“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn’t. And contrariwise, what it is, it wouldn’t be, and what it wouldn’t be, it would. You see?”
Alice wished for a world different than the one she was forced to live in; a world where she wouldn’t be restricted by rules. Driven by curiosity, she finds herself lost in Wonderland, a world she had been dreaming of. However, in this world, she encounters people that she can’t possibly keep up with. The Cheshire Cat, for instance, who, under the pretence of helping Alice, pushes her further into Wonderland, and further into trouble. People who don’t care enough about her to stop and listen to her for more than a minute, and people who had welcomed her so warmly at first but harshly rejected her after concluding that she wasn’t like any of them. Nobody in Wonderland questioned the things they did everyday, like unbirthday parties and cricket, played using flamingos and moles. Confused and frustrated, she soon realizes that she misses her family, and that she can’t rely on anybody in Wonderland, but it’s too late; she’s ventured too far into Wonderland to find a way out now.
In many ways, Wonderland is much like the real world; people are caught up in their hurried lives, and sometimes move on too fast without questioning why, because then that would mean several hours wasted being confused. Nobody really even stops to question if they are truly happy, they just move on with the routine that is life and doesn’t turn back to look at the mess we’ve created for ourselves. We often find ourselves driven into things we don’t want, things that just seem like a good idea at the moment. There are always people all around us, but most of the time, we are alone. It’s hard to find people to trust, people who truly care. The more we try struggle for a place in the real world, the distance between us and the things that truly matter grow, until we are finally in a place where we can’t just turn back and walk away from the real world. Alice is a symbol of somebody who doesn’t lose herself in the rush, and manages to find a way out of the mess.
