The events which occur in the Alice books pay no particular attention
to any ordinary standards. The animals have agenda’s, the flowers are
temperamental, the cards rule the land according to no particular set
of rules, and the insects seem most knowledgeable in terms of the world
around them. Because everything is so free and nothing follows any
accepted rules of order, Alice often finds herself greatly frustrated.
“And so she did: wandering up and down, and trying turn after turn, but
always coming back to the house, do what she would” (156). This is
comparable to humans in general trying so desperately to make sense of
the world around us. Darwin is much like Alice in this respect: He
invented the theory of evolution in order to explain the existence of
humans. However, there is still much to be discovered, and this
currently accepted view of the world may be just as muddled as the
juror’s slates: “A nice muddle their slates’ll be in, before the
trial’s over!” (111).
The jurors are just one of many possible analogies that prove how little we know about our world. The jurors all sit and attempt to copy down the proceedings in the trial. However, they hear only three witnesses, none of which presents any valid information. Even so, they must reach a verdict in order to appease the royalty and themselves, so they attempt to connect the unrelated, unsigned letter to the case. Bill the lizard, who might have been the most adept record keeper, fails to write any of his observations down because of a minor incident, much like many ingenious scientific ideas about the origin of life may go unpublished and unrecognized.
Often Alice finds herself in a situation in which she must just accept
her strange surroundings and not overanalyze them. When speaking with
the Cheshire Cat, she is told most directly that she should give up
immediately if she wishes to find sanity. “’But I don’t want to go
among mad people,’ Alice remarked. ‘Oh, you ca’n’t help that,’ said the
Cat: ‘we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.’” (66). This assertion
sums up so much of what happens and is the most logical piece of
knowledge any of the creatures gives Alice. By accepting that nothing
will ever make total sense, she would save herself much trouble and not
worry so much about the details. Just like Darwin, though, Alice
constantly is looking for the meaning of the speeches, or the
justification of certain actions. When she herself fails to remember
her poems, she feels discomfort at the thought that even what she says
lacks the ability to be comprehended. In short, both our earth and
wonderland must be accepted as they are and will never be fully
understood because of the dynamic nature of the meaning of ideas,
words, and history. (Humpty Dumpty!)