Jabberwocky

‘Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The Jaws that bite, the claws that catch!’

As with mothers day, it is important to note that there are many, especially during this time, who have lost fathers, daddy’s and dads. There are those who are dads but have lost those that would call them ‘dad’. It is to you that I offer my deepest condolences and understand the need for space on such a day as this.

Okay so, I chose a fun review to do. Partly because I love this poem and partly because it was a bit too much of a challenge to finish Anna Karenina in 10 days. (I’m still working on it).

This week we’ll be looking at ‘Jabberwocky’ and this one is a gold mine full of interesting little nuggets of ‘what-in-the-heaven-was-this-guy-on’. It’s still great though. But seriously.

The fist stanza is a little ‘whhhaaaaaat’ but let’s have a look. We have the setting the ‘Wabe’ and unusual place full of ‘slithy toves’ the language - that simply doesn’t exist- is a an actualisation of the fact that this setting doesn’t exist. How can a person even imagine a ‘Wabe’ or a ‘Slithy Tove’ is? It adds to the magic and the drama of the piece.

Now we have the famous ‘Beware the Jabberwock, my son!” For it is a fearsome beast, apparently! That has claws and fearsome jaws! So be careful as you travel through the Tumtum trees! There are magical beasts of unknown ferocity and mischief making! So on your quest to find the Jabberwock be on the look out!  

When our hero/ine finds the fearsome Jabberwock, we get our fantastical description of the beast. ‘His eyes of flame!’ O how fierce! ‘And burbled as it came’ I like how this sounds utterly ridiculous and menacing at the same time. Mostly because it’s close to ‘bubble’ or ‘burp’ and now our hero/ine must fight the beast! Their blade going ‘snicker-snack!’ As they deftly fight the beast with eyes of fire! Of course our hero/ine wins the day and brings back the head of the Jabberwock, much to the pleasure of the father/mother who sent them on their way! ‘Callooh!Callay! He chortled in his joy’

This poem, was made for children, possibly due to its nonsensical style and prose. The wonder that there is in main up words takes the setting of the poem away from any particular place from our world. It is up to your imagination what these words mean! Should we beware the Jubjub bird and the furious Bandersnatch? Whatever they may be? Either way, its good fun, its a classic. However, the fact that ‘mason’; suggests that a child was sent out to hunt for the Jabberwock could suggest a multitude of things: a rite of passage, transition into manhood or that this is a story told from the perspective of a child. Think of all the amusing words of this poem  and then think about how a toddler talks. A lot of the words a toddler may say gets garbled and mispronounced. So what if this is the case here. After all a lot of the words are sort of close to words that we, in the English speaking world, use every day…

Have a Happy and safe Father’s Day Xxx