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I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.
This quote works on both a literal and metaphorical level, speaking both to Alice’s experiences of changing size multiple times during her journey through Wonderland as well as the many ways her personhood has changed as she’s learned and grown from her experiences in Wonderland. In all the madness and strangeness of that world, Alice has had the opportunity to begin questioning who she is and realizing that she’ll always be changing and evolving. Her adventures in Wonderland are, in many ways, part of an existential journey.
“What would be the use of a procession,” she thought, “if people had all to lie down on their faces, so that they couldn’t see it?”
In this passage, Alice questions the logic of the royal procession requiring onlookers to show such extreme deference and submission that they must throw themselves flat on the ground – after all, the point of a royal procession is for subjects to see and admire the royal party. Alice recognizes the lapses in reason in some of Wonderland’s traditions and rules, and she shows that it is not in her character to simply bow down to authority. She questions anyone who seems mad or illogical, whether that be a mouse or a Queen.
“What is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “without pictures or conversations?”
This passage comes very early in the novel, introducing Alice as a little girl who doesn’t yet find adult literature or academic texts interesting. She’s a child, and she loves fun stories that include beautiful illustrations and plenty of dialogue – rather like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland itself, considering it’s a children’s book with pictures and lots of entertaining conversations. Alice’s preference for books with illustrations is not only a sweet and humorous opinion that serves to remind readers of their own favorite childhood stories, but also establishes Alice as a child at the beginning of the story so that the transformation she goes through in Wonderland is even more meaningful.
