perspectives on diversity

Although many of the texts that we have encountered recently are extremely relevant to discussions of diversity, when recalling Alice in Wonderland, it is difficult to isolate explicit examples in the story that deal with racial difference. However, one can examine the way that Alice in Wonderland approaches difference in the abstract in order to provoke discussion. Alice encounters many strange animals and creatures throughout the story, but one of the most telling encounters occurs in the pool of tears. In this scene, Alice encounters a mouse and begins to try to speak to it. Alice changes the way she talks, trying her best to mimic “the right way of speaking to a mouse” (41). When the mouse fails to respond, Alice speculates that “perhaps it doesn’t understand English” (41). Alice then proceeds to make a generalization due to her lack of her historical knowledge when she proclaims, “I daresay it’s a French mouse, come over with William the Conqueror” (41). A significant debate is to be had here regarding whether Alice’s approach to difference is innocent or dangerous. Alice seems to represent the innocence of a child throughout the story. Taking this into account, should we treat Alice’s assumption that the mouse is French as benign? Or is the William the Conqueror reference an ignorant generalization? These questions are difficult to answer, but I think that it is at least safe to say that Alice is good-intentioned. She always intends to treat the animals with utmost respect. Nevertheless, this does not guarantee a neutral effect of her discourse.

french = william the conqueror?

Much of this discussion of Alice’s character can be resolved by examining the growth of Alice’s character in Through the Looking Glass. She seems to treat other characters more sensitively as she becomes more familiar with her surroundings. When she meets Tweedledum and Tweedledee, she “laughed loud: but she managed to turn it into a cough, for fear of hurting his feelings” (242). While Alice is still somewhat insensitive, she ultimately takes actions to avoid offending other individuals. When Tweedledum asks her if he looks pale, Alice claims “well—yes—a little,” but does so “gently” (242). Here again, Alice makes a proactive attempt to treat other individuals who are dissimilar to her in a respectful manner. Perhaps we can retroactively examine her comments to the mouse through this lens of the progression of her character.

we should show people more respect

Ishmael provides some interesting and mostly unrelated commentary on racial diversity. When providing commentary on the contents of hierarchies within modern society, Ishmael notes that “white males—have called the shots inside the prison for thousands of years, perhaps even from the beginning” (252). While Ishmael goes on to later argue that there are other more important political goals than increasing racial consciousness, it is still worthwhile to note that Ishmael subscribes to the belief in forces of white hegemony in society.

ishmael sees these advocates as distracting from more important struggles