Read this excerpt from Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll.

“I'm sure I'm very sorry,” was all Alice could say; for the words of the old song kept ringing through her head like the ticking of a clock, and she could hardly help saying them out loud:—

“Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Agreed to have a battle;
For Tweedledum said Tweedledee
Had spoiled his nice new rattle.

Just then flew down a monstrous crow,
As black as a tar-barrel;
Which frightened both the heroes so,
They quite forgot their quarrel.”

Shortly after Alice sings this song, Tweedledee and Tweedledum begin to battle. This is evidence that

walking backward means going forward in the looking-glass land.
one has to run quickly in order to stand still in the looking-glass land.
fictional characters are real in the looking-glass land.
things happen only every other day in the looking-glass land.

1 answer

The excerpt you provided highlights the nonsensical and paradoxical nature of the looking-glass land, which is a central theme in Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking-Glass." The correct interpretation of the evidence provided by Alice's experience and the subsequent battle between Tweedledum and Tweedledee suggests that:

One has to run quickly in order to stand still in the looking-glass land.

This phrase embodies the idea that in the peculiar world of the looking-glass, things operate differently than in the real world, where conventional logic does not necessarily apply. It's a reflection of the themes of absurdity and inversion that characterize Carroll's work.

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