Critics believe that there is a lot of hidden meaning in these books, and what Carroll is saying is not exactly what he means. This is why many critics say that Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are not necessarily children books. Many people do not agree with this statement and think that what Carroll was writing for was to give children the rights and the attention that they believe. During these times children were thought of as mostly decoration to show off their parents' wealth. They were also being forgot about with all the use a opium and the effects that the drug had on the children of the time.
Drug use is prevalent in the different scenes of the book.
The catapillar smoking the hook ah, and the baby turning into a pig and running away is one example of drug use in the books. In Wonderland could have resulted from opium use. It has also been said Carroll might have used other examples of drug use in the book . When Alice eats and drinks all the different substances, and she doesn't know what they are, and they don't make her feel very well, these may also represent mind altering experiences. Some people also feel, if Carroll did use opium use in the book, then he was just using it to show the effects it had on children.