Through diary entries, I will tell the story of a character from Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel called Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. I have chosen a character Alice meets during her journey through Wonderland. He is introduced to the reader during Chapter 7, “A Mad Tea-Party”. The character’s name is the Mad Hatter, mentioned throughout the book as the Hatter. The Hatter is a unique and eccentric but intelligent for his riddles. During the tea party, he gives Alice a riddle, and the riddle asked: “Why is a raven like a writing-desk” (Carroll ch. 7). This personality goes from being eccentric to being slightly insane, but that’s why I wanted to choose him. I will focus on his point of view during a pandemic of typhoid fever and this reaction to isolation. I’ve chosen to follow the Hatters story after Alice leaves Wonderland. The diary entries will explore how the Hatter emotionally and phycological detaches from the world and how he is engulfed by madness. 

The beginning

Dear diary, It is May 10th, 1865, and the world is quieter than usual. It is 6 o’clock like always, Time would “do almost anything you liked with the clock” (Carroll ch. 7). After my dear friend, Alice left, a wave of typhoid fever hit our world of Wonderland. Though at first, it seemed as dangerous as my friend the Dormouse. The Queen of Hearts has decreed that all creatures be apart from one another or her cards of clubs will take prisoners. She also made a slight remark,” Off with his head” if they didn’t obey (Carroll ch. 7). In the back of my mind, I remember when the Queen “bawled out, He’s murdering the time! Off with his head!” (Carroll ch. 7). The Queen of Hearts’ heartlessness has given fear to all the creatures of the land. The dangers of typhoid fever with the ruthlessness of the Queen has caused every creature to stay away from one another. I think I might go mad and become a Mad Hatter.

-The Hatter

Tea Time 

Dear diary, it is May 11th, 1865, and isolation has me feeling less joyful than usual. It is still 6 o’clock like it has always been and it also means its teatime. I woke up feeling alone and abandoned, but I decided to wear a hat that “ I kept to sell” (Carroll ch. 11). Though “I’ve none of my own”, I’m a hatter” and I need to wear a hat to tea time. I have decided to venture outside and go to Tea Time (Carroll ch.11). I went towards the “table set under a tree in front of the house” and I didn’t hear the snoring of the Dormouse or the March Hares remark on “the best butter”(Carroll ch. 7). I was alone at tea time, but I spoke as if they were there and I asked “Why is a raven like a writing-desk” yet no response or remark came back from the table. My dear Alice would have known (Carroll ch. 7). I was alone. Yet day after day, I returned back to the table under the tree for tea time. I was alone.

-The Hatter

The Days After The Day of The Day of After

Dear diary, its May 14th, 1865, and isolation has me feeling less joyful. Still, 6 o’clock meaning its teatime. It’s been days since they have put us into seclusion, and yet I am not mad. Every day I venture towards the table under the tree for Tea Time and yet I’m always alone. One day the King of Hearts arrived with a deck of clubs to help keep the creatures inside their homes. He walks by me, with a scowling look on his face, and in a derisive tone, he said: “don’t be nervous, or I’ll have you executed on the spot” (Carroll ch. 11). I bowed down to the king and asked to be forgiven, but he said that if I didn’t stay inside the Queen would want my head. Once I arrived home, I started to make more hats, while coming up with riddles in my head. I made hats for days on end, while doing this I jabbered to myself. The day of the day before that day was the day of… who knows, I remarked. I wonder if “‘I see what I eat’ is the same thing as ‘I eat what I see’!” (Carroll ch. 7), who knows right? Still, I’m not mad.

-The Hatter

The Madness Begins

Diary dear, 1865 May 17th, and It is o’clock 6. I have this weird burst of energy in me and I’m beginning to hear things. After days of isolation from the rest of Wonderland, I have spiraled out of control. I have stopped making hats and begun pretending that I was having tea with the rest of my dear friends. I started by singing “Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! How I wonder what you’re at! Up above the world, you fly, Like a tea-tray in the sky. Twinkle, Twinkle—-” (Carroll ch. 7) and as I finished, I started shouting “It’s very easy to take more than nothing” and he heard a voice in his head say to him, “Nobody asked your opinion” (Carroll ch. 7). I began running around laughing and sipping tea. I ran around my home yelling with a joyful and insanely voice, its tea time! I did this for a while, not knowing what time of day it was. I fell asleep with a teacup in my hand and my hats scattered throughout my home as if someone had ransacked my place. At that moment, I had felt a rush of madness overcome me.

-The Hatter

Tea Time Again

Dear diary, It is May 18th, 1865, and I have experienced the full length of my madness, but I feel relieved. I remember waking up to the sounds of shouting and screaming. I heard two voices yelling from the outside of the house. The voices were familiar to my ears because I remember hearing them during our tea time. I heard both voices scream my name and then they said the typhoid fever is gone. They yelled again, but this time they said tea time! Once I realized that I was not imagining all this, I headed outside and ventured towards the table under the tree. Once I arrived I was greeted by the March Hare and Dormouse. The Dormouse like usual fell asleep, while the March Hare said “Have some wine” (Carroll ch. 7). Once I calmed down, I realized that I am not mad, but full of madness.

-The Hatter

Work Cited

Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. 1865. Project Gutenberg, 

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11/11-h/11-h.htm. Accessed 21 April.

2020.