Oxford

On Thursday, June 5th we took a bus from London to Oxford, a place of major literary inspiration for British literature. Oxford was the home of Lewis Carroll, the pen name for Charles Dodgson, the author of the accclaimed children's book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It wasn't hard to see why Oxford was a point of so much inspiration, since the gorgeous buildings of the Oxford universities and libraries radiated a vibe of intellectualism. It was easy to see that Oxford was a centre for academics, and that the intellectual took top priority. In the Introduction to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, it is stated that Carroll wrote this story strictly to be entertainment for the young Liddell books. He warns the reader not to read too much into his writing, since there is nothing of substance there. It became clear to me when I was in Oxford that reading for entertainment is probably not something that many of the readers at the colleges were accustomed to. That makes the necessity of a book for children that is purely fun more essential than ever. Oxford is such an organized city, with the self-contained university campuses and the neat and tidy streets. That is why Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is such a strong juxtaposition in it's lack of structure, and connectedness. This chaos was probably not often found in Oxford, so Carroll took it upon himself to break the chains of conformity and write a work that still captivates readers today.