Essay on Lewis Carroll

Author’s Biography

Lewis Carroll, a talented children’s author, was born in Daresbury, Cheshire on January 27, 1832. His parents were Reverend Charles Dodgson and Frances Jane Lutwidge. Lewis was a victim of bullying and he also endured several illnesses, one which left him deaf in one ear. Carroll began writing when he was twelve, Lewis and his family would contribute to the writing of the “Rectory Magazines”. Lewis wrote all those that survived (Green). He is known for books that he wrote in the late 1800’s, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass, and The Hunting of the Snark. Although Lewis Carroll liked to fantasize and make up stories, he was also a English logician, mathematician, photographer, and a novelist. He attended Richmond School, Yorkshire (1844-1845), Rugby School (1846-1850), and was an undergraduate at Oxford where he was rewarded  a double 1st in mathematics and a Christ Church Studentship (Hudson).

Lewis Carroll can be seen as a reserved man due to his shyness. He never married, but enjoyed being in the company of children. Lewis always had a love for telling stories and making up games especially for his child friends. Lewis Carroll would write letters to them filled with illustrations and fantasy. In addition to being an author he was also a photographer but abandoned his work in 1880. Most of his portraits were of children in costumes placed in various positions. Lewis conducted nude studies of some of these children as well (“Carroll Lewis”). Unfortunately, Lewis died of bronchitis on January 14, 1898, near the Castle at Guildford. 

Poem Summaries

Lewis Carroll’s poem “Jabberwocky” is about a son who sets out to slay horrible creatures and celebrates with his father once he is able to accomplish this goal. There are several literary devices used in this poem. First, Carroll uses assonance. One example can be found on line 17 when he says, “One, two! One, two! And through and through.” Carroll also uses imagery in line fifteen as he describes that the Jabberwock “Came whiffling through the tulgey wood.” The poem is written as rhymed poetry. This poem was entertaining because of the dangerous adventure throughout the story. Lewis Carroll’s poem, “The Walrus and the Carpenter” is about a walrus and a carpenter who trick oysters to follow them, so they are able to devour all the oysters. Lewis uses a variety of literary devices such as personification and imagery to add more details to the poem. Personification can be seen throughout the poem, especially in the second line when the sun was “Shining with all his might.” The use of imagery allows the reader to visualize what is happening. For example, in line 1 he says, “The sun was shining on the sea.” This poem was also written as rhymed poetry. One of the main ideas in this poem is cunningness because of the persuasive personality of the walrus and the carpenter. This poem was enjoyable because of the situational irony and the relatability to feeling of cunningness (“Our favorite Lewis Carroll Poems”). 

Lewis Carroll’s “The Crocodile” is about a crocodile who uses deception to trick fish into being eaten. Carroll uses personification and anaphora in this poem. This poem is rhymed poetry. The use of made-up words and the childish context make it hard to read this poem. Lewis Carroll’s “The Mock Turtle’s Song” is about a whiting attempting to convince a snail to come dance with the other creatures. Carroll uses personification and anaphora in this poem as well. This poem is written as a ballad. This poem is enjoyable because of how smoothly it flows (“Our Favorite Lewis Carroll Poems”).

Summary of Literary Critiques

One critic viewed Carroll’s work to be logical, meaningful, and creative. He says “In The Hunting of the Snark, in particular, the nonsense is so compellingly clear and apparently full of meaning that much scholarly effort (sanctioned, one must suppose, by Carroll's frank admission that he did not know what it meant himself) has been expended on inventing meanings for it to be full of.” Bratton describes Lewis Carroll’s poems as being filled with “literary parody” combined with logical games. According to Bratton, it was obvious that Lewis was a “mathematical logician” based on his work. Carroll’s literature went from the transformation of mathematics to wonderland, showing the combination of logic to child-like imagination. Lewis Carroll’s logical thinking of social behavior was like the “unsuccessful attempts to understand what is going on” that children relate to. The poet showed childish innocence, but his relationship with young children made it harder for modern people to accept him (Bratton).

Another critic believes that no other writer in the world was more sane than Lewis Carroll. Lewis was one of the most “beloved children’s author” in the world. According to Saunders, the sounds and the patterns of the words used in Carroll’s poems are what make reading them a “memorable reading experience”. Since Carroll believed in “rationality and orderliness”, he would create situations where things seem to be extremely irrational and then attempts to bring order to the chaos. The poem “Jabberwocky” is an example of Carroll trying to bring order to an insane world. Lewis Carroll’s repressed irrationality “demanded to be released” and he did through his poem “Jabberwocky”. Saunders says “More than perhaps any writer in history, Carroll stands as a testament to the fact that things aren’t always what they seem” (Saunders).