+Homunculus Hope Yes, but a work can have multiple themes and inspirations, and while the impetus was a simple story, the author still had to expand it to make it into a full book. And while the author never confirmed it to my knowlege, drugs do seem to be a major theme in the final work. The draughts and cakes at the beginning that make Alice grow larger and smaller and the hookah-smoking caterpillar are the only direct references that I know of, but much of the journey's insanity is reminiscent of a "trip."