Carroll’s Alice books have many complicated logic, nonsense and linguistic problems which make the books seem unsuitable for child readers. But these features also provide an opportunity to understand specific aspects of children’s consciousness and language. According to Vygotsky, immatured children think in complexes, that is, they think in the complex, syncretic images depending on illogical associations between attributes of things. In this respect, the strange logic and nonsense in the Alice books can be explained as an example of this complex thinking. Most characters in the Alice books have their own way of logic and initiate conflicts with Alice. This illogical self-will is a typical aspect of ego-centrism. Piaget argues that children in the ego-centric stage believe that all things are connected through certain meaning and intention, and they can change everything according to their intention and will. Ego-centrism explains why the games in the Alice books cannot have proper co-relative rules and always end in conflicts. If the Alice books are hard to read, it is because they treat and show children’s immature consciousness directly. But for this reason, adult readers can participate in and experience what and how real children think and speak. Besides edification and pleasure, to the traditional function of fairy tale Carroll added one more important aspect in fairy tale study, that is, the importance of adult’s understanding of children’s consciousness and their specific view.

Carroll’s Alice books have many complicated logic, nonsense and linguistic problems which make the books seem unsuitable for child readers. But these features also provide an opportunity to understand specific aspects of children’s consciousness and language. According to Vygotsky, immatured children think in complexes, that is, they think in the complex, syncretic images depending on illogical associations between attributes of things. In this respect, the strange logic and nonsense in the Alice books can be explained as an example of this complex thinking. Most characters in the Alice books have their own way of logic and initiate conflicts with Alice. This illogical self-will is a typical aspect of ego-centrism. Piaget argues that children in the ego-centric stage believe that all things are connected through certain meaning and intention, and they can change everything according to their intention and will. Ego-centrism explains why the games in the Alice books cannot have proper co-relative rules and always end in conflicts. If the Alice books are hard to read, it is because they treat and show children’s immature consciousness directly. But for this reason, adult readers can participate in and experience what and how real children think and speak. Besides edification and pleasure, to the traditional function of fairy tale Carroll added one more important aspect in fairy tale study, that is, the importance of adult’s understanding of children’s consciousness and their specific view.

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Lewis Carroll, Alice, language, logic, children, Piaget, Vygotsky, consciousness