Alice is still innocent, however. She continues to worry about sex, and her experience with LSD is one of childlike wonder. In fact, her comparison to Alice in Wonderland is somewhat naïve, since the subtext of Lewis Carroll's book is, indeed, about drugs. The novel also inspired the Jefferson Airplane song, "White Rabbit," from which the diary borrows its title. Yet her linking the experience to a novel reminds us of Alice's greatest gift: her ability to write. She speaks several times of the inadequacy of words, both on paper and in conversation, to express her hallucinations (although she does a very good job of it). She writes that during her trip she found the "original language" of Adam and Eve but couldn't communicate it to the others. Earlier, she writes that she and her mother speak "different languages." Alice still has difficulty communicating to others, even when freed by drugs, although she does not yet realize this. Furthermore, this "original language" suggests that the language people use, literally and metaphorically, is no longer divided by a generational gap, but is split between those who do drugs and those who abstain. Another clue that drugs are taking over the part of her mind that literature used to fulfill is when Alice is unable to distinguish between what is real and not real during her trip. Previously, she sought refuge in books and used to confuse the events from literature and life, but drugs provide easier access into a fantastical world where she feels a communion with people and things around her.

Previous page Jan. 1–July 14 page 1 Next section July 20—Sept. 10
Test your knowledge

Take the Jan. 1-July 14 Quick Quiz
Take a study break

QUIZ: Is This a Taylor Swift Lyric or a Quote by Edgar Allan Poe?
Take a study break

The 7 Most Embarrassing Proposals in Literature

Popular pages: Go Ask Alice

Take a Study Break