Alice in Wonderland; the second example of the importance of defending what is valuable

I just finished watching Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. It brings to mind the genius of Lewis Carroll. One of the many writers who have been saying the same thing all along. It would almost seem pretty straight forward that the message that we get is repeated so oft, yet we fail to get it. We realize it though. That is what makes "moving" works of art so moving. They are not stationary in one dimension but move across the dimension of static repetition to the dimension of continuous renewal. The movie opens up with the tedious world of the constant operator. Status for the sake of status (blind hoarding with the only purpose is to grow larger and larger). Alice is apparently a girl that fails to adjust to this world. Is the world abnormal or is Alice abnormal. A psychiatrist in that world would most likely have treated Alice with antipsychotics. Because she tends to be overrun by the many forces in this world that are not in her control. Alice finds herself in to the world underground. This world is threatened to be over run with the red queen which is the same thing as what was happening in the world above her. The mad hatter, the march hare, the white queen hardly seem "fit" companions for any proper child in this world. That is the disdain of transitional things that are taught to us by all the gang systems. Imagine if Alice's wannabe fiance, would have visited this world. He would have tried to get the same comfortable constancy in to this transitional world. He would have most probably sided with the red queen.


The true genius of Lewis Carroll however is not exposing the corruption of the constant operator but the dangers of the transitional operator.

Many other authors have exposed the constant operator time and time again without much difficulty. You build a plot long enough till it truly begins to grow and it will start becoming monotonous and we will feel it and call it so. We will use the words boring and repetitious, exactly what the constant operator is about. Sartre in Nausea does an excellent job of converting this triteness in to an art. What the dangers of the transitional operator are shown by the two rivaling factions of the underworld. The red queen is the reflection of the world Alice has left behind. And in her "dream" she comes to realize the vulnerability of the all that is refreshing. The transitional operator (typified by the white queen) is basically helpless against the attack of the red queen. Conquering and wars are not the function of the transitional operator. Every moment is new for the transitional operator. For the compatriots of the white queen, everybody is living in the moment. The ideal senselessness is present in the tea party. Nobody knows the time, nobody cares about guests, it is a free for all, party time for everyone. That is the danger of the transitional operator. It will not get things done. It can give an excellent good feeling but when you need things to be fair and orderly, only Alice can make things right by using her "muchness" (which is a very constant operator terminology). Only by the muchness can she save the transitional denizens of her dream world and save herself in the onslaught of all things constant in her real world. Her ability to demonstrate her ability to go downstream to the battle and upstream to enjoy her friends is the fundamental operator.

What she learns in her dream is what her fundamental strategy to gain control over her real world is. Usually that is what the reorientation function of dreams.

The caterpillar is the sage which travels both worlds in different shapes that are most conducive to the time. It knows the secrets of dying and being reborn. It also knows the secret of what should be defended and how.