Creepy Crawly

In chapter five, Alice encounters a smoking caterpillar on a mushroom. Instantly our minds jump to the conclusion that it may only be hookah, but we believe the author is saying, “drugs.” That may or may not be true, but i think that the Caterpillar is just enjoying his life in Wonderland. The caterpillar is a bit of a hypocrite because of his constant nagging of who Alice is. Then when he is asked he sates, that why should he tell Alice, and Alice has no reply. Alice gets very angry when the caterpillar infuriates her with his confusing topic and speech. The Caterpillar does not seem to be thinking straight, which is possibly brought on by the still legal hookah he is smoking. This confuses Alice, and we see her at her most angry mood in the story. Never again throughout the entire story will she be angrier. This caterpillar really shakes Alice up, and the whole conversation he has with her seems to be pretty unnecessary. Alice can not discover herself anymore and is tired of changing size. The caterpillar is of no real help and just make Alice even angrier.

As much turmoil as the caterpillar causes, he is still a vital character. As one of my fellow students wrote about, the caterpillar i something that kids will identify drugs with. Alice dislikes the caterpillar and if Alice is a link to kids, while the caterpillar is a link to drugs. If Alice (the kids) does not like the caterpillar (the drugs) then the kids will not like drugs. His mean, and ‘bad’ character is what will hopefully cause less children to take drugs when they grow older. This is why the caterpillar’s role is so vital to the child audience listening to the story.