Wait, why does it have to be fixed? Seems spot on to me.

I agree with that. I'm a big fan of the books! Thanks for the link. I'll check it out!

This is interesting and thought provoking! I've always seen this differently than how you are seeing it. Alice trying to prove she is grown-up/smart, but sometimes missing the mark or perhaps not old enough to see some of the deeper meanings. And Duchess dismissing her as child with the ax remark.

Thank you for the context. I interpret this as Alice taking the Duchess's words literally and using it as an opportunity to show off her literal knowledge of the earth, while completely missing the point of what the Duchess was actually saying.