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Synergistic Interlude

Alice in Wonderland Chapter I: “Down the Rabbit Hole”

“Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do . . .

“So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

“There was nothing so VERY remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so VERY much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, `Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!’ (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually TOOK A WATCH OUT OF ITS WAISTCOAT-POCKET, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit hole under the hedge.

“In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.

“The rabbit hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well.

“Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was going to happen next . . .

“Down, down, down. Would the fall NEVER come to an end! . . .

“Down, down, down . . . when suddenly, thump! thump! down she came upon a heap of sticks and dry leaves, and the fall was over . . .

“Suddenly she came upon a little three-legged table, all made of solid glass; there was nothing on it except a tiny golden key, and Alice’s first thought was that it might belong to one of the doors of the hall; but, alas! either the locks were too large, or the key was too small, but at any rate it would not open any of them. However, on the second time round, she came upon a low curtain she had not noticed before, and behind it was a little door about fifteen inches high: she tried the little golden key in the lock, and to her great delight it fitted!” ⁶⁶

Courtesy of Lenny’s Alice in Wonderland Site, http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/

Questions to Ponder

1.Jonathan Young of the Center for Story and Symbol says that falling down the rabbit hole represents a journey into the unconscious.⁶⁷ What elements of the story have a dreamlike or hallucinogenic feel to them? (At the end we discover that Alice has been dreaming.)

2.How is this story like the Grimms’ tale of “The Golden Key”?

3.Do you have any theory about why Alice sees a rabbit with a watch before she begins her journey? (Young⁶⁸ would call this a threshold experience, like the fragmentary hypnogogic images we experience before we fall asleep.)

66For all of the excerpts and pictures from the Alice stories, I am grateful to Lenny’s Alice-in-Wonderland site.

67Jonathan Young, “The Psychology of Creativity” (workshop, sponsored by The Center for Story and Symbol, www.folkstory.com. Sacramento, CA, May 16, 2006).

68Young, “The Psychology of Creativity” workshop in Sacramento, May 16, 2006.