Critical Analysis of Symbols and Motifs in "jabberwocky"
Summary:
The true theme behind the poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carol is masked behind figurative, nonsense language and multiple rhyme schemes, but must not be overlooked.
The true theme behind the poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carol is masked behind figurative, nonsense language and multiple rhyme schemes, but must not be overlooked. A boy is warned of the dangerous creatures of the forest, the creatures that mean harm to him and all others. The Jabberwock is the first of these mentioned, and the most important. The boy seeks his foe, the forewarned Jabberwock, encounters it, swings his sword and kills it, bringing the head back to town. The Jabberwock and the other two mentioned, the Jubjub bird and the Bandersnatch, have significant symbolic meanings to both the boy, the person who warns the boy, and the society that they live in. To the person, the Jabberwock and others represent his or her fears; to the boy, they represent his mechanism of passage from boyhood to manhood; and to society, they represent anything that would create a restriction on the enjoyment of life.
One who warns the boy, "Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch," is himself or herself afraid of these creatures. The Jabberwock or the Bandersnatch are the real life fears that have an emotional impact on any individual. Advising the boy to beware is a reflection of his own actions. It is human nature to try to avoid fears, rather than confront them. This human tendency to avoid fears comes from the human tendency to not expend energy or endanger oneself. The man evades his fears, the Jabberwock or the Jubjub bird or the Bandersnatch, because facing them, as the boy does, is much more difficult and dangerous.
The boy sees the Jabberwock, Jubjub bird, and Bandersnatch as a way from advancing from his boyhood to his manhood. "He took his vorpal sword in hand: Longtime the manxome foe he sought," shows that he was fully aware of what he was doing, in fact he waited and searched for the Jabberwock. He knew that by slaying it, he will have done what no other person has been able to or courageous enough to do, and in this way he sees his mechanism for passage from a boy to a man; by killing the Jabberwock he will have earned his right of passage.
The threats that constantly lurk somewhere in the background have a great effect on the community that the poem is set in. The society must constantly live in fear of attack, and therefore, they are not able to enjoy life to its fullest potential. All of the people have a restriction on their lives because of this. This is symbolic of any disability or other limiting factor in real life. Anything that is able to deprive the people from enjoying or utilizing the fullest extent of their lives is represented by the monsters in the story.
On the surface, "Jabberwocky" simply appears to be an enjoyable farce, involving a boy overcoming a great opponent, but closer analysis reveals symbolism throughout, the symbols differing from viewpoint to viewpoint. The Jabberwock to one person could be his or her fears, to a boy, the way through which he can be accepted as a man, and to a society any limiting factor on the exploitation of life. Once the boy has brought the head
back to the community all rejoice. "Jabberwocky" begins and ends with the same stanza, "'Twas brillig and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimbal in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe." Upon first glance, the nonsensical words give the impression of a dark and gloomy night, but reread after the celebration at the end can be interpreted as happy and upbeat. This is perhaps the most important metaphor of all, the change from the dark and gloomy to happy and upbeat represents the overcoming of fears, the achievement of manhood, and the prevailing over disabilities.
This is the complete article, containing 650 words
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