The Wonderland Theory

The wonderland theory is inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland a, QuinRose’s japanese version of the story and Erich Fromm’s character orientation. These stories have sparked the curiosity of the young Balani, growing up thinking that everyone has a role to hold and fulfill.

Balani stated that each individual have roles to play in this world. A world populated by peculiar and unique organisms and is being manipulated by the role holder. Each one of us, and the people who are familiar and intimate with, are considered as the role holders. Those individuals whom you have no plans or the chance to get acquainted with are considered as a minor role in your “world” therefore bearing no great significance.

There are those who resist against their roles therefore causing hostility and anxiety to others and to themselves. They may choose not to show it but will cause a sense of struggling within them and could instigate self-doubt.

According to Balani, there are seven kinds of role holders in our world. The choosing of roles to partake is in accordance to what you seem to relate and of the surrounding you are brought up with.

The 7 Role Holders

The Alice

An Alice is portrayed as being very curious. They are often seen daydreaming and gives themselves advice instead of listening to the advice of others. An Alice is well mannered, polite, courteous, and mature and has an elegance and gentleness. They are shown to be determined, but their determination is often overpowered by their temper. They are easily put off by rudeness.

The Caterpillar

A caterpillar is usually strict and not very friendly. They prefer being alone and spends most of the time honing their skills and knowledge. They constantly see other people’s mistakes but fail to notice theirs, a kind of role that an Alice tends to avoid. However, since they are wiser and more practical, people tend to turn to them for advice and surprisingly they even extend help when they see that some are in need of assistance.

The Cheshire Cat

A Cheshire cat is depicted as an intelligent yet mischievous role that sometimes helps people and sometimes gets them into trouble, and thus, in some cases, is classified as a "Villain". However, a Cheshire is good listeners and is more familiar with the “rules of the land”.

The Queen of Hearts

Like the queen of hearts, this role usually has a dominant, authoritative and violent character, an embodiment of ungovernable passion. This is usually the cause failing to meet the need for security and satisfaction. This role tends to do things in a whim thus harbor great anxiety when it failed to meet their expectations.

The King of Hearts

This role has the same characteristics of Fromm’s character orientation, the marketing orientation. They see themselves in constant demand and must let others see that they are skillful and salable. They are usually dependent and are drawn to the queen of hearts role since they possess such independence.

The White Rabbit

The white rabbit has this role that tends to shift back and forth between pompous behavior toward his underlings and obsequious behavior toward his superiors. However, they possess loyalty and confidence in their works and mates. They also have a tendency of being obsessive and compulsive, similar to Freud’s anal characteristics.

The Persona

It was stated that some have tried to deviate from their roles that they tend to do destructive things to themselves and to others. Like Jung’s persona, it is the side of the personality that people show to the rest of the world. Borrowing this term, Balani stated that it somehow similar to Jung’s but then she believes that this persona is the “mask” that a person wears, a temporary role to take, when he/ she does not know what role he/ she must partake. The confusion and lack of direction causes a person to develop neurosis

A person can, therefore, live in a combination of these roles. Balani agreed with Fromm’s idea of having a sense of identity. By being able to know that one is aware of themselves as a separate entity we are able to fulfill the human needs of relatedness, transcendence and rootedness thus living a productive life.

The Wonderland Theory

The wonderland theory is inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland a, QuinRose’s japanese version of the story and Erich Fromm’s character orientation. These stories have sparked the curiosity of the young Balani, growing up thinking that everyone has a role to hold and fulfill.

Balani stated that each individual have roles to play in this world. A world populated by peculiar and unique organisms and is being manipulated by the role holder. Each one of us, and the people who are familiar and intimate with, are considered as the role holders. Those individuals whom you have no plans or the chance to get acquainted with are considered as a minor role in your “world” therefore bearing no great significance.

There are those who resist against their roles therefore causing hostility and anxiety to others and to themselves. They may choose not to show it but will cause a sense of struggling within them and could instigate self-doubt.

According to Balani, there are seven kinds of role holders in our world. The choosing of roles to partake is in accordance to what you seem to relate and of the surrounding you are brought up with.

The 7 Role Holders

The Alice

An Alice is portrayed as being very curious. They are often seen daydreaming and gives themselves advice instead of listening to the advice of others. An Alice is well mannered, polite, courteous, and mature and has an elegance and gentleness. They are shown to be determined, but their determination is often overpowered by their temper. They are easily put off by rudeness.

The Caterpillar

A caterpillar is usually strict and not very friendly. They prefer being alone and spends most of the time honing their skills and knowledge. They constantly see other people’s mistakes but fail to notice theirs, a kind of role that an Alice tends to avoid. However, since they are wiser and more practical, people tend to turn to them for advice and surprisingly they even extend help when they see that some are in need of assistance.

The Cheshire Cat

A Cheshire cat is depicted as an intelligent yet mischievous role that sometimes helps people and sometimes gets them into trouble, and thus, in some cases, is classified as a "Villain". However, a Cheshire is good listeners and is more familiar with the “rules of the land”.

The Queen of Hearts

Like the queen of hearts, this role usually has a dominant, authoritative and violent character, an embodiment of ungovernable passion. This is usually the cause failing to meet the need for security and satisfaction. This role tends to do things in a whim thus harbor great anxiety when it failed to meet their expectations.

The King of Hearts

This role has the same characteristics of Fromm’s character orientation, the marketing orientation. They see themselves in constant demand and must let others see that they are skillful and salable. They are usually dependent and are drawn to the queen of hearts role since they possess such independence.

The White Rabbit

The white rabbit has this role that tends to shift back and forth between pompous behavior toward his underlings and obsequious behavior toward his superiors. However, they possess loyalty and confidence in their works and mates. They also have a tendency of being obsessive and compulsive, similar to Freud’s anal characteristics.

The Persona

It was stated that some have tried to deviate from their roles that they tend to do destructive things to themselves and to others. Like Jung’s persona, it is the side of the personality that people show to the rest of the world. Borrowing this term, Balani stated that it somehow similar to Jung’s but then she believes that this persona is the “mask” that a person wears, a temporary role to take, when he/ she does not know what role he/ she must partake. The confusion and lack of direction causes a person to develop neurosis

A person can, therefore, live in a combination of these roles. Balani agreed with Fromm’s idea of having a sense of identity. By being able to know that one is aware of themselves as a separate entity we are able to fulfill the human needs of relatedness, transcendence and rootedness thus living a productive life.