In chapter nine, Alice is taken away from the Croquet match by the Duchess who tells her,
“Everything’s got a moral, if only you can find it.” (p.131)
And a few pages later Alice observes of her conversation with the Duchess, “How fond she is of finding morals in things!” (p.133)
I can’t help but insinuate that Carroll is warning all storyteller to avoid creating a moral for every tale. Carroll’s warning, while written over a hundred years ago, is one I struggle with today. Whether I’m working on my middle-grade novel or a simple blog post, I want to wring a moral from every event. My search for meaning does not stop when I finish writing for the day. I can drive myself to distraction searching for the hidden agenda behind a look, sigh, or off-handed word from any number of people.
My mom is a life coach and in her business it’s called Making Meaning/ Meaning Making. Which I interpret to be intentionally creating meaning from a situation (making meaning) while at the same time being engaged in situations that are meaningful (meaning making.) Perhaps it’s the catchy phrase that I’m drawn to, but more likely it’s my own weakness for over analyzation that draws me to the process of Making Meaning/ Meaning Making.
I found chapter nine to be the most nonsensical chapter so far and on further consideration (I have to laugh at myself for yet again mining for a meaning) perhaps that’s Carroll’s moral, nonsense is meaningful. So the next time I find myself scraping a moral together for my own benefit I might remember Carroll’s challenge to abandon the need for a moral and discover the beauty of nonsense.
