Jabberwocky Essay

147 Words1 Pages
The theme of man versus nature is reflected in “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll in both the structure and the language of the poem. While the language of the poem portrays the wilds of nature, man ultimately prevails over nature when the boy slays the Jabberwock. Carroll uses fanciful language to convey untamed nature. He creates neologisms, uses nonsense words and portmanteaus to develop a picture in the minds of the reader of an unruly jungle teeming with creatures so wild it requires new words to describe. For example, “slithy” appears to be a combination of the words slimy and lithe and “frumious” is a portmanteau of fuming and furious. These word blends create a reality that is foreign and very different from the order desired by man. Carroll