There is more meaning behind the strange characters in the distorted world of the Alice books than it would appear. The prevailing theme in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is, in fact, the theme of reversal. "Wonderland" is set in an underground world of nonsense and absurdity where not only the "aboveground" manners and costumes are questioned, but also the notions of education, logic, identity, sanity, space, and time are ridiculed. The strange creatures Alice meets are free from facts and common sense, and are at the same time frighteningly aggressive and self-righteous, as adults can be. The language and the tone they use is scientific, but it is sharply contradicted by the content, which undermines the nature of reality as we know it. Alice dreams she pursues a White Rabbit down a rabbit-hole to an underground world, or "Wonderland", where she encounters such strange creatures as the Duchess and the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter and the March Hare, the King and Queen of Hearts, and the Mock Turtle. Most of these creatures are by normal standards mad and never comply with the principles and customs of the world aboveground. In the course of her adventures, Alice repeatedly changes size, each time experiencing a different relationship with the people and the objects that she meets. In the end, she awakes from her dream and rejects the underground world of madness and imagination. However, the conclusion of the novel indicates that she will always preserve something of its freedom, and that she will grow into an independent and responsible adult precisely because of this.