The King’s “Rule Forty-two” is a comic attempt to weaponize procedure. He crafts a rule tailored to Alice’s current state—her extraordinary height—so that her literal growth can be used as a pretext to remove her from the court. The language exaggerates (“a mile high”) and thus exposes the unreality of the courtroom’s standards. The move pretends to be grounded in tradition, but the hastily numbered rule reveals that “law” here is merely whatever power declares. Alice’s response dismantles the façade. By pointing out that the supposed oldest rule would be first in the book, she applies simple, consistent reasoning that the court cannot meet. The scene turns size into a metaphor for authority and self-possession: as Alice grows, she becomes less intimidated. Her physical enlargement mirrors her intellectual confidence; she resists semantic bullying and refuses to perform deference. The rule, then, dramatizes the book’s satire of process without fairness: legal ritual operates like a childish game whose rules are changed mid-play to favor the rulers.