Character Name: The White Rabbit Canon: Are you Alice? Canon Point: The end of chapter 65
Background/History:
AYA? is a bit of a convoluted (and sometimes inconsistent) canon, so I'll be as brief as possible and only discuss what's most relevant to the White Rabbit.
Lewis Carroll was a novelist, but, due to a slowly-progressing (fictitious) mental disorder that would cause him to eventually confuse reality and fiction, he was not the most mentally stable. He would often spend time with the young Alice Liddell, who served as inspiration for his story, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and which he was in the process of revising. In passing, Alice mentioned that her mother had died while pregnant, and Alice's sympathy for her younger sibling (whom she fantasized a boy) compelled Lewis Carroll to write a tale where Alice and her (live) younger brother - also named Alice - lived happily together, sharing one name.
Unfortunately, Alice was growing sick from the same illness that claimed her mother's life. This strained Carroll's sanity, and, to cope with Alice's impending death, he combined the story of Alice's younger brother and the story of Wonderland: he conflated the two Alices, Alice in Wonderland and Alice Liddell, and decided it was Alice's younger brother who killed Alice to steal her name. In a fit of illness, Carroll killed the real Alice Liddell in the same manner Alice's fictional brother had in Carroll's story.
Up until Carroll's breakdown, within the fictional Wonderland the story was repeating endlessly: Alice would chase the White Rabbit, go through the events of the book, wake up from her dream, and then do it all over again, and as these were all fictional characters, no one had a mind of their own or thought outside the confines of the story. But when Carroll crashed together both the story of Wonderland and Alice's murderous brother and killed Alice, within the world of the story there was a fatal deviation.
The White Rabbit was running late as usual, but for the first time he gained consciousness and noticed Alice wasn't following him; not long after, Alice came over a hill and collapsed wearily, injured, and cried to the White Rabbit that she didn't want a younger brother, and that he (the White Rabbit) ought to stop "Sensei" (which is how Alice Liddell would refer to Carroll; unfortunately, the official localization has offered no English alternative to the word) before the entire world around the White Rabbit was torn up and turned black.
At that point the White Rabbit gained a humanoid form, and in the darkness he was confronted by cat eyes and grin, whom he mistook for the Cheshire Cat. The creature accepted the name, and gains its own humanoid form. The now Cheshire Cat informed the White Rabbit that Wonderland has been thrown away and that he, the White Rabbit, was the only survivor (the Cheshire Cat was an outsider who had slipped into the darkness). The Cheshire Cat then took advantage of the White Rabbit's distress and pressed him to rebuild Wonderland from scratch using only the torn-up drafts of the story Carroll wrote, and corners the White Rabbit into dedicating himself to Alice. The White Rabbit, with the image of Alice crying for his help still fresh in his mind, took up his task and new loyalty to Alice very seriously and went to work.
Gradually, the White Rabbit rebuilt a world that didn't resemble Wonderland at all, and instead appeared more like a Victorian city surrounded by forest. Yes, there were Wonderland-ish motifs about the new world, but it wasn't the Wonderland he recalled, and he felt ill at ease.
At some point, the White Rabbit pieced together bloodied scraps of paper, which revived an Alice - whom he identified immediately as Alice Liddell, not Alice in Wonderland - as, when she was killed, her blood splattered on the drafts of the story. He sheltered her, and grew affectionate for her. As Alice was so traumatized by murder and betrayal at the hands of the Sensei whom she trusted, she grew distressed by the notion of being Alice, as she felt that meant she could not escape her own murder. To console her, the White Rabbit named her Mary Ann instead, because while "Alice" might be destined to die, if she isn't Alice, she would have nothing to worry about.
They lived together happily in the empty Wonderland for a time, and the White Rabbit added landmarks and features to the world based on Mary Ann's recollection of the original story drafts. Though the White Rabbit knew he should make Wonderland somehow less empty and continue dedicating himself to Alice in Wonderland's sake, he began to grow distant from his dedication to Alice in Wonderland, preferring instead to talk to Mary Ann. Unfortunately, Mary Ann was no longer the most mentally stable, and she would have more frequent breakdowns so long as Wonderland remained empty, and she could not escape the memories of her murder or Sensei. The White Rabbit grew guilty, but he had no idea how to populate Wonderland, or how to even begin helping either Alice or Mary Ann.
After a series of catalysts, the White Rabbit concluded that he had to progress the story somehow, and bring it to its conclusion; this would bring both Alice and Mary Ann peace, surely. He had no idea the best way to go about it, and without any support - the Cheshire Cat would only push him to keep working harder and subtly manipulated the White Rabbit to adding certain features that were convenient to the Cheshire Cat's ulterior plan, and Mary Ann grew less responsive and more depressed by the day - he concluded a number of things he was uneasy about. But, as he had no better ideas, he ultimately went with them:
- He would bring humans from the "real" world and grant them the names of Wonderland characters. These humans would not necessarily bear much resemblance to the original fictional characters, much like how the current Wonderland location only barely resembled the original Wonderland. - In this vein, he would bring in any number of girls and name them "Alice," who would act as substitutes for both Alice in Wonderland and Mary Ann, and hopefully move the story forward as the protagonist. If any died, he would replace them with a new girl. - The goal of each Alice would be to kill him, the White Rabbit, and then the story would end.
This began "The game to kill the White Rabbit," and every inhabitant he brought in from the real world was given a role and abilities related to this game. (The only people he can guide from the real world to Wonderland are people whom the world has discarded, and who want to throw the world away; ie, in the series we know of social pariahs and near-suicide victims who were brought to Wonderland.)
The White Rabbit, however, was actually terrified of dying, and remained hesitant. At times he resented Alice and Mary Ann, and longed for his own happiness. He wanted to live in this world of his creation peacefully without having to strain both his body and mind (as bringing in new residents of Wonderland, as well as keeping together an entire story when he was only a character within it, put tremendous strain on him and he would often collapse in pain or have hallucinatory episodes). However, whenever he would stray too far either Mary Ann (now nearly entirely comatose and ignorant to the White Rabbit's pleas, and would only cry or beg for help while only semi-conscious) or the Cheshire Cat would guilt him back into his duty. The White Rabbit, unable to handle the conflict of wanting happiness but also having to serve Alice selflessly, decided he had to throw away his own feelings and his own self; that he would be entirely second to Alice; that he would forbid himself anything that wasn't for Alice. While not perfectly successful, his absolute dedication to his decision forced a mental break, and he forced himself to believe that he wanted to die, that he wanted nothing for himself, and so on.
He continued in this manner for years, but after a large number of subsequent catalysts (namely, roughly eight or nine volumes of the entire series, so I'll spare you from that summary), the White Rabbit gradually grew more in tune with his own desires. He was supported heavily by his friend, Mitsuki, whom he had brought to Wonderland and had refused to give him a rule associated with the game - the game he was holding for Alice's sake - because he had selfishly wanted to keep Mitsuki for himself, as his friend. Fortunately, the sentiment was mutual, and Mitsuki stood by him throughout despite the White Rabbit's deterioration in sanity. The White Rabbit's allies - the Queen of Hearts and the Caterpillar - also supported him at the tail end of the series, which proved significant in allowing him to eventually recover his sense of self-worth and identity as an individual, not only as a tool for Alice (both Alice in Wonderland, and Alice Liddell).
no subject
Canon: Are you Alice?
Canon Point: The end of chapter 65
Background/History:
AYA? is a bit of a convoluted (and sometimes inconsistent) canon, so I'll be as brief as possible and only discuss what's most relevant to the White Rabbit.
Lewis Carroll was a novelist, but, due to a slowly-progressing (fictitious) mental disorder that would cause him to eventually confuse reality and fiction, he was not the most mentally stable. He would often spend time with the young Alice Liddell, who served as inspiration for his story, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and which he was in the process of revising. In passing, Alice mentioned that her mother had died while pregnant, and Alice's sympathy for her younger sibling (whom she fantasized a boy) compelled Lewis Carroll to write a tale where Alice and her (live) younger brother - also named Alice - lived happily together, sharing one name.
Unfortunately, Alice was growing sick from the same illness that claimed her mother's life. This strained Carroll's sanity, and, to cope with Alice's impending death, he combined the story of Alice's younger brother and the story of Wonderland: he conflated the two Alices, Alice in Wonderland and Alice Liddell, and decided it was Alice's younger brother who killed Alice to steal her name. In a fit of illness, Carroll killed the real Alice Liddell in the same manner Alice's fictional brother had in Carroll's story.
Up until Carroll's breakdown, within the fictional Wonderland the story was repeating endlessly: Alice would chase the White Rabbit, go through the events of the book, wake up from her dream, and then do it all over again, and as these were all fictional characters, no one had a mind of their own or thought outside the confines of the story. But when Carroll crashed together both the story of Wonderland and Alice's murderous brother and killed Alice, within the world of the story there was a fatal deviation.
The White Rabbit was running late as usual, but for the first time he gained consciousness and noticed Alice wasn't following him; not long after, Alice came over a hill and collapsed wearily, injured, and cried to the White Rabbit that she didn't want a younger brother, and that he (the White Rabbit) ought to stop "Sensei" (which is how Alice Liddell would refer to Carroll; unfortunately, the official localization has offered no English alternative to the word) before the entire world around the White Rabbit was torn up and turned black.
At that point the White Rabbit gained a humanoid form, and in the darkness he was confronted by cat eyes and grin, whom he mistook for the Cheshire Cat. The creature accepted the name, and gains its own humanoid form. The now Cheshire Cat informed the White Rabbit that Wonderland has been thrown away and that he, the White Rabbit, was the only survivor (the Cheshire Cat was an outsider who had slipped into the darkness). The Cheshire Cat then took advantage of the White Rabbit's distress and pressed him to rebuild Wonderland from scratch using only the torn-up drafts of the story Carroll wrote, and corners the White Rabbit into dedicating himself to Alice. The White Rabbit, with the image of Alice crying for his help still fresh in his mind, took up his task and new loyalty to Alice very seriously and went to work.
Gradually, the White Rabbit rebuilt a world that didn't resemble Wonderland at all, and instead appeared more like a Victorian city surrounded by forest. Yes, there were Wonderland-ish motifs about the new world, but it wasn't the Wonderland he recalled, and he felt ill at ease.
At some point, the White Rabbit pieced together bloodied scraps of paper, which revived an Alice - whom he identified immediately as Alice Liddell, not Alice in Wonderland - as, when she was killed, her blood splattered on the drafts of the story. He sheltered her, and grew affectionate for her. As Alice was so traumatized by murder and betrayal at the hands of the Sensei whom she trusted, she grew distressed by the notion of being Alice, as she felt that meant she could not escape her own murder. To console her, the White Rabbit named her Mary Ann instead, because while "Alice" might be destined to die, if she isn't Alice, she would have nothing to worry about.
They lived together happily in the empty Wonderland for a time, and the White Rabbit added landmarks and features to the world based on Mary Ann's recollection of the original story drafts. Though the White Rabbit knew he should make Wonderland somehow less empty and continue dedicating himself to Alice in Wonderland's sake, he began to grow distant from his dedication to Alice in Wonderland, preferring instead to talk to Mary Ann. Unfortunately, Mary Ann was no longer the most mentally stable, and she would have more frequent breakdowns so long as Wonderland remained empty, and she could not escape the memories of her murder or Sensei. The White Rabbit grew guilty, but he had no idea how to populate Wonderland, or how to even begin helping either Alice or Mary Ann.
After a series of catalysts, the White Rabbit concluded that he had to progress the story somehow, and bring it to its conclusion; this would bring both Alice and Mary Ann peace, surely. He had no idea the best way to go about it, and without any support - the Cheshire Cat would only push him to keep working harder and subtly manipulated the White Rabbit to adding certain features that were convenient to the Cheshire Cat's ulterior plan, and Mary Ann grew less responsive and more depressed by the day - he concluded a number of things he was uneasy about. But, as he had no better ideas, he ultimately went with them:
- He would bring humans from the "real" world and grant them the names of Wonderland characters. These humans would not necessarily bear much resemblance to the original fictional characters, much like how the current Wonderland location only barely resembled the original Wonderland.
- In this vein, he would bring in any number of girls and name them "Alice," who would act as substitutes for both Alice in Wonderland and Mary Ann, and hopefully move the story forward as the protagonist. If any died, he would replace them with a new girl.
- The goal of each Alice would be to kill him, the White Rabbit, and then the story would end.
This began "The game to kill the White Rabbit," and every inhabitant he brought in from the real world was given a role and abilities related to this game. (The only people he can guide from the real world to Wonderland are people whom the world has discarded, and who want to throw the world away; ie, in the series we know of social pariahs and near-suicide victims who were brought to Wonderland.)
The White Rabbit, however, was actually terrified of dying, and remained hesitant. At times he resented Alice and Mary Ann, and longed for his own happiness. He wanted to live in this world of his creation peacefully without having to strain both his body and mind (as bringing in new residents of Wonderland, as well as keeping together an entire story when he was only a character within it, put tremendous strain on him and he would often collapse in pain or have hallucinatory episodes). However, whenever he would stray too far either Mary Ann (now nearly entirely comatose and ignorant to the White Rabbit's pleas, and would only cry or beg for help while only semi-conscious) or the Cheshire Cat would guilt him back into his duty. The White Rabbit, unable to handle the conflict of wanting happiness but also having to serve Alice selflessly, decided he had to throw away his own feelings and his own self; that he would be entirely second to Alice; that he would forbid himself anything that wasn't for Alice. While not perfectly successful, his absolute dedication to his decision forced a mental break, and he forced himself to believe that he wanted to die, that he wanted nothing for himself, and so on.
He continued in this manner for years, but after a large number of subsequent catalysts (namely, roughly eight or nine volumes of the entire series, so I'll spare you from that summary), the White Rabbit gradually grew more in tune with his own desires. He was supported heavily by his friend, Mitsuki, whom he had brought to Wonderland and had refused to give him a rule associated with the game - the game he was holding for Alice's sake - because he had selfishly wanted to keep Mitsuki for himself, as his friend. Fortunately, the sentiment was mutual, and Mitsuki stood by him throughout despite the White Rabbit's deterioration in sanity. The White Rabbit's allies - the Queen of Hearts and the Caterpillar - also supported him at the tail end of the series, which proved significant in allowing him to eventually recover his sense of self-worth and identity as an individual, not only as a tool for Alice (both Alice in Wonderland, and Alice Liddell).