Alice

Character Analysis

Why'd You Have to Go and Make Things So Complicated?

Alice is arguably a much more complex character than our narrator, Tom. If Alice is a layered onion—she's multi-layered and kind of makes you cry—then Tom is a piece of spinach—simple, but strong. And you wouldn't want to get him stuck between your teeth.

But this section is about Alice, the girl who might be a witch. And, frankly, she's a little witchy already. When she first shows up, Tom notices that she "seemed to be floating" (6.59). Adding to her witchy ways are her pointy shoes, which the Spook already warned Tom to watch out for.

Over the course of the book, Alice does a variety of confusing things to poor Tom. She tricks him into taking cakes to Mother Malkin, she lies to him about a kidnapped child, and then she communicates with Mother Malkin's spirit via a mirror. However, she has excuses for all these things.

What's her excuse? Usually that her evil aunt, Bony Lizzie, made her do it. She tells Tom:

Bad company don't matter to me. Won't change me, will it? I'm bad already. Bad inside. (11.13)

But what are we supposed to believe about Alice? She does help our brother Tom out sometimes. And Tom and his mam think she's not all bad. Is it possible she'll end up being both Tom's greatest enemy, and his greatest friend, all wrapped into one?

Girl, You'll be a Woman Soon

Like Tom, Alice is at that awkward age between childhood and adulthood. And, as always, this transition involves lots of difficult life decisions for her. Of course, most of us don't have to choose between being Glinda the Good Witch or a wicked green beast—but some people's choices are harder than others, we guess.

Alice vows to run away from Bony Lizzie because she doesn't want to be like her evil aunt. And we can't even imagine the intense physical abuse Alice has to endure at Lizzie's hands, because she only hints at it at the very end of the book, when she reveals the scars on her arms.

But becoming an adult isn't as easy as just checking yes or no on some form. It takes work, and Alice works hard. When Tom takes her to his farm, Alice works hard for Tom's mam and never once complains. She also ends up helping Tom defeat Mother Malkin once and for all.

Her positive actions earn Tom's trust, but that's not saying much. Tom would trust a cat to babysit his pet mouse. The Spook isn't so sure about trusting Alice. He tells Tom, "She's just a girl now, but one day she'll be a woman, and some clever women are dangerous" (14.30). Although, this quote might say more about the Spook than it does about Alice.

In the end, Tom decides that Alice doesn't deserve to be put in a pit to rot. He thinks:

She'd always be somewhere in between, neither wholly good nor wholly bad. But wasn't that true of all of us? Not one of us was perfect. (14.109)
Tom's maturity shines through in this statement. He's able to see beyond the black and the white. He understands that, as a witch, Alice will be living in a vast gray area for the rest of her life.

But that grey area is where we all live. None of us isperfect. Well, except for Gwenyth Paltrow.