The Cheshire-Cat: Sign of Signs

     In the article The Cheshire-Cat: Sign of Signs, M.S. Ashbourne talks about Charles Dodgson a.k.a. Lewis Carroll and the birth of two of the greatest children books; “Alice in Wonderland” and “Alice Through the Looking Glass”. The article starts with the depiction of Dodgson’s life, who was born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson on January 27, 1832. As a child he was said to have quite a creative mind and way of being. Dodgson was said to have entertained himself along with his seven sisters and three brothers by inventing toys, games and puzzles along with writing poetry and essays among other things. At the age of twenty-four, Dodgson had his first encounter with Alice Liddel, the girl that gave life to two of his most famous stories of all.
     The creation of “Wonderland” came about on July 4, 1862. On that day Dodgson along with friend Robinson Duckworth and his three young daughters; Lorina, Alice and Edith took a boating trip. On the trip the girls demanded a story be told and as a result Dodgson created a tale about a girl named Alice and the adventures she encounters after haven fallen down a rabbit hole. Alice who of course had been the character of the story, wished for Dodgson to write it down. So one Christmas he complied titling it “Alice’s Adventures Under Ground" later the title was changed to “Alice Adventures in Wonderland”. The story sparked the interest of many due the questionable relationship both Dodgson and Alice shared, along with much of the stories meaning. The story was thought to represent aspects of real life just as in the past Dodgson had wrote stories that contained the element of “self-reflection”.
     The article speaks about how much of the story characters are thought to represent something real in relation to Alice or Dodgson or both. One character in particular was the Cheshire-Cat; that although serves as a minor character among many, leaves one of the greatest impressions of all. It is said to believe that the Cheshire-Cat was created to remind Alice of the wonderful times she spent with Dodgson. The article than continues to talk about the various signs or connections between  the Cheshire-Cat and the real life of  Dodgson. These connections or signs included the Cheshire-Cat representing the birth place of Charles Dodgson, along with much of the characters actions being a manifestation of Dodgson himself. Such things as the grinning can be seen to be his happiness when he was with Alice and the Cheshire-Cat’s concerned ways toward Alice can be thought to depict Dodgson’s real love and care for her. The Cheshire-Cat unlike any of the other creatures Alice comes across in “Wonderland” was interested in her well-being unconditionally, much like Charles Dodgson unconditional love and care for Alice Liddel in real life.