Space and Time
Alice in Wonderland
As I am beginning to explore different avenues of Space and Time I find myself continually drawn to a make-believe space that is of a timeless appeal. I love the story of Alice in Wonderland and how since its original writing in 1865 by English author Lewis Carroll, the story remains loveable. The adventure begins with Alice going into a rabbit hole and into a space where real life is turned upside down. She follows a rabbit that is continually worried about the time and being late. When she comes to a gathering at a tea party, she has found the time has stopped at 6 pm or tea-time and so the tea party never ends.
In researching and thinking about space and time one must wonder about the existence and acknowledgement of time. In modern day advanced civilization, time is recorded by the passing of minutes, hours and days on a calendar. Even the Mayans of long ago understood and accepted the passing of time and recorded it by the creation of a calendar. Prehistoric man may have thought about the passing of time as in the life cycle of animals or the growing seasons of vegetation. These long ago people didn’t record it the same way we do now but still understood that time does not stand still.
Time continues the same for all, however the way people observe it and how they record it through their point of reference is the only thing that’s different. Time is the same for all and exists within a space or a three dimensional location. Space and time exist together, while the differences are the ways people exist within in a particular space and record the time within that space. As for Alice and the time she spent in Wonderland, one must wonder if it was just a dream? Was the time she spent there actually sleep and if the space only existed in her imagination of a dream?
Alice in Wonderland, a fictional space in time, as it existed in the mind of the author, “Lewis Carroll” and his original manuscript.
Source of image: Manuscript of Alice's Adventures Under Ground (f. 45v / p. 88) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alice%27s_Adventures_Under_Ground_-_Lewis_Carroll_-_British_Library_Add_MS_46700_f45v.jpg
