Character Analysis
Characters in: Wonderland
The Dodo, Duck, and Lory are three of the many birds that gather on the bank with Alice after falling into a pool of her tears. Ironically, given its stereotype as the stupidest of birds, the Dodo seems to be the brains of the operation, suggesting a "Caucus-race" as the best way to get dry and organizing the awards ceremony at the end.
The Dodo is also Lewis Carroll's affectionate self-parody. Because of his stammer, Carroll, whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, would often say his own last name as "Do-Do-Dodgson." The Duck and the Lory are also caricatures of real-life people. The Duck parodies Reverend Duckworth, the fifth member, along with Carroll and the three Liddell girls, of the boating trip on which the Alice stories began. The Lory, which tells Alice that it is older than her and knows better, parodies Alice Liddell's older sister, Lorina. Presumably, lording it over her little sister was Lorina's favorite thing to do.