Madness And Reasoning In Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland deals with a theme of madness and reasoning. Throughout the book Alice, the main character, is trying to be logical, as she solves the problems she encounters in Wonderland. One of the most notable and obvious examples of this is her struggle with the question, “who in the world am I” (Carroll, 18). She breaks down the problem into simple true statements, such as “I think I remember feeling different”, before allowing these facts to lead to their eventual conclusion, “I must have been changed for Mabel” (Carroll, 19). It appears to follow all the steps of rational reasoning. This kind of reasoning is in contrast with the other characters who, as the Cheshire-Cat summarizes, “we’re all mad here” (Carroll, 58).