How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
We're going to do all sorts of mad things, like covering the old worn tabletops with felt, which is cheap, and putting fake leopard on the chairs and on part of one wall if we can afford it. It will be good to have a place to call home again and this one we'll fix up to look loved and lived in. (106.1)
This sounds like Cruella de Vil's tropical cousin's idea of interior decorating.
Quote #8
Tonight will ring in a wonderful new year for me. How humbly grateful I am to be rid of the old one. […] But the new year is going to be different, filled with life and promise. (124.1)
We really should applaud Alice's eternal optimism, but her faith in new beginnings hasn't served her so well in the past. She seems to think that she can pick an arbitrary point in time and just start from scratch—but by refusing to acknowledge her past, she's doomed to repeat it.
Quote #9
I think I'll go into child guidance when I get out of school. Or maybe I should become a psychologist. […] Oh dear wonderful, trusting, friendly Diary, that's exactly what I'll do. I'll spend the rest of my life helping people who are just like me! I feel so good and happy. I finally have something to do for the rest of my life. Wow! I'm done with drugs too. (169.7)
This is a great dream for Alice to have—it doesn't rely on pretending her past didn't happen, and it's not some wild fantasy either. Yay. She's finally getting a grip on reality.