Keerthana Prakasam The Chronicles of Narnia and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland are widely known as fantasy fiction novels in children’s literature. These works were loved by many, and even film adaptations were produced. The battle of Narnia’s wardrobe vs Alice’s rabbit hole signifies two different scenarios, but similarities between them are obvious.
Narnia’s Wardrobe vs Alice’s Rabbit Hole
A. Location
While staying at Professor Kirke’s house, Lucy Pevensie stumbles upon a wooden wardrobe closet. Curiosity got the best of her and she opened the door, where she spotted a snow-covered branch sticking in between the cloaks. Eventually, when she reaches the branch, it reveals a forest in the winter. This new mystical world she discovers is the kingdom of Narnia ruled by the white witch who cursed an eternal winter upon the kingdom.
Bored by her sister, a drowsy Alice is sitting by the river on a warm evening when a white rabbit catches her eye. The rabbit was fretting about being late somewhere while checking his pocket watch and ran through a hole. Alice follows him into the rabbit hole and is plunged into the wonderland of amazing creatures that defy any reason. She goes on various adventures with them and finally wakes up just in time for tea.
B. Themes
Narnia’s wardrobe portrays a few themes such as gluttony, sacrifice, and redemption.
Whereas, Alice’s rabbit hole signifies childhood innocence, identity, and journey to adulthood.
C. Portal’s Destination
The portal leads to The kingdom of Narnia, an eccentric world of unique logic with talking animals and fauns.
The Rabbit hole leads to wonderland, a world of absurd and whimsical creatures.
What does the Wardrobe Symbolize in the Chronicles of Narnia?
Narnia is a world of mythical creatures and talking animals, and the wardrobe symbolizes the doorway to a world of absurd reality. It is fundamentally a threshold as well as a barrier that separates Narnia from the Earth.
On the other hand, it is said to be a representation of Christianity through the use of allegory and characters with biblical ideas. Aslan, the lion, is considered the Jesus of alternate reality who calls the Pevensie children from the real world to battle against the white witch.
What does the Rabbit Hole Symbolize in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?
Alice follows the white rabbit from her dream into the ‘Rabbit Hole’. This is inherently a tunnel that leads to a world of surrealistic logic. The rabbit hole is used as a metaphor to symbolize the curiosity of the human mind and its imagination.
The idiom going down the rabbit hole means being completely engulfed in a state of distraction and losing touch with reality. This is similar to Alice creating this whole new world in her dreams in deep slumber. Lewis Carroll introduced this new term or idiom, which is still used to this day.
To sum up everything in the battle of Narnia’s wardrobe vs Alice’s rabbit hole, these fantasy novels portray two different ways of entering a world of complex reality that are similar in a way but at the same time completely different.
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