Alice's Adventures in Wonderland · Chapter
IX: The Mock Turtle’s Story explained
Alice meets the Mock Turtle and the Gryphon, who recount the Mock Turtle's sorrowful history and his unusual education under the sea.
What happens
Alice meets the Mock Turtle and the Gryphon, who recount the Mock Turtle's sorrowful history and his unusual education under the sea. The conversation is filled with puns and twisted logic regarding school subjects. Later, Alice walks with the Duchess, who insists on finding a moral in everything, leading to absurd and confusing proverbs.
Themes in this chapter
Nonsense and Logic
The Mock Turtle's school subjects (Reeling, Writhing, Uglification) and the Gryphon's pun on 'lessons' showcase twisted logic and wordplay.
Language and Communication
The Duchess's impossibly convoluted moral and the constant misinterpretations highlight the absurdity and breakdown of meaningful communication.
Characters to notice
- Alice
Listens to the Mock Turtle's story and questions his unusual curriculum; later endures the Duchess's moralizing and sharp chin.
- The Mock Turtle
A melancholy creature who tells Alice about his past as a real turtle and his bizarre education, including Reeling, Writhing, and Uglification.
- The Gryphon
Accompanies Alice, introduces her to the Mock Turtle, and interjects during the story, defending the absurd school lessons.
- The Duchess
Appears suddenly, takes Alice's arm affectionately, and relentlessly assigns convoluted morals to every observation Alice makes.
Key passages
“"Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with," the Mock Turtle replied; "and then the different branches of Arithmetic—Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision."”
The Mock Turtle lists his school subjects, which are puns on Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic (Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division).
Highlights the theme of nonsense through educational parody.
“"That's the reason they're called lessons," the Gryphon remarked: "because they lessen from day to day."”
The Gryphon explains that lessons are named so because the number of hours lessens each day.
A literal and absurd pun on the word 'lesson'.
“"'Be what you would seem to be'—or if you'd like it put more simply—'Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.'"”
The Duchess offers a simple moral, then 'simplifies' it into an impossibly convoluted sentence about perception and identity.
Exemplifies the breakdown of language and logical communication.