The White Rabbit and the original Cheshire Cat also make the Jabberwocky’s influence easier to understand. Their histories begin with ordinary animals used in Henry Allen’s expe…

The White Rabbit and the original Cheshire Cat also make the Jabberwocky’s influence easier to understand. Their histories begin with ordinary animals used in Henry Allen’s experiments. What emerges on the other side is horribly changed. That is a particularly cruel kind of power: taking something recognizable and making it frightening. The reader still knows what a rabbit or a cat should be, so the difference becomes part of the horror. It also changes how I look at the realm’s inhabitants. Their current appearance does not necessarily explain how they began. Sometimes you have to go backward before you understand what Wonderland has done to them.