Both Lewis Carroll's 1871 classic Through the Looking Glass and Phillip Pullman's 1995 work The Golden Compass incorporate the happenings of two very different worlds which exist simultaneously with the same characters directing the action in both. Both Alice in Carroll's work, and Lyra in The Golden Compass exist as young girls in their unique versions of reality, but also enter in to a surreal dreamlike world while simultaneously existing in real life. This parallel existence can be related to a theory in psychology first introduced by psychologist Carl Jung. In his 1952 work Synchronicity - An Acausal Connecting Principle, Jung proposed the idea that parallel phenomena was at the root of all coincidences. By looking at both Carroll and Pullman's work under the theoretical framework of Carl Jung, the duplicity of worlds, both real and surreal will be examined. How these two existences do influence one another, and how does that affect the characters that are split between the two. In Carroll's work, Alice takes her experiences and blames the strange surreal experience on her black kitten, but how would a cat influence her trip through the looking glass? In Pullman's work, the events of the surreal world affect the outside world. Lyra is forced to take action in her surreal world in order influence the real one. The complex relationships as well as the simultaneous nature or the two worlds would prove an interesting project to explore.
             Myths and mythology have long been a part of the fabric of our cultures. Since the Ancient Greeks, people have been fascinated by the myths of their culture and how those myths essential provide a foundation for everyday life. Many in society have defended these myths as essential to our conceptions of ourselves. Researchers for generations have explored how the myth serves as a tool to understand the external world. Many have also focused on how the myth ...