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In a world of proper beliefs and completeness with reasoning behind each action, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson made his stand in literature. Dodgson, known by most as Lewis Carroll, wrote stories of children’s tales and fantasies; lands of make believe instead of his times more logical works that have been passed down for generations and will surely continue to be for generations to come. Though he did write books based upon school necessities and projects of learning, Carroll was a colorful mind who wrote much about what other authors in his time didn’t; stories about nonsense more than any sense at all. He wrote for those who he best related himself with, those beings being small children who‘s imaginations swam wild with ideas never thought before. He saw his world much through that of the eyes of a child. With these views and formula for writing, Lewis Carroll had produced one of the best and well known children’s classics of all time, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and inspired many American authors of our time to follow in his footsteps and produce their own outstanding work that differed greatly from the usual standards. Through this book, and his riddles and quotes such as “Why is a raven like a writing desk?” are what he is most well known for, there is much more to be known of Lewis Carroll. Born in Daresbury, near Warrington, Cheshire in England on January 27, 1832, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson was one of eleven children born in his family large, religious family. Growing up, Dodgson entertained himself with writing, even at a young age, and excelled greatly at it. (“Think”) Even as a young child, Charles found some way to entertain himself, using his imagination much of the time. Along with his plays and poetry, he would perform magic tricks, plays, and play games with his siblings. (“Carroll”) Much of his childhood he was home schooled with his siblings, though not because he was ill learned. His "reading lists" preserved in the family testify to a precocious intellect: at the age of seven the child was reading The Pilgrim's Progress. (“Wiki”) He was sent to a private school in his early teens, where he was taught for a few years before he was sent off again, to Rugby School where he finished out his schooling and learning until he attended college at Oxford and he visited his father‘s church, Christ Church. All the while, never did his intelligence falter, though lack of proper concentration was evident through his constant day dreaming.(“Wiki”) Many of his teachers and even his masters took note of the young man’s potential, and high promise, though they also noticed his ease of distraction. Dodgson was exceptionally gifted, which made things easier for him, because he didn’t always need to work hard. In 1852 he received a First in Honour Moderations and was soon after nominated to a Studentship by a good friend of his fathers. However, a little later in time he failed an important scholarship through his own inability to apply himself to study, again his ease of distraction coming into play. Even so, his talent as a mathematician won him the Christ Church Mathematical Lectureship, which he continued to hold for the next twenty-six years. (“Wiki”) Though Dodgson was talented in his scholar teachings and the income for the job was good, the work and continuous study bored him. The work had no color to it, and his students were wealthy and were uninterested in his teachings. Despite the unhappiness working with the students and their teachings, Dodgson continued to contribute help and activeness to his church until his death. Eventually he took deacon’s orders at the church, though he delayed the process for quite some time, though no one is really quite sure as to why. He also rejected the offer of priesthood, believed for fear of having to lecture in front of a group. Most believe it to be because of the young man’s stammer which complicated his skills of public speech, others think it to be because the Bishop of Oxford was against members of the clergy going to theaters, which was one of Dodgson‘s great interests. (“Network.”) Though Dodgson was very active and contributed much to the church and college where he spent much of his life learning and returning the knowledge, Dodgson wasn’t able to lecture well nor proceed very far with his teachings in front of large classes because of his stammer and his inability to be understand because of his speech impediment. He also walked with a bit of a limp because of a knee injury he acquired at a young age. He suffered a fever which left him deaf in one ear and a weak chest from whooping cough, another sickness he had had as a child. Because of his awkward nature and trouble expressing himself around adults without a bit of nervousness flowing through him, the young man best related himself with children. The children were also more accepting of his physical flaws than most adults of his time were. He was imaginative in nature and very open minded to ideas that no one else had thought of or questioned, and because of that he connected very well with children and their playfulness. (“Bio”) This also rose suspicion of the young man being a pedophile, many different arguments on the matter are expressed. Some believe that this attraction to children was simply held by the persona of his pen name. (“Shadow”) Dodgson was easily bored, and so he needed something different and upbeat to be shown each time he wrote, not something like Mathematics that has a standard. This is where the English authors roots took hold, and his ideas began to sprout. Charles Dodgson came up with a pen name that would distance him from the rest, and in a way separate himself from the outside world while he was writing. He came up with “Lewis Carroll”, by which this pseudonym was a play on his real name; Lewis was the anglicized form of “Ludovicus“, which was the Latin for “Lutwidge“, and Carroll an Irish surname similar to the Latin name “Carolus“, from which the name “Charles” comes, and with this pseudonym Lewis Carroll would become a famous author, one who’s works still stand popular today. (“Wiki”.) In Carroll’s later life, he continued to write and prosper with his growing fame and wealth from the Alice books and his poetry, though few other parts of his life changed much. He still remained active in his church, until the day he died, though he never took up any permanent jobs there. On January 14, 1898, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson passed away at the home of his sister at the age of sixty five. He died of phenomena, flowing a bout of influenza. He is buried in the Guildford Mount Cemetery. Dodgson never married. Though Lewis Carroll is known mostly for his works as an author, he also had many other hobbies besides only writing stories. Lewis Carroll enjoyed photography, much of which he took photographs of small children or young adults, sometimes in the nude. He was said to have a respect for the anatomy of the children, but with these photographs the idea of Carroll being a pedophile again were brought up into controversy. (“101”) Besides his photography, the young man wrote nearly a dozen books in geometry, algebra, and mathematical logic. He was also a math tutor, as he excelled in his learning in college. He also did a bit of work with philosophy, releasing a piece called “What the Tortoise said to Achilles”. Still though, through all his works and hobbies that have been published and saved, none have came close to the success and legendary power of that of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and it‘s sequel of “Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There”. (“Looking”.) “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and it‘s sequel of “Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There” are the works of literature through which Lewis Carroll gained much of his fame and notability. From these stories, he gained his inspiration through the daughter of one of the Dean’s at the college where he studied and worked. One afternoon, Carroll took the Dean’s daughter, Alice Liddell, along with her sisters on a picnic on the campus grounds with a fellow tutor. All afternoon, Carroll entertained the children by telling of such stories, of the young Alice wondering off in her dreams to fall into another world through the portal of a rabbit’s hole. After the afternoon had passed, Alice begged and pleaded for Lewis Carroll to publish her story. (“Alice”) At first the story appeared as “Alice’s Adventures Underground”, but was soon after changed to “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, which is now sometimes shortened to simply “Alice in Wonderland”. After times of nagging, and much writing, in 1865 the work was published and released. The book sold splendidly and beyond everyone’s expectations. Six years later, Carroll released the books sequel “Through the Looking Glass” which is a collection of Carroll’s poems. The books can be purchased as one volume, today. Later in life the author tried to rematch Alice’s power on young minds, and released “Sylvie and Bruno,” which sold terribly and was quite disappointing compared to the successfulness of the Alice books. (“Sylvie”.) Though he is an English author, Lewis Carroll has inspired many American authors, and others around the world. Walt Disney, a famous film producer and screen writer, turned Lewis Carroll’s wonderland into a colorful cartoon and brought the book to life before the eyes of millions of small children around the world, though he himself left out bits and pieces of the book published by Carroll. More recently, Tim Burton, another film director, has since remade the film, and given it a darker twist and almost all together different plot, losing much of the aspects held by Disney and Carroll, though he has still maintained all the story’s characters. Lewis Carroll’s exploration of boundaries between sanity and nonsense also have thought to be the inspiration for philosophers such as Ludwig Wittgenstien, along with the humor found in Joseph Heller‘s novel “Catch-22”. (“Carroll”) Jeff Noon went as far as to continue Alice’s adventures, in his story “Automated Alice”, in which young Alice was transported to the modern world. Fredric Brown used Carroll’s lyrics in his book “Night of the Jabberwock”. Bands such as Jefferson Airplane and The Beatles have also found inspiration in Carroll’s work that has been tied into their lyrics for songs such as “White Rabbit” and “I Am a Walrus“. In my opinion, much can be learned from Lewis Carroll, not only as an author, but as a human being. After all, that’s all we all really are, is human. I enjoy his work, and his writings, not only because he dared to step outside the box of what was popular during his time, but instead of writing to teach, he wrote to entertain, and entertain, he certainly did. As he wrote, he expressed himself vividly, and made sure each story could be clearly written out, plain as day in the readers mind, giving each young person’s imagination a tasteful meal. He knew how to write to catch the minds and eyes of young people, because of his background and associating mostly only with children due to his “imperfections” which made it difficult for Carroll to connect with adults. Therefore, the author focused on the audience that he knew best. Each of his stories and poems write so clearly, that you can read each one hundred times over, and find something new to pick out each time, and may take a few times to read before you even really understand it, if there is even anything to be understood in the poem at all. I love to read books or entries of anything that makes my brain work, and that makes me think. Lewis Carrols works have really done just that, and as he’s stated before, “Everything’s got a moral, if only you can find it.” Along with the controversy of pedophilia, many people believe that drug use was involved with Lewis Carroll’s writings, and the drug use being a main reason some people are fond of his work. For myself, particularly, that isn’t so. I myself honestly believe that this amazing author was really quite as talented and imaginative as his work leads us to believe, and that he did such a great way of expressing himself, and connecting with an audience as his popularity has shown. Even though Lewis Carroll is an English author, I believe he should be treasured in the American Literary Canon because he reaches out to audiences across the world, and has also influenced authors just as far across the globe. Many movies have been made featuring his ideas and characters, songs written with inspiration towards his work, and arguments pitched by mathematicians and logicians revolving around his theories. His literary works have been and will be cherished in the hearts and minds of small children and even adults in the generations to come. Also known as Lewis Carroll, Dodgson was noted for work as a mathematician, (“Numberland”) logician, Anglican deacon and a photographer as well as being a fantastic, outside the box author of the 1800s. (“Mystery”) Though Lewis Carroll is an English Author, he has influenced many great American authors of our time, and surely will influence many more to come. Lewis Carroll’s colorful imagination and power to relate well with children’s brilliant minds has helped him paint beautiful pictures in people’s minds of the stories he tells, and become an English author that many American authors still are influenced by today. He surely deserves a spot in the American Literary Canon, not only because his stories can be held close to one’s heart, but because he has surely helped sprout ideas in the minds of the authors already in place. Simply by picking up “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, we can all experience “a world, all our own.”
 * Lewis Carroll: The Imagination Behind Wonderland**

"//If// I had a world of my own, __everything__ would be nonsense . Nothing would be what it //is//, because __everything__ would be what it **isn't**. And contrary wise , what //is//, it **wouldn't** be. And what it //wouldn't// be, it **would**. You see?" - quote from Alice In Wonderland

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