Alice in Wonderland Forum

is the mushroom an allegory for doing drugs or does it mean something else?

I think it is just something put in there.  If it does mean anything it could mean that you should be careful waht you wish for because she wanted to get smaller and bigger and smaller and bigger all over agian.

It certainly makes sense that Carroll got the idea from halucigenic mushrooms. Most of the plot of Alice in Wonderland reads like a drug induced dream, so Alice taking the mushroom is just another manifestation of this weirdness.

Here's a quote of the funny mushroom episode:

'Caterpillar: By the way, I have a few more helpful hints. One side will make you grow taller...
Alice: One side of what?
Caterpillar: ...and the other side will make you grow shorter.
Alice: The other side of what?
Caterpillar: THE MUSHROOM, OF COURSE!'

Enjoy,
Tuula_Adventures first