Tim Burton
3 December 2010
English Literature
"I imagine you're feeling a bit like Alice right now, tumbling down the rabbit hole?" In
the popular 1999 movie, The Matrix, Morpheus poses this question to Neo, who is beginning to
question his assumptions about things he believed to be true. He is then presented with two pills,
which represent courses of action. "You take the blue pill, the story ends and you wake up
believing whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland and I
show you just how deep the rabbit hole goes." The reference to Lewis Carroll's work is
particularly appropriate in this instance. In his poem Jabberwocky, Carroll peels away layers of
defenses to truly examine the human psyche. After an evaluation of some of the poem's themes
and meanings, one might find himself asking, "Why, oh why, didn't I take the blue pill?" To find
out how deep the rabbit hole goes, one must examine Carroll's use of Nonsense with the
understanding that the actual Nonsense words are not meant to be understood.
“If a Nonsense verb is invented, the mind can only deal with it as it deals with Nonsense
words in general: it will produce from its memory all the other words the neologism resembles,
and this will multiply relationships and associations in a manner quite alien to the operation of
logic.” (Sewell, 72.) There are 23 words in the opening stanza of this poem. Of those 23 words,
barely more than half (12) are words with definable meanings. The first stanza introduces the
reader to Nonsense, and is actually an indicator that the Nonsense words were not meant to be
decoded. Words like "brillig" and "outgrabe" are obviously adjectives, but without guide words,
the reader has no way of reliably determining a meaning for these words. Moreover, at this
point, the reader cannot even determine the tone of the poem. Even if the reader is not familiar
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with Carroll's admonition that the words are Nonsense, and should be regarded as such, the first
stanza dissuades the reader from inferring false meaning. One can determine that the borogoves
were in a state of mimsy(ness?) at the onset of the poem, but one cannot determine what this
means. The opening stanza creates confusion purposefully.
When Alice steps through the looking-glass, many things are backwards and confusing.
However, her emotions and feelings remain intact. The reader is meant to understand that
looking-glass land is a venue for exploring the persona of the protagonist. In Jabberwocky, the
same holds true. The second stanza is the red pill of the poem; when one explores it, Nonsense
and reality collide to lay bare human emotion. While the reader does not know what the
Jabberwocky, or the Jubjub bird, or even the Bandersnatch is, the reader acutely understands the
word "[b]eware," and knows to stay away from "jaws that bite" and "claws that catch."
Moreover, the Nonsense words are now associated with a tone. "[F]rumious" is not in the
dictionary, but the reader can infer that the word carries with it a connotation of fear and
warning. A translation of the Nonsense words is unnecessary. The narrator tells the reader that
the Jabberwocky is something to be feared, and it is here that the Nonsense words take on a
meaning that transcends definition. The Jabberwocky, while corporeal in the poem, is actually
an abstract idea; the Jabberwocky is a trial of courage.
It is appropriate that the poem's hero is a youth (as evidenced by the paternal advice in
the second stanza.) Paying no heed to his father's warning, the youth actually goes out in search
of his "manxome foe." He is prepared for the battle physically; he took his "vorpal sword" with
him. However, the youth is not fully prepared to meet his trial mentally; he "stood awhile in
thought." As trials often do, the Jabberwocky comes upon the youth unexpectedly "as in uffish
thought he stood." Once again, a definition of the Nonsense words is unnecessary. The reader
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does not know what makes thought "uffish," nor exactly what requirements have been met to
make the youth's sword "vorpal." The reader can however, understand the connotations implied
by the urgency of the diction, as well as the violence of the seemingly onomatopoetic "snickersnack."
Halfway through the fifth stanza, the Nonsense becomes a tool to convey meaning. The
youth successfully slays the Jabberwocky, metaphorically conquering his fears and mastering his
trial of courage. Taking the Jabberwocky's head as a trophy, "he went galumphing back."
Again, the reader is not meant to understand the meaning of the word "galumphing," only
understand its connotation. The word itself sounds joyously victorious, and gives the reader a
chance to identify with the triumphant youth on a deeply personal level. The youth's father
shouts further joyous nonsense: "O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!" In this outburst it is not only
impossible to define the words, it is important that the reader chooses not to define them. The
connotation, the feeling of victory obtained through courage, is infinitely more important than a
single, well-defined narrative.
Herein lies the timeliness of Jabberwocky, and the reason it is so well known and loved
more than a century after it was first penned. The poem itself bypasses a defined narrative
entirely, and focuses solely on meaning. The reader identifies with trials, enemies, and fatherly
advice. The reader knows that their own problems are formidable. The beauty of Jabberwocky
lies in a message that these trials can be overcome, provided your sword is vorpal, with a little
ingenuity and courage. Contrariwise, there are those who claim that the poem is an exercise in
portmanteau; a clever combination of words that give the otherwise average poem a unique and
catchy voice. Certain unnamed students who use Wikipedia to analyze their poems for them and
hold that the word "slithy" is a combination of the words "slimy" and "lithe," are taking the blue
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pill. They wake up, believing whatever they want to believe, blissfully ignorant of the poem's
rich message. Jabberwocky uses Nonsense to bypass words altogether. The poem instead
portrays feelings and connotations; messages with which even the smallest child can identify. It
is for this reason that Carroll is considered one of the masters: Jabberwocky gives a deep and
wonderful meaning without using complex language. All one needs to understand the human
condition is a little Nonsense.