<P> In the eighth chapter, three cards are painting the roses red on a rose tree, because they had accidentally planted a white - rose tree that The Queen of Hearts hates . Red roses symbolised the English House of Lancaster, while white roses were the symbol for their rival, the House of York . This scene is an allusion to the Wars of the Roses . </P> <P> Carina Garland notes how the world is "expressed via representations of food and appetite", naming Alice's frequent desire for consumption (of both food and words) her "Curious Appetites". Often, the idea of eating coincides to make gruesome images . After the riddle "Why is a raven like a writing - desk?", the Hatter claims that Alice might as well say, "I see what I eat...I eat what I see" and so the riddle's solution, put forward by Boe Birns, could be that "A raven eats worms; a writing desk is worm - eaten"; this idea of food encapsulates the idea of life feeding on life, for the worm is being eaten and then becomes the eater--a horrific image of mortality . </P> <P> Nina Auerbach discusses how the novel revolves around eating and drinking, which "motivates much of (Alice's) behaviour", for the story is essentially about things "entering and leaving her mouth". The animals of Wonderland are of particular interest, for Alice's relation to them shifts constantly because, as Lovell - Smith states, Alice's size - changes continually reposition her in the food chain, serving as a way to make her acutely aware of the "eat or be eaten" attitude that permeates Wonderland . </P> <P> The manuscript was illustrated by Dodgson himself who added 37 illustrations--printed in a facsimile edition in 1887 . John Tenniel provided 42 wood engraved illustrations for the published version of the book . The first print run was destroyed (or sold to the United States) at Carroll's request because he was dissatisfied with the quality . The book was reprinted and published in 1866 . </P>

Why would alice have such a great interest in eating and drinking