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In Lewis Carroll's book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the Hatter's famous riddle - "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" - has no answer.
"Have you guessed the riddle yet?" the Hatter said, turning to Alice again.
"No, I give it up," Alice replied. "What's the answer?"
"I haven't the slightest idea," said the Hatter.
"Nor I," said the March Hare.
Alice sighed wearily. "I think you might do something better with the time," she said, "than wasting it in asking riddles that have no answers."
When he wrote the book, Carroll had no answer for the riddle either, nor did he intend there to be one. However, over subsequent years, so many people asked him the answer that in the preface to the 1896 edition he wrote:
"Enquiries have been so often addressed to me, as to whether any answer to the Hatter's Riddle can be imagined, that I may as well put on record here what seems to me to be a fairly appropriate answer, viz: 'Because it can produce a few notes, though they are very flat; and it is nevar put with the wrong end in front!' This, however, is merely an afterthought; the riddle as originally invented, had no answer at all."
(Note that he spells "nevar" as "raven" written backwards - a joke which overenthusiastic copy editors "corrected" in later editions.)
Carroll is not the only person to offer an answer after the fact, other solutions have also been given, the best known being, "because Poe wrote on both." Other suggestions include, "because there is a 'b' in both and an 'n' in neither," and "because they both have inky quills."
It has been claimed that Carroll is satirizing philosophical paradoxes and riddles. As a logician he may be poking fun at our need for an answer to every question. In reality it is not a riddle at all, but a pseudo-problem masquerading as a riddle. He believed that most riddles are fallacious because they lead the reader to believe that such events are possible or even answerable.
Ultimately, it could be true to say that the real answer to the question is that there is no answer.
What else can I help you with?
How is a raven like a writing desk, according to Lewis Carroll's famous riddle in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"?
In Lewis Carroll's riddle in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," the similarity between a raven and a writing desk is that both can produce notes, but not music.
Why did Lewis Carroll pose the question "Why is a raven like a writing desk" in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?
Lewis Carroll posed the question "Why is a raven like a writing desk" in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to highlight the absurdity and nonsensical nature of Wonderland, challenging traditional logic and reasoning.
Why did Lewis Carroll include the question "Why is a raven like a writing desk" in his famous book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?
Lewis Carroll included the question "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to highlight the nonsensical and whimsical nature of Wonderland, challenging traditional logic and reasoning.
Why did Lewis Carroll pose the question "Why is a raven like a writing desk" in his book "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"?
Lewis Carroll posed the question "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" in his book "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" to highlight the absurdity and nonsensical nature of Wonderland, challenging traditional logic and reasoning.
Why is a raven like a writing desk in Alice in Wonderland (2010)?
In the 2010 movie "Alice in Wonderland," the riddle "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" is posed by the Mad Hatter to Alice. The answer to the riddle is never explicitly given in the movie, adding to the whimsical and nonsensical nature of Wonderland. It is meant to highlight the absurdity and illogical nature of the world that Alice finds herself in.
What is the answer to the riddle "Why is a raven like a writing desk"?
The answer to the riddle "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" is that there is no definitive answer, as it was originally posed by Lewis Carroll in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" without a specific solution.
Why did Lewis Carroll pose the riddle "Why is a raven like a writing desk" in his famous book "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"?
Lewis Carroll posed the riddle "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" to highlight the absurdity and nonsensical nature of Wonderland, challenging readers to think creatively and imaginatively.
How is a raven like a writing desk, and what is the answer to this famous riddle posed by Lewis Carroll in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"?
The riddle "How is a raven like a writing desk?" posed by Lewis Carroll in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" does not have a definitive answer. Carroll himself later admitted that he had not originally intended for there to be an answer to the riddle.
Why did Lewis Carroll include the riddle "Why is a raven like a writing desk" in Alice in Wonderland?
Lewis Carroll included the riddle "Why is a raven like a writing desk" in Alice in Wonderland to highlight the nonsensical and whimsical nature of the story, adding to the overall theme of absurdity and wordplay in the book.
Why did Lewis Carroll pose the question "Why is a raven like a writing desk" in his famous work, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?
Lewis Carroll posed the question "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to highlight the absurdity and nonsensical nature of Wonderland, challenging readers to think creatively and outside the box.
Why did Lewis Carroll pose the riddle "Why is a raven like a writing desk" in his book "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"?
Lewis Carroll posed the riddle "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" to highlight the absurdity and nonsensical nature of Wonderland, challenging readers to think creatively and question conventional logic.
How is a raven like a writing desk?
The question "How is a raven like a writing desk?" was posed by the Mad Hatter in Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." The answer is that there is no definitive answer, as it was meant to be a nonsensical and puzzling riddle.
