alice has changed from what her personality used to be when she last visited Wonder Land, but he changed his mind after a she had spent more time in Wonder Land.
Could the fact that Alice thinks that she isn’t the Alice they’re looking for suggest that she doesn’t want to accept responsibility? Explain.
I think that she doesn't believe that she is the real Alice because she is a modest person because they are saying sll these wonderful things about her and I also think that she isn't wanting to accept the responsibility of killing something as well
How does the Hatter act in a Christ like manner?
The Hatter sacrificed himself for Alice to the Red Queen, that is a Christ like manner.
Alice says: ‘I won’t be told what I must do and be…I’ll decide…I make the path’. How does this attitude fail to comply with a Christian approach to life?
When Alice says this it isn't a very Christian approach because most Christians follows how Jesus lives and believes.
Alice echoes her father’s words by saying: ‘You’re entirely “bonkers”, but all the best people are’. Do you agree? Explain.
I do agree, because I think the maddest and quirkiest people are the most interesting. I like people who are different and try to be different my self.
What are the sources of the red queen’s identity?
I think the Red Queen is a selfish, lonely and mean person. She makes other people suffer for herself to rise and become more powerful. I don't like this attitude and it isn't how Jesus lived his life.
Absalon says to Alice: ‘You are almost Alice’. What does Absalon mean? Do you ever feel that you are almost you? Explain.
When Absalom says this to Alice, I think he means that she has changed from what she used to be like. I think it is good that people change. I also think that he needs her to be the Alice she was before not the Alice she is now. But I think she changed for the better.
Alice’s requirement to slay the ‘jaberwocky’ is described as a day of destiny? What days of destiny do you have?
I think Alice's destiny day is different from mine, I think her destiny has more of an impact. My destiny would probably be having a family and getting married.
In relation to the slaying, Alice is told that ‘the choice must be yours’. What choices do you have? How is choice integral to the human condition from a Christian perspective?
Choice is a part of the human life. Like you can chose what career path you follow and who you want to spend your time with. I think choice was a strong message going forth in this film, how Alice had to choose who to trust, what to do, and how to believe it.
Absalon says to Alice: ‘God help you if you don’t really know who you are’. How did Alice find out? How do we find out who we really are?
I think Alice found out who she really was by experience and how she acted and what happened around her. I think everyone finds out who they really are through experience and who is around them and how they respond to tasks and other people.
The movie, like many, depicts good and evil. Why do ‘the good guys’ win? Do the ‘good guys’ always win in this life? What about in eternity?
The good guys always win in movies I think to show that the good is right and there is good out there. And I also think its to show hope for people out there that the good will triumph evil in real life. I don't think the good guys win forever. The good guys may win one day but there is always evil in the world.
The white queen says that ‘it is against her vows to harm any living creature’; however, she also says that ‘no-one is ever to show you any kindness’, in relation to punishing the red queen. How consistent with Christian beliefs and values are these two statements?
I think people deserve what they get. The Red Queen did some very terrible things to the people of Wonder Land and I think she deserves what she gets. The White Queen could have just as easily killed the Red Queen for the things she did, but she didn't.
Towards the end of the movie, Alice says to her mother: ‘Don’t worry…I’ll find something useful to do with my life’. How will you find something useful to do with your life?
I think she will find something useful with her life with the experiences that she has had in WonderLand. I think going to WonderLand has taught her a lot of valuable life lessons. And she is going to work on what her father was trying to accomplish.
What are your overall thoughts about the movie? Explain.
The first time I saw Alice in WonderLand, I didn't really like it. But now I have seen all the values that are connected to it, I think I see more to the movie and lets me appreciate it more. I think that the reason Alice went to Wonderland is because her father did. He was one of those quirky people like from WonderLand and he seems to say that people are better when the are bonkers.
