The Complete Alice in Wonderland (57 page)

Force-Feed That Puppy!:
For some reason, Carroll goes into a bizarre aside about a puppy named Dash, and how it needed to be force-fed oatmeal porridge (because it would not eat it on its own).

Beware the Hippopotamus!:
Continuing with the grim parade of cautionary tales, Carroll warns us
not
to play with a Hippopotamus, lest we be squashed underfoot.

The Rules of Abuse:
In the home of the Duchess, we are told all about ugly people, murder with axes, and baby tossing. However, we are also reminded about the proper way to hold a child while nursing!

Fox-Glove, the Fairy Flower:
Carroll takes the time to tell an interesting story above Fox-Gloves, and how they relate to the fairy world.

Does Vanishing Cause Madness?:
There is an intriguing mention associating the Cheshire-Cat’s vanishing with Alice’s fears about going out like a candle, and no longer existing. We can speculate that the nature of the Cat’s madness may be founded in the fact that his vanishing is actually a momentary form of non-existence, in which he is not only not there, but simply
is not
at all.

Straw, the Sign of the Mad:
Carroll points out an oft-missed detail, that the March Hare has a few bits of straw stuck to his head (from cavorting madly about in the fields). This depiction was actually quite common in Victorian times, as shorthand for insanity or wild (rural) behavior.

An Illustrator’s Rare Error:
Carroll kindly glosses over the fact that Tenniel forgot to illustrate the milk-jug at the Mad Tea-Party, by implying that the jug and the March Hare’s plate are hidden behind the tea-pot.

At What Price a Topper?:
We are told that the numerals on Hatter’s hat-tag show the price of his hat to be ten shillings and six pence, quite a lavish price.

A Reptilian Gryphon:
Instead of feathers, Carroll tells us that the Gryphon is covered in lizard-like scales. (Since we now know that birds’ feathers evolved from dinosaurian scales, this is not so far-fetched.)

Fear of Becoming Food:
If it hadn’t been made quite clear in the prior versions, we are told that the Mock Turtle is in fear of being beheaded, and having his calf’s head used to make a tasty soup.

The Privileges of High Birth:
We are told that the Knave (of royal birth) deserves a trial, while all of the lesser personages in the croquet game were threatened with decapitation. By implication, it is also interesting that Alice, of the upper middle class, is given a trial as well.

Secrets of the Jury:
Carroll takes the time to point out the identities of the jurors, even those which were not mentioned in
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
. They are: #1 - a Frog (of what relation to the Frog-Footman, we do not know); #2 - the Dormouse (from the Mad Tea-Party); #3 - a Rat; #4 - a Ferret (which the White Rabbit mentioned he was fearful of); #5 - a Hedgehog (from the croquet-ground, and quite used to tumbling); #6 - the Lizard (Bill, from White Rabbit’s home); #7 - a Bantam-Cock; #8 - a Mole (wearing spectacles to help him see); #9 - the Duck (friend of the Dodo); #10 - a Squirrel (perhaps from White Rabbit’s place); #11 - a Storkling (a young Stork, perhaps from either White Rabbit’s or the Pool of Tears); and #12 - a Mousling (a young Mouse, who might be the son of the Mouse who Alice met earlier).

Introduction – The Snark Was a Boojum

THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK
is (and it may be alone in this category!) an
epic
poem of nonsense. It follows the misadventures of a foolish crew as they hunt a fabulous creature called a Snark. Danger awaits them, for Snarks are capricious and random at the best of times. Worse still, some few Snarks are Boojums: a sub-species known only for its terrible power to wink observers entirely out of existence.

The poem is thoroughly entertaining, and (despite its more adult and ominous tone) fits well with
Through the Looking-Glass
and
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
. The link may seem tenuous at first, and Alice does not appear in the poem at all. However, Carroll was kind enough to leave us some few clues which explain how
The Hunting of the Snark
is actually a continuation of the world portrayed in the Alice tales! (We shall see precisely how a bit later on.)

In his essay “‘Alice’ on the Stage,” Carroll explained the creation of the poem as follows:

“I was walking on a hillside, alone, one bright summer day [in July, 1874], when suddenly there came into my head one line of verse—one solitary line—‘For the Snark
was
a Boojum, you see.’ I know not what it meant, then: I know not what it means, now; but I wrote it down: and, some time afterwards, the rest of the stanza occurred to me, that being its last line: and so by degrees, at odd moments during the next year or two, the rest of the poem pieced itself together, that being its last stanza. And since then, periodically I have received courteous letters from strangers, begging to know whether ‘The Hunting of the Snark’ is an allegory, or contains some hidden moral, or is a political satire: and for all such questions I have but one answer,
‘I don’t know!
’”

In several letters (such as this one from 1880), Carroll refused to elaborate on the riddle of the Snark:

“I have a letter from you ... asking me ‘Why don’t you explain the
Snark
?’ Let me answer it now – ‘because I ca’n’t.’”

In a letter dated August 18, 1884, however, Carroll provided a few meager clues as to the poem’s meaning:

“As to the meaning of the
Snark
? I’m very much afraid I didn’t mean anything but nonsense! Still, you know, words mean more than we mean to express when we use them: so a whole book ought to mean a great deal more than the writer meant. So, whatever good meanings are in the book, I’m very glad to accept as the meaning of the book. The best I’ve seen is ... that the whole book is an allegory on the search for happiness. I think this fits beautifully in many ways.”

Are we confused yet?
 
We might think so, but the story grows stranger as we go on!

A Letter of Curious Monstrosities

THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK
is—with good reason—regarded as the second-most famous and laudatory of all nonsense poems (bowing only to that eternal champion by the very same author, “Jabberwocky”). Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece, this “Agony in Eight Fits,” is a nonesuch treasury of maddening wit and wisdom. Few readers realize, however, that the poem’s story actually takes place in the exact same dream-world as Alice’s Wonderland and Looking-Glass Land.

I include here the pertinent excerpt of a letter which Lewis Carroll wrote to one Mrs. Chataway, explaining this very fact. It is intriguing because it firmly ties
The Hunting of the Snark
to
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
, and to
Through the Looking-Glass
even moreso.

Ch. Ch. Oxford

November 7, 1875

DEAR MRS. CHATAWAY,

With the exception of my Publisher, Printer, and Artist, and my own family, I have told nobody yet of my intention of bringing out a little Christmas book. And I think you are the next person to whom the announcement ought to be made, because I have taken as a dedication, the verses I sent you the other day in MS. It will be a very small book—not 40 pages—a poem (supposed to be comic) with a frontispiece by Mr. Holiday. The advertisements will appear about the middle of this month, I suppose, and till then I should be glad if you would not let the name of the book go beyond your own family-circle—I don’t mind the fact, that the book is in the press, being known—but the name ought to be new when it appears. It is called “The Hunting of the Snark,” and the scene is laid in an island frequented by the Jubjub and Bandersnatch—no doubt the very island in which the Jabberwock was Slain.

(...)

Believe me

yours very sincerely,

C. L. DODGSON.

We are left with the understanding that there is a mysterious island, perhaps not far from Looking-Glass Land, which is home to the Jabberwock, Jubjubs, Bandersnatches and Snarks. And, as we shall see, the intrepid dreaming adventurer who dares to explore that island is not Alice, but rather Lewis Carroll himself!

THE HUNTING

OF THE SNARK

An Agony in Eight Fits

By

LEWIS CARROLL

With Illustrations By

HENRY HOLIDAY

Dedication

Inscribed to a dear Child:

in memory of golden summer hours

and whispers of a summer sea.

Prefatory Poem

GIRT with a boyish garb for boyish task,

Eager she wields her spade: yet loves as well

Rest on a friendly knee, intent to ask

The tale he loves to tell.

Rude spirits of the seething outer strife,

Unmeet to read her pure and simple spright,

Deem, if you list, such hours a waste of life,

Empty of all delight!

Chat on, sweet Maid, and rescue from annoy

Hearts that by wiser talk are unbeguiled.

Ah, happy he who owns that tenderest joy,