The Journey vs Alice in Wonderland Essay (Essay Sample)

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Comparison of Ludvig Holberg’s Journey to the World Underground and Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland
Fairly tales are notable for their unique portrayal of characters and the natural order of things. One consistent characteristic of such stories is the giving of human qualities to non-living things, such as portraying talking animals. However, fairy tales differ in terms of thematic concerns and the extent to which they exaggerate truth and reality. This distinction is evident in the short stories The Journey of Niles Klim to the World Underground by Ludvig Holberg and Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. While Holberg examines human nature by comparing the human society to a utopian mythical world, Carroll portrays the absence of order in any other life other than that of the natural world. This essay discusses the similarities and differences between the two stories. It argues that while Holberg’s Journey to the World Underground presents the possible existence of another world as orderly and functional as planet Earth, Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland disputes such an existence by suggesting that there is no order or reason outside the human world.
In the short story The Journey of Niles Klim to the World Underground, the author portrays a mythical world that functions like that of human beings. For instance, the inhabitants of the world into which Klim is plunged have a government and are governed by laws. The ordered nature of life in the subterranean world is evident from the moment Klim is captured. Instead of being attacked in the manner that non-human aliens may attack a stranger, the inhabitants of the underground world take the intruder into their leader to decide what to do with him. This reaction by the inhabitants of the underworld is similar to the way human beings may treat an alien. In this regard, Holberg is not merely suggesting the possibility of another alien world that functions like that of humans, but most remarkable, implying that reason is not limited to human beings alone. The animal kingdom and other living things, the author suggests, is governed by laws and rational principles that human beings cannot perceive unless they become part of that world like the story’s main character. This idea is supported by the inhabitants’ description of the stranger: "a monkey of odd shape" (Holberg 9). By calling a human being a monkey of an odd shape, it implies that the inhabitants have knowledge of the world, and can distinguish an alien when they see one. Thus, Holberg does not just try to portray an alternative life to that of human beings, but also shows how that life is real and orderly. In doing so, he suggests that there is much about the universe that human beings do not understand, such as the substance of life in inanimate things like trees.
Perhaps the most important element of Holberg’s story is its examination of the human society by comparing its moral values, justice system and religious practices to those of the underworld’s inhabitants. The underworld consists of "a happy and prosperous utopian land of intelligent, mobile trees" that leads a more perfect life than human beings (Fitting par. 7). The inhabitants have strong moral values in matters of sex, as seen from their reaction when Klim climbs up a tree that turns out to be "the wife of the sheriff" (Holberg 18). For this sin, he is brought before a jury to determine his punishment. The idea of non-human beings more moral and perfect in their sexual relationships than human beings is not only a commentary on right and wrong, but a mockery of the human society and its laws. For instance, prostitution and adultery often go unpunished in the human society. The idea that such acts cannot escape punishment in the world of trees suggests that human beings are imperfect than the creatures of the universe upon which they rule. In this light, Holberg questions the moral authority of the human race to be rulers over things that have a better code of moral conduct.
The hearing and ruling of Klim’s case is another testimony of the superiority of the underworld’s justice system over that of the human race, which the author uses to ridicule the hypocrisy of human civilizations (Gierlow 1). For instance, Klim is judged fairy and by the most incorruptible judges. The author compares this with court proceedings among humans where cases are dealt with swiftly, which presents the risk of making rush and uninformed decisions. The qualities that make for admirable characters among humans, such as quick intelligence, are despised among the tree kingdom as it implies impatience. In this light, the author suggests that there are imperfections about the human race that can only be perceived when examines from a non-human point of view. The author seems to ask the unsaid question: what do animals think of human beings, such as when they see them kill other animals or? Do they think of human beings as beasts and savages as we think of animals of prey in the jungle? There is something rotten about the human condition, and this thing cannot be perceived from a human point of view. It needs an outsider, such as a thinking tree, to see these imperfections.
Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is different from Holberg’s Journey to the World Underground in terms of their thematic concerns as well as characters. In contrast to Holberg, Carroll portrays a world full of chaos, disorder, and lack of justice or rational though (Hourihan 201). One element of an ordered life is the ability to predict or understand nature with some degree of certainty. For instance, living things grow and age at a predictable rate. However, Alice finds that there is no this order in wonderland. For instance, she grows and shrinks out of proportion in a matter of seconds depending on what she consumes. Similarly, her tears turn into a swelling sea that makes everything around to float. When Alice tries to multiply numbers in the "Mad Teas-Party," she gets the answers wrong, indicating lack of logic. She says, "Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is—oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate!" (Carroll 16). These incidences suggest that there is no order outside the natural world. In Wonderland, Alice encounters a reversed order of things even in terms of the relationship between living and non-living things. For example, playing cards, which represent nonliving objects, are the Queens and King of the land. Living things like cats and frogs are ruled by objects.
This reversal of nature, whereby nonliving things are infused with life and given more power than nonliving things not only suggest supernatural powers (magic), but a disruption of the natural order of things. In this regard, the author implies that order is only possible in the human society. This is a stark contrast with Holberg’s Journey to the World Underground, where life is orderly and reason abound. In addition, Alice in Wonderland suggests that there is no justice outside the human world, while Journey to the World ...