| Quote #1 "In that direction," the Cat said, waving its right paw round, "lives a Hatter: and in that direction," waving the other paw, "lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they're both mad." (Wonderland 6.52) |
Madness is a fact of life in Wonderland. No matter where you go, everyone there is crazy. This ubiquitous madness seems to make everyone equivalent in some way – the Hatter is exchangeable with the Hare because they're both mad.
| Quote #2 "But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. |
It's Alice's own streak of madness that makes it possible for her to get to Wonderland in the first place. Perhaps we as readers feel implicated, too – we wouldn't be able to follow her adventures if we didn't share her madness to some degree.
| Quote #3 Alice didn't think that proved it at all; however, she went on: "And how do you know that you're mad?" |
The Cheshire Cat reminds us that we often come up with complicated explanations for the crazy things we do to try and make them sound normal. But no matter how we try to excuse it, much of what we do is, well, mad.