Compare and Contrast Essay: Alice in Wonderland vs. Fatty Legs

In this essay, I will compare and contrast two different stories, Alice in Wonderland, directed by Lewis Carroll and Fatty Legs, written by Margaret Pokiak-Fenton. 

The protagonists in both stories share similar personality characteristics of curiosity and bravery. The stories are also different in certain ways. Both stories end differently for the main characters. Another contrast is the genre. Fatty Legs, is a nonfiction story. Alice in Wonderland is based on an Imagination. Olemaun is the main protagonist in Fatty Legs and Alice is the main protagonist of Alice in Wonderland. Olemaun and Alice are both curious and brave. An example of Olemaun’s curiosity  is her desire to go residential school to get an education. Olemaun’s bravery was when she stood up for herself in face of the Raven and the nuns. Alice showed her curiosity when followed a rabbit that has the ability to speak. Alice’s bravery was when she stood up for herself in the queen of hearts court.

To begin, the most courageous act someone can take is to be brave, stand and speak up for yourself. Olemaun and Alice were brave because they stood up for themselves in the face of adversity and pressure, whether it came from the Raven or the Queen of Hearts. The name Olemaun represents strength and persistence. Olemaun was given red and fat stockings by the Raven that were different from the stockings given to all the other females. The girls insulted Olemaun and called her ‘’Fatty Legs’’ chapter six, page 68; Where Olemaun had tossed the stockings into the fire since she had lost her fear of the Raven. Olemaun also confronts her anxiety by warning the nuns that they will be able to break  her heart, but not her spirit. In Alice’s case, she is brave because when she was brought to trial in the Queen of Hearts court for stolen tarts from the queen’s kitchen that Alice had no clue how, why, or when they were stolen, everyone expected Alice to be terrified by the Queen and her guards since she is a Queen with powerful powers, but Alice remained strong, unyielding, and tough. When the turn came to Alice testify about who stole the tart, Alice grew enraged and said that,"she does not care about her and she is just a pack of cards" and that she is a queen. Alice's and Olemaun’s actions demonstrated that they are courageous young ladies. 

Curiosity will always be a part of human nature. It can lead you up the hill or into the rabbit hole. Olemaun's curiosity led her to the path of hardship and regret, Olemaun wanted to learn how to read and write in a residential school without knowing the nuns' treatment towards the kids in the school. As soon as Olemaun arrived in residential school, she started experiencing the inhumanity of the schools and she started regretting not listening to her parents. Olemaun wrote in the letter to her parents "Dear Mother and Father, I hate this school. You were right, the food, treatment, and everything else is awful". Chapter five, page 60. The nuns gave her uncomfortable clothes, severed her hair, and made her work more than the other kids. Overall, Olemaun’s treatment by the nuns is comparable to a dog in a cage. Alice was impatient which caused her to become curious about a rabbit that can speak. After she followed him she fell into a long rabbit hole which then led to meeting the queen and her guards. Alice’s curiosity put her down a path full of problems and hardship such as drinking a bottle without knowing what might cause her, changes in her physic and how to exit the rabbit hole. Olemaun and Alice have both had unpleasant experiences with pursuing their interests. I believe they have both learned a life lesson about not acting rashly without understanding what might these actions cause them.

Both Fatty Legs and Alice in Wonderland are based on different sorts of genres, and their protagonists' stories conclude in very opposite ways. In Alice in Wonderland, the story is based on fiction which is the formation of events in one's mind, which can be recreations of earlier experiences, such as detailed recollections with imagined modifications. Alice’s story ended when she grew bigger, became angry and then noticed that she was back in the wonderland where she returned to her usual size. The narrative of Fatty Legs is based on facts, real events, and real people, which means the story happened in real life with real individuals in the early 1870s and 1990s, where the Native kids had to enter the residential schools to get education. After struggling for a long period with the Raven and the nuns. Finally, Olemaun's family made the decision to bring her home. Olemaun prepared to travel to Tuktoyaktuk on one of the school's boats to visit her family, but when she came, her mother didn't recognized her, saying, "not my girl" and described Olemaun as an outsider since she didn't want to eat her mother's foods. Olemaun returned home with her family, delighted that she is no longer in residential school, but her younger sisters want to go to school. Olemaun tried to persuade them not to go by explaining how horribly they treat the children, but her sisters were headstrong. Both Fatty Legs and Alice in Wonderland stories are based on dissimilar genres, and their protagonists' stories end in different ways.

In conclusion, Olemen and Alice both demonstrated strong resilience in times of hardship. how being curious can sometimes get you through difficult situations. The actions of both characters portray that they can be brave in the face of hardship and they both will refuse to back down. Both Olemaun and Alice have had negative experiences with pursuing their passion. Bothe stories were different from each other in terms of the sort of end for the main characters and the type of the story. I am wondering what would have happened if Alice and Olemaune weren’t as curious as they originally were?