(1)
I play chess as often as I can. It is one of my favorite past times. In fact, I
have a tournament board that I carry around with me and play with my friends.
I, admittedly, am a massive chess nerd. Chess is a fantastic game of skill and
intellect that challenges a player. The above video is precise representation
of Through the Looking Glass. The moves represent the entire story from
beginning to end.(2)
As you watch the video, notice a few things. Many of the above moves are
illegal. White and black do not rotate turns. Black, when in check, does not
move out of check. It is almost as if a child is playing this game. Why did
Carroll write Through the Looking Glass around a childish game of chess?
The answer to this question is both disturbing and intriguing. The answer to
this question is why the Alice
books are so popular today and will only grow in popularity in the future. I
believe that Carroll intended the chess sequence to represent the political
environment. As Alice says when
surveying the chessboard that represents wonderland, “It’s all a great huge
game of chess being played all over the world…”(3)Carroll
constructed wonderland to represent a political chess match, were rules are not
followed, and people are unwilling pawns in a political struggle.
After completing the novel, I saw numerous similarities between Carroll’s chess
match and the situation we find ourselves in America
today. As Americans, we often brag about the tenets of democracy. We have a
voice in our government and if we chose, we can dictate the direction of the
country. America,
after all, is the birthplace of freedom. We have freedom of speech, a free
press, and freedom to make our own decisions. Right?
Sure we do, though most Americans do not think for themselves.
Americans, like the pawns in wonderland, are managed and encouraged not to
think by entertainment and political ideology. Theses two bastards have stifled
dissent and turned most of us into passive receivers of a corporate
imagination. Politicians offer reassurances about our economic stability and
prop up our arrogance with by reminding us of America’s
blessed role in the world.
America is in
trouble. The country is literally on fire at this moment and no one is
noticing. Most Americans are so distracted that they do not see the disaster
around the corner. We are in debt up to our eyes and engaged in an
unsustainable global economic struggle. The value of the dollar is gradually
collapsing and the middle class is disappearing. Alice,
upon observing the chessboard, stated, “Now here you
see it takes all the running you can do to keep it in the same place. If you
want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast.” (4) That is exactly what is happening in America
today, only it is getting worse. The separation between the pawn and the queen
is growing at an alarming rate.
(5)
The problems that we face today are the same problems that Alice
faced in Through the Looking Glass. It appears that someone is
manipulating the entire chessboard. The nonsense motif dominates the wonderland
reality. Every element inside wonderland is reversed.
All the chessboard characters that Alice
encounters are weird and tragic. No one in wonderland ever achieves what he or
she intends to. They are all trapped inside
themselves.
Perhaps the most poignant parallel between wonderland's chessboard and modern
day America is
the leadership. The kings and queens say one thing and do another, their moves
lack intelligence and they manipulate their subjects as pawns on a chess board. The following video is a collection of
statements from the Kings and Queens of America.
See the similarities?
(6)
Carroll's message is clear. "When you have discovered that life is a game,
you will discover its rules and you will have a good chance to win." Hopefully Americans will wake up to the manipulations around
them. Hopefully it is not too late.
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgPqvnPjtic
2. Carroll, Lewis Through the Looking Glass pg. 132 (the complete
outline of moves are noted here)
3. Carroll, Lewis Through the Looking Glass pg. 163
4. Carroll, Lewis Through the Looking Glass pg. 165
5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myWKjtxE4p8
6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgfzqulvhlQ