There is No Spoon- Comparisons Between The Matrix and Alice in Wonderland

The movie The Matrix, directed by the Wachowski brothers, and the novel Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll, surprisingly have much in common. The main characters of each are abruptly thrown out of normalcy, a world which they thought to be true, and into a confusing new "dream world." In their new surroundings, they must both decipher between what is the truth and what is purely their minds playing tricks on them. In the movie The Matrix, reoccurring references to Alice in Wonderland are portrayed with the purpose of showing the audience a similarity between the two works for better understanding of the movie, a correlation which they most likely would have not made on their own, while the directors play with reality and non-reality in order to make the viewer wonder which of the two is the truth.

To begin Neo on his journey to find "the matrix," a reference to Alice in Wonderland is made as his computer types out "Follow the white rabbit" (Screenplay). Just as Alice follows the rabbit to begin her adventure into the unknown, so does Neo. Both do not know what they will find once they follow the white rabbit, but curiosity has got the best of both of them. In The Matrix, Neo's white rabbit comes in the form of a tattoo on a woman's shoulder (Screenplay). Although the white rabbit is one of the more noticeable Alice in Wonderland references, an actual rabbit in the movie would have been absurd. Instead, the directors decide to adapt all Alice references to fit a more modern world in which the movie takes place, also making it easier for the audience to understand even if they had no knowledge of the book Alice in Wonderland. The directors especially want to get the viewer's wheels turning in his or her head as he or she correlates the Alice in Wonderland references to the movie he or she is watching.

Much like Alice, Neo is discovering more and more about the new world he is chasing as he goes along. Morpheus says to him, "I imagine that right now you're feeling a bit like Alice, tumbling down the rabbit hole," another blunt Alice in Wonderland reference (Screenplay). What Morpheus is referring to is Neo's uncertainty as he is about to find out what this "matrix" finally is for which he has been searching all his life (Welcome). Alice is also uncertain at first while tumbling down the rabbit hole, but she is not yet unwilling to find out what lies ahead. Neo relates to this "scared but willing" mentality as he readily chooses the red pill from Morpheus' hand which will show him "the truth" (Screenplay). Morpheus again references to Alice in Wonderland when he explains, "You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes" (Screenplay). Again, the Alicereference is purposeful in showing the audience the similarity between Alice's Wonderland and the journey through "the matrix" on which they are about to embark with Neo.

In the Lafayette Hotel, it is not just a coincidence that the floors are all black and white checkers. Chessboards play a big role in Alice in Wonderland, and this is why the floors of the hotel in The Matrix are a more subtle, but definite, reference to the children's novel. The flooring also reminds the audience that Neo is now in "the matrix" and not the real world because the chessboards in Alice in Wonderland are seen in Wonderland and when Alice passes through the looking glass, and not in her real world life. In addition, this particular scene in the movie takes time to make notice of a cat walking over the checkered floors. Neo says, "A black cat went past us, and then another that looked just like it" (Screenplay). In the novel Alice in Wonderland, Alice is very fond of her cat Dinah, whom we see while Alice is still in her real world, and Alice makes constant references to her while in Wonderland (Carroll). The audience is now also reminded again of the similarities between the two works in order to better understand what is happening in the movie.

Neo, Trinity, and the others are still in the hotel and being chased by the agents and the police. They decide to hide inside of the walls, crawling down a long, narrow shaft in single file (Screenplay). The camera then takes an interesting view of this scene. The viewer can now see a side view of the long shaft behind the wall, as each person scoots their way down to safety (Physics). Here is a more subtle reference to the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland. Neo is now the one falling down the rabbit hole, instead of Alice, which makes sense as they are similar characters in similar situations. The reason for the camera view in this scene is to show the audience how alike this situation is to that of Alice falling down the rabbit hole, and to help the viewer subconsciously link Alice in Wonderland's events to that of The Matrix.

In The Matrix, the character named Switch wears a costume of all white, has bleached hair, and unlike the rest of the team, wears sunglasses with a pinkish tint to the lenses (Hollywood). Keeping with the Alice in Wonderland theme, this character is an obvious reference to the white rabbit. In the novel, the white rabbit is described as "a white rabbit with pink eyes" (Carroll 11). It is no coincidence then that the character Switch highly resembles this description. By making Switch a symbol of the white rabbit, the directors can reach the viewers that understand the subtle Alice references shown throughout the film, and subconsciously reach the viewers that only understand the blunt ones, as they can now correlate the two works by realizing the distinctive similarities.

In The Matrix, reality and non-reality are the basis for the plot. The viewers are constantly trying to find out which is which, as the directors thrive on making them think deeper than they have to during your average movie. The question is constantly being asked, "What is real?" (Screenplay). The exert "Skepticism, Morality, and The Matrix," explains, "even such relatively uncontroversial beliefs as that you are sitting in a chair and reading this book could be subject to doubt" ( Erion and Smith 19). Anything can be doubted, and it is strong belief in something that causes you to swear it is real. It continues, "When you are dreaming, it may seem like you are sitting in your chair, reading this book, when in fact you are fast asleep in your bed. We are unable to distinguish waking experiences from experiences of the sort we appear to have in dreams, until after we awake" (Erion and Smith 19). Rene Descartes' beliefs coincide with this as he says, "When I think very carefully about this, I see so plainly that there are no reliable signs by which I can distinguish sleeping from waking that I am stupefied" (Biffle 17). In The Matrix, Morpheus affirms this by saying, "Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?" (Screenplay). The purpose of Morpheus saying this is to not only get Neo to think about the "what if," but also to intrigue the audience, perhaps even scare them, at the thought that what we believe to be true may not be true at all.

Morpheus tells Neo, "I can see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth" (Screenplay). This statement confirms that Neo does not feel like he is in the real world while he is in "the matrix." His world feels more like a dream that he has yet to wake up from, but he has spent his whole life living in this world, so he has been brainwashed to believe that it is the truth. The writers are playing with reality and non-reality here by confusing the viewer, making him or her wonder what is real and what is not (Summary). Suddenly, what Neo thought was real is not, and "the truth" has been hidden from him all his life. The thought of living as puppets to an unknown puppeteer is a scary thought to a normal human being. The Matrix does just this to get the viewer to imagine the possibilities of his or her life in someone else's hands. Just as Neo says, "I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life," the audience is also going to have the same fears (Screenplay). By playing on every human being's fears, the directors of the movie can reach their audience better by getting them to think outside of the box.

The Matrix is a complex movie relying on the audience's so-called knowledge of what is the truth to create a fear in the viewer that makes them afraid of the question "What if?" Throughout the movie, Alice in Wonderland is referenced to in subtle and not so subtle ways, with the purpose of helping the viewer better understand what is happening by showing the similarities between the movie and the children's novel. Playing on the audiences' fears, the directors make sure they keep the viewer guessing what is and is not real. For believers in the movie, all that must be kept in mind now is that "There is no spoon" (Screenplay).

Works Cited

1. Biffle, Christopher. A Guided Tour of Rene Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy. Mountain View, California: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1989.

2. Carroll, Lewis. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. New York: Appleton, 1865.

3. Erion, Gerald J., and Barry Smith. "Skepticism, Morality, and The Matrix." The Matrix and Philosophy. Ed. William Irwin. Chicago: Open Court, 2002.

4. Hollywood Costumes. 18 Mar. 2002. 7 May 2004. http://hollywoodcostumesandparty.com/cgi-bin/store/perlshop.cgi?action=ENTER&thispage=hollywood-matrix.htm.

5. The Matrix Movie Physics. 24 Feb. 2001. 7 May 2004. .

6. The Matrix Screenplay. 15 Oct. 1999. 7 May 2004. .

7. The Matrix Movie Summary. 18 Nov. 2000. 7 May 2004. .

8. Welcome to the Matrix. 24 Nov. 1999. 7 May 2004. .