Character Analysis
A lot of Alice's angst stems from her relationship with her mother. She is, according to Alice, quite the nag. She's always getting on her to do her hair, and stand up straight, and stop dieting to the point of starvation. Man, what a drag. But that's what Moms are for: If they didn't harangue you, who would? For example, Alice writes:
Dad and Mom are constantly harping about the way I look. They keep saying that they know I'm a good, sweet girl, but I'm beginning to act like a hippie and they're afraid the wrong kind of people will be drawn to me. What it amounts to is they are so ultra-conservative that they don't even know what's happening. (72.1)
Mom is just looking out for Alice's best interests, but that doesn't stop Alice from seeing her as arch-nemesis number one. That is, until she wants to be rescued from her latest drug-induced dilemma—then, all of a sudden, Mom is just the greatest, most wonderful, sweetest, loving human being in all the world (Alice is prone to hyperbole, remember?). So Alice vacillates from this:
Boy, Mom would be proud of my thinking and attitude today. It's just too bad we can't communicate anymore. I remember being able to talk to her when I was little but it's as though we speak a different language now and the meanings just don't come across the right way. She means something and I take it another way or she says something and I think she's trying to correct me or "uplift" me or preach at me and I really suspect she isn't doing that at all, just groping and being as lost with words as am I. That's life, I guess. (32.2)
To this:
[…] Mom is very pleased that I want to help other people. She is really very understanding. Everybody should be as lucky as I am. (197.2)
By the way, those entries are almost exactly a year apart. So maybe there is growth in their relationship, or maybe Alice just thrives when she finally gets the attention she feels she deserves. Of course, she's getting the attention because she has royally screwed up and her parents suddenly have to keep a close eye on her, but at least they care? Or, more accurately, at least Alice recognizes they care. Because in Mom's defense, she seems to all along.