An analysis of Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky
The absurd has always piqued the interest of many, no matter when or where in time they are. Lewis Carroll seems to have mastered the art of the preposterous with his poem Jabberwocky featured in his book titled Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alive Found There. Published in 1871, Jabberwocky tells the tale of a son who fights the Jabberwock in an odd world. Carroll manages to captivate and make use of the reader’s imagination with an otherwise regular tale by adopting various methods.
Jabberwocky is a poem which includes a narrative inside of it. Because fairy tales are told with a lack of realism, and Jabberwocky is a tale inside of a bigger fairy tale, the fictitious story …show more content…
These words show up in the very first verse. Slithy and mimsy are both adjectives created by mashing together two common words. Humpty Dumpty explains this to the readers, and Alice, in the book Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. Dumpty tells Alice that Slithy is the result of something both lithe and slimy. These words are called portmanteau words. Lewis uses a number of portmanteau words to condense as many details in the fewest words. By using a made up word, the author can reduce he length of a verse while giving out more information to the reader. In other words, the poem’s structure stays intact while the reader can enjoy more detail. But the made up words are not only limited to adjectives. Carroll becomes quit the imaginative author when he starts employing his own verbs and nouns. Both Bandersnatch and chortle are inventions of Lewis Carroll. While the Bandersnatch does sound like a proper noun, chortle can make most native English speakers doubt themselves on its authenticity. And these are the words that are at the heart of Jabberwocky. Lewis Carroll’s literary inventions give an alien aspect to the poem, which is also one if it’s goals. As it was stated earlier, Jabberwocky is a tale inside of another tale. Our fictitious tales already dab a bit in the impossible, so it is without question that a tale one level deeper should be in the absurd. And this is where …show more content…
While reading the poem, a world made up of ridiculous nonsense takes shape in the mind of the reader. The author achieves this by using a number of different techniques throughout the poem. To emphasize certain aspects of the descriptions, the writer uses a couple of metaphors. “The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame”, aptly conveys the overall image of the creatures’ eyes. It is understood that the beast doesn’t have a burning fire in his eye sockets, but rather a piercing gaze in search of destruction. In a short verse the writer manages to give the reader relevant information allowing them to mentally build a colorful world. Furthermore, the made up adjectives mentioned earlier play their own part in the imaginary world of the Jabberwocky. Because they are composed of two words, they can convey more meaning in the same amount of syllables. Evidently, this is great for a poem where rhythm and rhymes are of the utmost importance. But other words are not made up, instead they are onomatopoeias. These words are said like the sound they try to imitate, Bang being one of the most famous ones. In the poem Jabberwocky, whiffling and burbled are both verbs that try to copy their original sound. Even if a reader doesn’t know what those words mean out of context, when they read the poem it becomes quite apparent. Much like whistle, whiffle refers the sound of wind. With