grinning from ear to ear

"Please would you tell me," said Alice, a little timidly, "why your cat grins like that?" (47, Carroll)

                                 http://lukeka-pow.blogspot.com/2010/06/cheshire-cat.html

After finishing both Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass I decided to think back and decide who my favorite character was, and I soon definitively came up with the Cheshire Cat. I began to analyze its presence in Wonderland as well as the disappearance in the Looking-Glass world.

My interest sparked after reading Nina Auerbach’s critical essay “Alice in Wonderland: A Curious Child”. She claims, “The Cheshire Cat is a late addition to the book”, and the “only creature in Wonderland whom [Alice] calls her ‘friend’” (341, Auebach). I found this curious because the Cheshire Cat is such a crucial character to the book, why would Carroll feel the need to add the menacing grin after a few revisions?

The first encounter with the Cheshire Cat comes at arguably one of the most disturbing and eerie parts of the book, when Alice comes of the house of the Duchess, the cook, and the baby. The scene is terrifying as she walks into the room to the overwhelming aroma of pepper, a screaming baby, an aggressive Duchess, and a cook who flings utensils with no rhyme or reason, Alice “jumping up and down in an agony of terror” (48, Carroll), looks for some logically refuge. She becomes hesitantly relieved at the sight of a familiar creature, but still skeptical at its large grin. When Alice escapes the madhouse she rescues the child, whom then turns into a pig, and suddenly, the Cheshire Cat appears again.

Alice asks the Cheshire Cat which way she should go, immediately initiating a weak sense of trust between the cat and herself. Although the Cheshire Cat doesn’t give her a straightforward answer the response is strangely logical and Alice does not pursue it further.

The Cheshire Cat next asks what became of the baby and Alice tells him he turned into a pig, the Cheshire Cat replies, “I thought it would” (52, Carroll), showing a facet of wisdom that is not present in the other characters of Wonderland. The Cheshire Cat also has a sort of self-awareness the other characters don’t have when he controls his appearing and disappearing, to the frustration of Alice. Auebach claims the Cheshire Cat, “is the only creature to make explicit the identification between Alice and the madness of Wonderland” (341, Auebach) when he says, “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad” (51, Carroll).  He is the only character aware of his own madness.

Without the Cheshire Cat the reader would not come to the conclusion that Wonderland is indeed a place of madness, however it is important Alice knows it so she can fight the madness with attempted maturation and logic. Without the Cheshire Cat, Alice, ironically, would be seen as a mad character as well because she would be unaware of her madness existing in Wonderland.

The Cheshire Cat does not make an appearance in Through the Looking-Glass for a seemingly obvious reason after close readings of its purpose in Wonderland. Alice has matured from her trip to Wonderland, and no longer needs a guide to keep her sanity in check. Although I miss the presence of the large grin, I feel the absence of the Cheshire Cat is a tribute to the progression of Alice.