Originally written in Spring 1996
Alice definitely has something against authority figures or something against the fact that they are authority figures, when in fact they are no smarter then she. She finds that she doesn’t want them, however she finds that when one appears by themselves she gives them the respect they deserve. She may think them odd after parting with them, yet she cares for their company. When new characters are introduced, if they are by themselves, they tend to gain Alice’s respect by helping her find her way through Wonderland or Through The Looking Glass. The Mouse in the Pool Of Tears, ignores Alice at first and then helps her only to find her a waste of his time and then leaves. The caterpillar helps her but has other matters to attend to. The Cheshire Cat helps Alice as needed and then disappears. And then the Duchess, who at first is introduced to Alice within a group setting, warms up to her wanting to be her mentor only to be ran off by the Queen who then takes Alice under her wing. The Queen has been very nasty with Alice while amongst a crowd, but now showers Alice with attention. The Queen then hands Alice over to the Griffin. Alice enjoys the company of the Griffin until she is introduced to the Mock Turtle, when the Griffin starts chortling very oddly with the story of the Mock Turtle. After this Alice is never alone with anyone until she comes out of her dream in the lap of her sister.
However, when characters are introduced in groups, there is always mass confusion. This stems from the fact that the characters involved are very mismatched.
Perhaps the exception to all of the previously stated observations is the White Rabbit. From the very beginning, the White Rabbit has no concern for nobody but himself. At first Alice scares him but then he mistakes her for his maidservant and sends her off on a mission. She instantly attends to the Rabbits demands only to find herself growing in his house which causes an uproar with the Rabbit. Then W. Rabbit brings his other servants in the picture only to cause the confusion of missed logistics on the part of Bill the lizard.
When Alice comes across the Duchess’s house, she immediately meets a messenger from the Queen and the Duchess’s doorman who is very depressed and no help at all due to the confusion inside with the Duchess, the cook and the baby. She leaves only to find herself stumbling into a very mad tea party. That explains itself. All of this is only in the first part of the stories.
Dodgson is interpreting Alice’s perception of the authority figures she comes into contact with everyday of her life. She sees adults by themselves very confident on matters of intellect, however when adults come together, they can never agree to make sense on anything. So Alice is seeing adults one moment being one way and then the next moment being another way. Constantly contradicting themselves making Alice believe that she is equal to them if not better then them at this point in her life, so there is no need for her to stay young anymore and might as well be a grownup. After all, this is what Alice’s sister is pondering after Alice tells her of her dream of Wonderland.
Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.
-the Duchess