The Looking Glass Wars

As the antagonist, Redd is motivated by a need for vengeance and a thirst for power. Before the events of the narrative, Redd engaged her sister, Genevieve, in a civil war over the succession of Wonderland’s crown, even killing her own mother. Redd is egocentric and obsessed with control—once she is ruler of Wonderland, she imposes herself on nearly every aspect of citizens’ lives. She attempts to police the thoughts of Wonderlanders so that they cannot revert to the principles of White Imagination, and she severely punishes those whom she finds lacking in conformity to Black Imagination, all while constructing an image of herself as “Wonderland’s savior” (141). All these antics recall behaviors common to dictatorial rulers, suggesting the true horror of her character and evincing her corruption.

Redd is a foil to Alyss. Like Alyss, she has undergone traumatic experiences relating to her identity—in her youth, she “experimented with artificial crystal and imagination stimulants” (55) and eschewed Heart family principles. Redd felt that her family did not accept her for who she was and that they were “trying to turn her into the princess she could never be” (56). Redd still fosters deep resentment and feelings of hurt over these experiences, and this is also a driving force behind her actions. Unlike Alyss, Redd does not reign in her darker emotions, which is what gives her such proficiency in Black Imagination; this is another aspect of the foil between the two characters, whose contrast mirrors the diametrically opposed creativity and destruction at war in Wonderland.

The foil is reinforced by Redd’s description as a “nightmare version of Genevieve” (50). It is also reinforced by how the character symbolizes an “Alyss gone wrong.” This symbolism is set up from the beginning of the book when Genevieve and Bibwit both express their fears that Alyss will become like Redd if Alyss doesn’t learn how to control her imagination. Redd’s image is often a warning sign for when Alyss is falling prey to her darker emotions, as in the Looking Glass Maze after Alyss kills Redd. The dynamic further identifies Alyss and Redd as representing two opposite sides of ideology, with Redd as Black Imagination and emotional corruption and Alyss as White Imagination and emotional balance.

The primary love interest for Alyss, Dodge is the son of Sir Justice Anders, hero of the previous civil war and head of the palace guard during Genevieve’s reign; Dodge idolizes his father and aspires to be just like him, and at the beginning of the novel, Dodge is training to become a palace guard like Sir Justice. Dodge is very committed to this goal; he takes his training and his duties very seriously. He and Alyss have been best friends since Alyss was a baby—Dodge is three years older than Alyss and has harbored deep affection for her since then. Their friendship was often looked down upon due to their class difference; as a member of the lower class and a palace guard, Dodge can never pursue a romantic relationship with Alyss—his affection can extend only so far as his service to her as a guard. Although Dodge accepts this, he remains in love with Alyss.

Later in the novel, as an adolescent and a young adult, Dodge is quite changed from the boy he formerly was. Broken from the losses of both his father and Alyss, Dodge is completely preoccupied with revenge: His goal is to kill the Cat to avenge his father’s murder, and he comes to view his own life and the lives of others as only a means to this end (161).

Alyss worries that Dodge’s hatred leaves him vulnerable to Black Imagination; in the Looking Glass Maze, Alyss gains insight into Dodge’s character when she has a vision of him killing the Cat, and she notes that as he takes each of the Cat’s lives, “[Dodge] seemed no less angry for it, as if his anger would remain no matter how many times he killed Redd’s vicious henchman” (308). Dodge’s preoccupation culminates when he abandons his assigned duties during the final march on Mount Isolation in favor of locating the Cat. This action would have been unthinkable to the boy Dodge of the past, but the adult Dodge wants nothing but revenge. Just like in Alyss’s vision, fighting the Cat leaves Dodge with little satisfaction: “Now that he’d begun it, now that he’d tasted the revenge for which he’d waited so long, he was in a frenzy of rage and impatience for it to be over” (335). Although Dodge allows his hatred and thirst for vengeance to give his life direction and purpose up to this point, it does nothing to relieve his dark emotions, which he must eventually face. The novel ends with the threat of Black Imagination still hanging over Dodge; Alyss fears that if Dodge cannot face his own darkness, he risks being controlled by it.

Dodge’s character is a foil to Alyss’s in the way both react to their childhood traumas, and he represents the antithesis of one of the novel’s major thematic arcs: an empowering movement from inner fragmentation to wholeness. Although Alyss, like Dodge, experiences some disillusionment (on Earth, she learns to mistrust others and develops a fear of abandonment after her parents’ death and Quigly’s betrayal, for example), she ultimately integrates the negative experiences into herself and awakens a creative power in doing so. This relates to the theme of emotional balance as a tool of creative and destructive forces; Dodge, who in contrast to Alyss, has not achieved emotional balance, can only act out of the destructive force of his hatred and because of it has become vulnerable to Black Imagination’s hold.

The Cat is a deadly warrior and Redd’s most favored assassin. The Cat is part feline and part human; he has the ability to take the form of a kitten with golden fur—a form that disarms his enemies with its innocent façade. In his true form, the Cat retains his feline face but has “two muscled legs” and “two lean and powerful arms” with paws that have “claws as sharp and long as butcher’s knives” (50). The Cat also has the ability to regenerate his life force nine times (and, as such, has nine lives). Throughout the narrative, he loses a life to Hatter, to Genevieve, and three to Redd; he loses another three to Dodge in their final battle, leaving the Cat with just one life when he escapes at the end of the novel.

The Cat’s main conflicts in the narrative are mostly extensions of Redd’s conflicts, as he is a means to Redd’s ends. However, the Cat also has his own conflict with Dodge, who wants to avenge his father’s death, and with Redd, who mistreats the Cat. The Cat is loyal to Redd and has no qualms about committing whatever atrocities Redd commands, but even as a vicious assassin and agent of violence, the Cat also suffers abuses at Redd’s hand. When the Cat displeases Redd, she takes one of his lives, giving him a brutal death each time: “In theory, [the Cat] was fortunate to have had nine lives. But each death was painful. The Cat sometimes wished for only one life” (228).

Hatter is the head of the elite military service known as the Millinery, personal guard to the queen, and a formidable warrior. He carries an array of weapons at all times, in the guise of bracelets and other jewelry that can be flipped into blades. Hatter’s most iconic weapon is the blades he keeps folded into the form of a top hat, which “he only took off in times of violence” (22). Another iconic part of Hatter’s dress is his long overcoat, which stores additional weapons. Hatter is described as “stoic” (22) and never sheds his serious demeanor. He takes his commitments as Milliner leader and protector of the queen to be his highest duty; he feels great guilt when he cannot locate Alyss, and he feels that he has failed to keep his promise to Queen Genevieve. Hatter does not give up his search for Alyss until he is successful, persevering through 13 years’ worth of Earthly trials, demonstrating his deep devotion to his duties.

Although Hatter is devoted to the queen’s protection, he has a personal identity beyond his service. When Hatter returns to Wonderland once his search for Alyss is complete, he receives news of the Millinery’s disbandment under Redd’s regime and the subsequent death of the woman Hatter loved. Although the reader is granted no further information about this woman, Hatter mourns for her death and, at the end of the novel, requests time off to grieve. Hatter’s personal identity is not given much development in the main narrative, but leaving his character arc on this note positions him for likely future development in the rest of the trilogy.

Bibwit Harte is the royal tutor to the Heart family. His name is an anagram of ‘white rabbit,’ and it is clear that this is the figure he is meant to represent in Beddor’s reimagining. Bibwit possesses few practical fighting skills but is very learned and has tutored four generations of Heart queens. Bibwit’s most valuable trait is his wits, which he uses to serve the Alyssian cause; during Redd’s regime, Bibwit remains in Redd’s employ in order to keep himself alive and make use of his life to gather information on Redd. Bibwit is responsible for recording Redd’s revised version of In Queendom Speramus, the guidebook for all queens of Wonderland, but he mentally retains the original text, ultimately giving the Alyssians an advantage over Redd, signifying the importance of knowledge.

Bibwit is an albino and cuts an imposing figure with his height. His ears are another notable physical trait, possessing superhuman capabilities. Bibwit has “bluish green veins pulsing visibly beneath his skin, and ears a bit large for his head—ears so sensitive that he could hear someone whispering from three streets away” (21). His ears and physical recall the White Rabbit’s in the original story of Alice in Wonderland, connecting him to the iconic image of the character.

Bibwit is a key figure in Alyss’s life as a mentor and guide to the knowledge she needs. He is dedicated to Alyss’s education in matters of state and imagination, as he believes that Redd’s corruption results from “a failure in her education” (25) for which he holds himself responsible as her former tutor. He is determined to right this past wrong through succeeding with Alyss. As a mentor figure, Bibwit represents a jumping-off point for Alyss—he supplies knowledge and guidance about the imagination, but ultimately the purpose of his knowledge is for Alyss to apply and transform it into a deeper self-knowledge. This is particularly symbolized when Alyss first displays her controlled imaginative power—in this instance, Bibwit prepared to give her a lesson on imagination but fell asleep instead, leaving Alyss to apply the knowledge on her own. Bibwit symbolizes knowledge in the narrative, and he represents knowledge that must in part be surpassed by Alyss to realize her greatest potential.

General Doppelgänger is the leader of the Alyssian army and possesses the ability to split himself into two people—General Doppel and General Gänger. General Doppelgänger is mostly a static character throughout the narrative, but he plays an important role in its thematic arcs. The character provides a vehicle through which the theme of serving a cause beyond oneself is first realized and foreshadowed. General Doppelgänger always keeps in mind the best interests of the Alyssian cause, even when it involves actions he might otherwise avoid.

Prior to Alyss’s return to Wonderland, General Doppelgänger commits to attending a summit with Redd to negotiate a peace treaty, despite the fact that it is far from what anyone wishes to do. At that point, the Alyssian army is running low on resources, and Generals Doppel and Gänger know they will not be able to hold out against Redd for very long. However, mistrustful of Redd, they have arranged a backup plan to make an “under-the-table deal” (183) with King Arch of Boarderland in exchange for the guarantee that Wonderland becomes a kingdom. This arrangement is unsavory to the generals, and they hope that “necessity wouldn’t demand its implementation” (183), but they are prepared to go through with it because their number one priority is the good of the cause. General Doppelgänger provides a stable figure through which the theme of the greater cause is exemplified, and he foreshadows Alyss’s own arc in realizing it.

Jack is the heir of the Diamonds family, one of the suit families who make up the royal court in Wonderland. Jack has two primary characteristics that set him apart: “his bullying personality” and “the fact that he had the biggest, roundest rear end in Wonderland” (33). In the beginning of the novel, young Jack antagonizes Dodge; Jack uses his social status to make Dodge feel inferior. Later, it is clear the adult Jack has changed little; he is arrogant and pompous, disagreeing with the leaders of the Alyssian army and disparaging them when they disagree on the best course of action for the cause.

Although Jack sits on the shoulders of both Redd and the Alyssians, his true allegiance is ambiguous; he is best described as a “Jackian” (181), a champion of only his own interests. While the Alyssians have suffered much under Redd’s regime, “[Jack’s] powers of observation had served him well in a society where only the shrewdest, most opportunistic, most selfish, and least loyal to friends flourished” (181), indicating exactly what kind of person Jack is. Ultimately, Jack is adept at playing both sides and is only motivated to serve himself.

In some ways, Jack is a foil to Dodge: They are both young men of approximately the same age, and both were close to Alyss as children. While Dodge is unquestionably loyal to the Alyssians, unlike Jack, Jack’s selfishness highlights the selfishness in Dodge. Although Dodge doesn’t split his allegiances like Jack, Dodge still ultimately serves his own interests instead of the cause, just as Jack only looks out for himself and his own desires.

Queen Genevieve is Alyss’s mother and the queen of Wonderland when the story starts. Although she dies at Redd’s hand early in the story, throughout the narrative Genevieve symbolizes what Alyss must become—and surpass—if she is to defeat Redd. From her very first appearance in Chapter 1, Genevieve represents the failures of the past and the hope for the future. Although she defeated Redd in the first civil war, Genevieve’s imagination is unequal to Redd’s; even the Blue Caterpillar acknowledges to Alyss that “Redd was always the stronger of the two” (285). Genevieve acknowledges the strength of Alyss’s imaginative power, and she knows that it is her daughter who must save Wonderland.

At times, Genevieve also represents the voice of Alyss’s subconscious, and she becomes associated with explorations of Alyss’s identity. Genevieve appears to Alyss in crucial moments of self-transformation, such as during Alyss’s breakdown preceding her choice to become Alice Liddell, and in the Looking Glass Maze, when Alyss confronts the darkest parts of herself and learns how to integrate and balance them. In the last scene of the narrative, Genevieve reappears to Alyss, symbolizing that Alyss has been successful in her goals and in attaining balance and wholeness within herself.

The Reverend Charles Dodgson is the first “friendly ear” (128) in England in whom Alyss confides her personal history. Dodgson is a professor at Christ College in Oxford, where Dean Liddell works, and is a friend of the Liddell family. Dodgson is the one who renews Alyss’s hope when she is at the point of giving up; when Dodgson treats Alyss’s story with respect and interest, she takes it as a sign that he believes her. However, it is clear that Dodgson never really took Alyss’s story seriously; Dodgson is said to view children as “spirits fresh from God’s hands, their smiles divine” (4), and for him, “there could be no greater endeavor than devoting all of his powers to a task for which the only reward was a child’s whispered thanks and the airy touch of her pure lips” (4). The fact that Alyss’s name is spelled “Alice” in Dodgson’s dialogue and narration also indicates that he does not see the truth of her; Dodgson is not quite the believing adult that Alyss supposes.

However, Dodgson is not a bad person; he is described as “a gentle, shrinking-violet type of fellow” (129), and he is well-intentioned with Alyss, just misunderstanding of her experience. Dodgson is a positive character despite the harm he causes Alyss, a trait suggested when Hatter encounters Dodgson and Dodgson is said to have “the brightest glow of anyone [Hatter] had ever seen” (174). This luminousness signals strong imaginative powers, which is a very positive thing on Earth, a place that apparently suffers from a lack of imagination (Alyss’s Earthly experiences overwhelmingly encourage self-doubt, the killer of imagination). That Dodgson emits this imaginative “glow” signals his good (if misguided) intentions.

In the construction of Dodgson’s character, Beddor draws on the real-life author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll, whose real name was Charles Dodgson. The details of Dodgson’s life in the narrative are accurate to Dodgson’s real life: The real Dodgson’s shy demeanor was documented by those who knew him, and, like Beddor’s Dodgson, the real Dodgson was a mathematics professor at Oxford and had a relationship with Alice Liddell, which ended abruptly without explanation. The inclusion of this character so closely modeled on the real-life Charles Dodgson lends the text a feeling of truth, and it frames the narrative as corrective to preconceived notions, filling in previously unknown historical circumstances.