Alice, Animals and Ethics

Didn't playing croquet hurt the flamingoes and hedgehogs?

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I remember the first time I saw the walrus and the carpenter scene in Disney’s Alice and Wonderland. I was horrified. I remember uneasily watching the sweet and excited baby oysters follow the walrus to their death. Wide-eyed, I willed my mind to shut out this memory, but it stayed with me throughout the night. As this vignette unapologetically switched back to Alice and the rest of the story, I searched for a moral or explanation but none came. More instances of animal cruelty followed, flamingoes and hedgehogs as croquet equipment and a cute drunken mouse being shoved into a teapot. Finally, I resolved that I “just didn’t like that movie. It was too scary.” And that was pretty much it. I didn’t want to watch it again until I decided to show my sister, and she had the same conclusion. I guess at the time we were both too young to discern any arguments Lewis Carroll could have been making in regard to animals and ethics.

The Fawn runs away from Alice, the human.
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The “Walrus and the Carpenter” still comes to mind first when considering the books. When I read through the passage, I was ready to be redeemed. But Alice’s compassion did not go far enough, commenting that she liked “the Walrus best,” (Carroll, 187) and later the Carpenter because “he didn’t eat so many as the Walrus.” (Carroll, 188) Alice’s identification with the perpetrators demonstrates how far people still have to go. Alice still shows a modicum of compassion for the oysters as she tolerates their consumption in moderation, but she still doesn’t respond to their deaths or the pain they must have felt. In this way Carroll shows that people may recognize animal cruelty but not do enough about it. Additionally, Carroll demonstrates the tentative and unhealed relationship between humans and animals in the fawn episode. When Alice met the Fawn, he “gave a sudden bound into the air, and shook itself free from Alice’s arm. “I’m a Fawn!” It cried out in a voice of delight. “And, dear me! You’re a human child!” A sudden look of alarm came into its beautiful brown eyes, and in another moment it had darted away at full speed.” (178) The Fawn is clearly afraid to be around humans. And why wouldn’t he, when humans hunt them for sport? Carroll also demonstrates an animal’s worth by showing the deer’s sense of identity. “I’m a Fawn!” and, possibly, “And, dear me!” are statements where the Fawn identifies himself. Carroll wants his readers to notice that animals clearly have their own worth outside of the lives of humans.

All sorts of animals coexisted in Wonderland.

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While Carroll writes about an animal’s individual worth, he also demonstrates how humans and animals may coexist. In Wonderland, animals and people live together. While the King and Queen of Hearts, as humans, rule the kingdom, the differences among other humans and animals are not mentioned. The March Hare and the Mat Hatter, for example, have tea together, and the Walrus and the Carpenter both set out together to lure in the oysters. Carroll presents humans and animals on the same level in his books, evidence that he wants animals to be granted more respect. In this sort of society, presumably, connections between animals and people such as Jude the Obscure when felt a “magic thread of fellow-feeling [which] united his own life with [the group of crows].” (Anthology, 320) may become more common. Furthermore, as David says in his essay, “The humanization of the animals in the story does not serve to water down their impact […] Carroll does not invite Alice (and us) to learn human lessons from animal mouths, but rather to consider that animals might ALWAYS have had a voice that we have neglected to hear.” (Daniel) The lessons Alice learns from the animals are universal and are not meant to apply solely to the human condition.

Alice loved her cat, Dinah. Perhaps she could have shown more compassion to the creatures of Wonderland?

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Even so. Alice, as a human from our reality, has a hard time relating to animals and being considerate of them and their differences. When Alice speaks with the mouse for instance, in the pool of tears, she constantly insults him by forgetting that he would naturally not like dogs and cats like she does. Similarly, when Alice’s neck grows after her meeting with the Caterpillar, she tactlessly speaks to the Pigeon about eggs. When the Pigeon mentions that he is afraid Alice is a serpent who will eat her eggs, Alice says that she has “tasted eggs certainly,” (Carroll, 55) and mentions that she would not eat the Pigeon’s eggs because she doesn’t “like them raw.” (Carroll, 56) Alice demonstrates here, as the symbol of humanity, that people often do not try hard enough to understand animals and their differences. Furthermore, because of this lack of understanding, people will often cause animals discomfort as Alice did. Carroll seems to present a possible solution, however, through Alice’s strong association to her cat Dinah. Alice seems to have a very strong connection and friendship with her cat and does not treat her like she does the animals in Wonderland. Perhaps Carroll is suggesting that if we could see all animals as we see our pets, we might treat them all much better. It’s hypocritical when people remark on the intelligence of their dogs to discredit animal intelligence in other, wilder species. Carroll is attempting to show this disparity through Alice’s biased judgment of animals.
After considering the evidence of animal ethics in Carroll’s works, I realized that he truly was making a powerful argument. I now could go back to my past self and tell her that the movie wasn’t really that bad; it was actually making a very nice point!

The Horrific Walrus and the Carpenter Scene!