"The Caterpillar and Alice looked at each other for some time in silence: at last the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth, and addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice.
'Who are you?' said the Caterpillar.
This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, 'I-I hardly know, Sir, just at present-at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.'
'What do you mean by that?' said the Caterpillar, sternly. 'Explain yourself!'
'I ca'n't explain myself, I'm afraid, Sir,' said Alice, 'because I'm not myself, you see.'
'I don't see,' said the Caterpillar.
'I'm afraid I ca'n't put it more clearly,' Alice replied, very politely, 'for I ca'n't understand it myself, to begin with; and being so many different sizes in a day is very confusing.'
'It isn't,' said the Caterpillar.
'Well, perhaps you haven't found it so yet,' said Alice; 'but when you have to turn into a chrysalis – you will some day, you know – and then after that into a butterfly, I should think you'll feel it a little queer, wo'n't you?'
'Not a bit,' said the Caterpillar.
'Well, perhaps your feelings may be different,' said Alice: 'all I know is, it would feel very queer to me.'
'You!' said the Caterpillar contemptuously. 'Who are you?'"
Lewis Carroll. Those who knew him said he always was fond of children, but never of adults. In his book, Alice in Wonderland, he shows his readers that growing up is a tedious and self-contradicting process.
Just think about it. When Alice is small, what does she wish she were? Bigger. When she's bigger, what does she want? To be small again. Isn't this how we all are? At the age of four, playing dress up, and taking care of dolls as if we were our own parents. But as we grow, we discover ignorance really is bliss. The world of adults is not as glamorous as we once perceived it to be, as it shows us our flaws.
Flaws. Each obstacle she faces highlights them. Naturally, Alice goes about trying to fix them. At first, she's "too big" to fit through the door. Then, "too small" to reach the key, then once again "too big" for the door. In the same way, there's no pleasing society.
Alice's opinion on her size changes as well. Once she is finally small enough to fit through the tiny door at the beginning of the story, she's satisfied with herself. That is, until she discovers that she's now too small to reach the key sitting on the table. Then, once again, she feels hopeless and upset. Did you ever stop to think that this may be a metaphor for society? It's always telling us we have to be skinnier, prettier, smarter, etc. There's always another obstacle for Alice to overcome, yet she doesn't meet these social standards to "fit in". Isn't that always the problem? Fitting in? Like, fitting through a door?
In her conversation with the Caterpillar, Alice says on multiple occasions, that she doesn't know who she is. She knows who she was, but is confused as to who she is at the moment. She explains that she's changed so much, that she can't tell anymore. Sound familiar? In this curse we call "growing up", many of us go through confusion as to our own identity. Who am I? Who are you? Often, we come to a point where we don't know anymore. What makes me an individual? How am I different from anyone else? What is my purpose? Do I even have one? Looking back, we can identify things about ourselves that answered these questions. What about now? I've changed, and those answers no longer apply. So do they have answers anymore?
Identity. What is mine? What are my distinctive features?
Who am I?
Who are you?