Chapter 6: Pig and Pepper
Summary:
Alice sees two strange creatures beside the house; they have the faces of a frog and a fish but they dress like footmen. They work as representatives for the queen and the Duchess; the Fish is the representative of the queen and the Frog is representative of the Duchess. They exchange invitations for play croquet and the Fish leaves. Alice comes to knock on the door of the house but the Frog tells her that no one will open the door for her because there are such noises inside the house and no one will hear the knocking. The door opens and Alice goes directly to the kitchen where she finds the Duchess is nursing a baby and everyone sneezes because of the pepper that comes from the cook except a cat who is smiling. Then, the cook starts throwing its things over them and Alice shouts to stop cooking but the Duchess starts singing a lullaby to the child, who is like a pig, and everything becomes calm even the cook. After that, the Duchess throws the child to Alice although Alice lacks experience in nursing babies. Alice leaves the baby on the ground and then she encounters the Cat and she asks it about which way she supposes to go and the Cat answers that each way will lead her to two mad persons, Hatter and March Hare. Alice decides to go to March Hare`s way. She eats from the mushroom to be bigger and she walks towards Hare`s house.
Analysis:
In this chapter, Alice realizes that the home in reality and the home in wonderland are not the same. Her home in reality is a place of relaxation; on the other hand, she doesn`t find the same situation in the wonderland. Although she goes to the Duchess`s house to take some rest, she couldn`t find the rest that she used to have; the house is very messy, noisy, and strange. Also in this chapter, Alice sees many strange things that violate the natural rules in the reality. The Duchess seems that she is a mother who takes care of that house but there is some evidence that contradicts the role of mothering; she deals aggressively with the baby and she puts her personal and unnecessary interests ahead of her son and that is obvious when she throws the baby to Alice to get ready for the match. Another strange thing is the baby which is not a baby but a pig and Alice is confused about the reason behind nursing a pig and dealing with it as a human`s baby when the Duchess sings for it a lullaby that is a sleep song for the babies. At the end of this chapter, Alice sits the pig in the ground to return it to its natural category as she recognizes about animals that they are becoming independent from their childhood.
