The Walrus and the Carpenter had eaten all the oysters. Alice is confident about which character she prefers. Or is she?
“I like the Walrus best,” said Alice, “because you see he was a little sorry for the poor oysters.”
“He ate more than the Carpenter, though,” said Tweedledee. “You see he held his handkerchief in front, so that the Carpenter couldn’t count how many he took: contrariwise.”
“That was mean!” Alice said indignantly. “Then I like the Carpenter best—if he didn’t eat so many as the Walrus.”
“But he ate as many as he could get,” said Tweedledum.
This was a puzzler. After a pause, Alice began, “Well! They were both very unpleasant characters—”
The Tweedle brothers used a bit of soft psychology to confuse the vulnerable Alice.
And let’s not forget how Hamlet messed with Polonius’ mind:
HAMLET: Do you see yonder cloud that’s almost in shape of a camel?
LORD POLONIUS: By the mass, and ’tis like a camel, indeed.
HAMLET: Methinks it is like a weasel.
LORD POLONIUS: It is backed like a weasel.
HAMLET: Or like a whale?
LORD POLONIUS: Very like a whale.
Both Alice and Polonius demonstrate the oft fleeting nature of opinion, the transient confidence of certainty, the ready ability to change your mind.
But not in all people. And not in all situations. Sometimes a struggle is needed. Sometimes humour. Or debate.
And the surest way to change your mind is with someone’s love.
Stung by Kurt Cobain’s suicide note which cited his lyric “better to burn out than to fade away”, Neil Young’s 1994 album Sleep With Angels is a call to Cobain’s ghost. The music is enthralling. The concept is love. In Young’s ‘Change Your Mind’:
When you get weak, and you need to test your will
When life’s complete, but there’s something missing still
Distracting you from this must be the one you love
Must be the one whose magic touch can change your mind
Don’t let another day go by without the magic touch
His song is 15 minutes long. It may seem like a lifetime. It could be a life. Yours. And the lives of those around you.
If you need help with mental health issues, it is available here and here.
