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Jabberwocky Tone

Decent Essays

Throughout Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky”, his proficiency in the nonsense genre of poetry is evident. The poem is set in the same fantasy world as Alice in Wonderland. Carroll exhibits the use of childlike diction and uses the perspective of a father escorting his young son. “Jabberwocky” exhibits peculiar, infantile diction. The poem consists of informal diction, characteristic of the fantasy world it takes place in. Carroll uses words that are characteristic of a young child’s vocabulary. He uses words that do not exist, characteristic of the nonexistent, illogical world of Carroll’s imagination. He also employs the heavy use of alliteration to enhance certain words throughout the poem. Carroll writes: “So he rested by the Tumtum tree” …show more content…

At the beginning of the poem, the poem is calm and peaceful. As the stanzas change, so does the tone. The second stanza’s tone is one of concern as the father cautions his son regarding the beasts of the area. The father warns “’Beware the Jabberwock, my son!”(5). The tone then reverts to one of calm in the following stanza, as Carroll shows the boy stopping to rest by a tree. A drastic shift in the tone occurs as the jabberwocky emerges to where the boy rests, changing it from a serene, almost monotonous tone to an exhilarating one marked by a clash between the jabberwocky and the boy. Carroll writes, “The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, came whiffling through the tulgey wood”(14-15). The jabberwocky is depicted as a fierce beast, changing the tone from a calm one to a more violent one. Once the battle is over and the boy stands triumphant over the powerful beast, the tone of the poem shifts to a jovial and congratulatory one. The father expresses his praise to his son for conquering the beast. The father exclaims, “’Come to my arms, my beamish boy!”(22). He is ecstatic about his son’s triumph over the jabberwocky and the tone reflects the father’s sentiments. Finally, the poem reverts to the tone of the beginning: one of calm and peace. Carroll’s utilization of tone shifts throughout the entire poem keeps the reader on their heels. The constant shifts allow the reader to remain entertained and engaged with the poem. The constant shift in tone used by Carroll is characteristic of a mountain climb. The tone begins as a peaceful, normal one then escalates into one of violence as the clash against the jabberwocky ensues, then reverts back to the peaceful tone expressed at the beginning. The constant variability of the poem’s tone mirrors that of the actual story, one that starts slow, quickly escalates, and then recedes to exactly the same place the poem began

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