Article #13-1 | Gutenberg Articles

Excerpt

Excerpt from The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in Eight Fits, by Lewis Carroll

In view of this painful possibility, I will not (as I might) appeal
indignantly to my other writings as a proof that I am incapable of
such a deed: I will not (as I might) point to the strong moral purpose
of this poem itself, to the arithmetical principles so cautiously
inculcated in it, or to its noble teachings in Natural History--I will
take the more prosaic course of simply explaining how it happened.

The Bellman, who was almost morbidly sensitive about appearances, used
to have the bowsprit unshipped once or twice a week to be revarnished,
and it more than once happened, when the time came for replacing it,
that no one on board could remember which end of the ship it belonged
to. They knew it was not of the slightest use to appeal to the Bellman
about it--he would only refer to his Naval Code, and read out in
pathetic tones Admiralty Instructions which none of them had ever been
able to understand--so it generally ended in its being fastened on,
anyhow, across the rudder. The helmsman used to stand by with tears in
his eyes; he knew it was all wrong, but alas! Rule 42 of the Code, “No
one shall speak to the Man at the Helm,” had been completed by the
Bellman himself with the words “and the Man at the Helm shall speak to
no one.” So remonstrance was impossible, and no steering could be done
till the next varnishing day. During these bewildering intervals the
ship usually sailed backwards.

As this poem is to some extent connected with the lay of the Jabberwock,
let me take this opportunity of answering a question that has often been
asked me, how to pronounce “slithy toves.” The “i” in “slithy” is long,
as in “writhe”; and “toves” is pronounced so as to rhyme with “groves.”
Again, the first “o” in “borogoves” is pronounced like the “o” in
“borrow.” I have heard people try to give it the sound of the “o” in
“worry”. Such is Human Perversity.

Explanation

Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in Eight Fits (1876) is a nonsensical epic poem that blends absurdity, satire, and existential dread under the guise of a whimsical adventure. The excerpt provided offers a meta-commentary on the poem’s creation, a glimpse into the chaotic world of the Snark’s crew, and a playful digression on pronunciation—all while embodying Carroll’s signature style of logical illogic. Below is a detailed breakdown of the passage, focusing on its textual mechanics, themes, and literary devices.

1. Context and Overview of the Excerpt

The passage is part of Carroll’s preface to The Hunting of the Snark, where he adopts a mock-serious tone to "explain" the poem’s origins. The excerpt does three key things:

Deflects moral scrutiny by humorously dismissing the idea that the poem has a "strong moral purpose" or educational value (e.g., arithmetic, natural history).
Illustrates the absurdity of the Snark’s world through the anecdote about the Bellman’s ship, where bureaucratic nonsense leads to literal backward progress.
Interrupts the narrative with a tangential pronunciation guide for Jabberwocky words, underscoring the poem’s playful defiance of conventional meaning.

The tone oscillates between self-deprecating wit, satirical bureaucracy, and linguistic pedantry—all hallmarks of Carroll’s style.

2. Themes

A. Absurdity and Meaninglessness

The excerpt embodies the poem’s central theme: the futility of seeking order in a world governed by arbitrary rules. Key examples:

The bowsprit anecdote: The crew’s inability to determine which end of the ship the bowsprit belongs to is a metaphor for existential confusion. Their solution—attaching it "anyhow"—mirrors the poem’s broader critique of blind adherence to systems (e.g., the Bellman’s "Naval Code") that lack inherent logic.
"Sailed backwards": The ship’s literal reversal symbolizes the crew’s (and humanity’s) tendency to move in the wrong direction when following dogma. It also foreshadows the Snark hunt’s ultimate pointlessness.

B. Bureaucracy and Authority

Carroll satirizes rigid hierarchies and unquestioned rules:

Rule 42: The Bellman’s addition to the Naval Code ("the Man at the Helm shall speak to no one") parodies real-world institutional absurdity. The helmsman’s silent suffering highlights how authority stifles dissent, even when the system is clearly broken.
Admiralty Instructions: The Bellman’s appeal to incomprehensible regulations mocks legalistic jargon and the blind trust placed in "official" texts (e.g., religious doctrine, government decrees).

C. Language and Perversity

The digression on pronouncing Jabberwocky words ("slithy toves," "borogoves") serves multiple purposes:

Arbitrariness of language: Carroll asserts his authority as the creator to define pronunciation, yet his explanations are just as whimsical as the words themselves. This underscores how language is a constructed, malleable system.
"Human Perversity": The line critiques people’s tendency to impose their own (incorrect) interpretations onto things, even when the "correct" answer is provided. This reflects the Snark hunters’ doomed quest—they project meaning onto the Snark, which may be inherently meaningless.

3. Literary Devices

A. Irony and Parody

Mock-preface: Carroll’s "prosaic" explanation is anything but straightforward. He feigns humility ("I will not... appeal indignantly") while simultaneously drawing attention to the poem’s absurdity.
False authority: The Bellman’s Naval Code is a parody of military or religious texts that demand obedience without clarity. The helmsman’s tears ironically contrast with the Code’s cold indifference.

B. Absurdist Humor

Logical illogic: The bowsprit being attached "across the rudder" is physically and nautically nonsensical, yet the crew accepts it because the alternative (questioning the Bellman) is forbidden. This mirrors the Snark hunt’s illogical premises.
Understatement: "The ship usually sailed backwards" is delivered with deadpan gravity, amplifying the absurdity.

C. Metafiction

Breaking the fourth wall: Carroll interrupts his own narrative to address the reader directly (e.g., the pronunciation guide), reminding us that the poem is a constructed game. This aligns with his broader interest in puzzles and wordplay (e.g., Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland).
Self-referentiality: The mention of Jabberwocky ties The Snark to Carroll’s earlier work, suggesting a shared universe where language and logic are fluid.

D. Symbolism

The ship: Represents any system (society, religion, government) that operates on unquestioned rules. Its backward motion symbolizes regression or stagnation.
The Bellman: A stand-in for authoritarian figures who hide behind opaque rules to avoid accountability. His "morbid sensitivity about appearances" critiques leaders more concerned with optics than function.

4. Significance of the Passage

A. Within The Hunting of the Snark

Foreshadowing: The bowsprit anecdote sets up the crew’s incompetence and the hunt’s doomed nature. Their inability to navigate foreshadows their failure to find (or survive) the Snark.
Tone-setting: The blend of whimsy and dread ("Agony in Eight Fits") is established here. The ship sailing backward is funny, but it also suggests a deeper chaos—like the Snark itself, which may be a metaphor for death or the unknowable.

B. In Carroll’s Oeuvre

Connection to Alice: The pronunciation guide echoes Humpty Dumpty’s assertion in Through the Looking-Glass that words mean "just what I choose them to mean." Both works explore language as a tool of power and play.
Victorian satire: Carroll, a mathematician and logician, uses nonsense to critique Victorian-era rigidities—scientific, social, and linguistic. The Bellman’s Code parodies the era’s obsession with rules (e.g., etiquette, colonial bureaucracy).

C. Philosophical Implications

Existentialism: The crew’s blind adherence to rules despite their obvious failure mirrors existentialist themes of absurdity (à la Camus). The Snark hunt is a metaphor for humanity’s search for meaning in a indifferent universe.
Epistemology: The passage questions how we "know" things. The Bellman’s Code is unreadable, the bowsprit’s placement is forgotten, and pronunciation is arbitrary—all suggesting that knowledge is fragile and subjective.

5. Close Reading of Key Lines

"I will not... appeal indignantly to my other writings"
- Carroll humorously dismisses the idea that his works have moral weight, yet the very act of denying it draws attention to the poem’s layered meanings. This is classic Carrollian irony.
"Rule 42... had been completed by the Bellman himself"
- The Bellman’s addition to the Code is a power grab—he silences the helmsman to avoid challenge. The number "42" may be a nod to bureaucratic arbitrary (later famously used in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy as the "Answer to Life").
"During these bewildering intervals the ship usually sailed backwards."
- The understated "usually" makes the absurdity feel routine, emphasizing how easily people accept dysfunction. The backward motion is both literal and metaphorical (regression, futility).
"Such is Human Perversity."
- This line encapsulates Carroll’s view of humanity’s tendency to misinterpret, overcomplicate, or rebel against clear instructions—whether in language, morals, or systems.

6. Why This Matters

The excerpt is a microcosm of The Snark’s genius: it’s simultaneously a children’s adventure, a satirical allegory, and a philosophical puzzle. Carroll uses nonsense not to escape meaning but to expose the nonsense inherent in "serious" systems—whether language, authority, or the search for truth. The bowsprit anecdote, in particular, is a masterclass in how absurdity can reveal profound truths about human folly.

In the end, the passage (like the Snark itself) resists a single interpretation. Is it a critique of blind faith? A meditation on language? A joke about Victorian hypocrisy? Carroll would likely say: Yes—and also none of the above. The beauty—and the agony—lies in the hunt.

Questions

Question 1

The Bellman’s insistence on referring to the Naval Code despite its incomprehensibility most closely parallels which of the following real-world phenomena?

A. A scientist citing peer-reviewed studies to justify a hypothesis that contradicts observable evidence.
B. A poet invoking classical mythology to lend gravitas to a trite modern love poem.
C. A politician quoting constitutional amendments selectively to obfuscate a policy’s legal weaknesses.
D. A religious leader interpreting sacred texts literally while ignoring their historical and cultural contexts.
E. A bureaucrat enforcing an outdated procedural manual whose original purpose has been rendered obsolete by technological change.

Question 2

The narrator’s aside about the pronunciation of “slithy toves” and “borogoves” primarily serves to:

A. underscore the poem’s accessibility by providing clear phonetic guidelines for readers.
B. highlight the arbitrary nature of linguistic authority and the futility of prescriptive rules.
C. distract from the darker existential themes of the poem with a moment of pedagogical whimsy.
D. establish the narrator’s credibility as a meticulous and authoritative linguistic scholar.
E. critique the reader’s tendency to mispronounce nonsensical words due to overreliance on conventional phonetic patterns.

Question 3

The ship’s tendency to sail backwards during “bewildering intervals” functions as a metaphor for:

A. the inevitability of regression in societies that reject technological progress.
B. the cyclical nature of human history, where civilizations repeatedly revisit past mistakes.
C. the psychological phenomenon of retroactive interference, where new information disrupts established memories.
D. the consequences of adhering to rigid, illogical systems that prioritize form over function.
E. the existential condition of being trapped in a temporal loop, unable to escape repetitive futility.

Question 4

Which of the following best describes the relationship between the narrator’s tone in the first paragraph (“I will not... appeal indignantly”) and the anecdote about the Bellman’s ship?

A. The narrator’s initial humility is undercut by the absurdity of the Bellman’s actions, revealing a satirical intent.
B. The narrator’s self-deprecation contrasts with the Bellman’s authoritarianism, emphasizing the poem’s moral ambiguity.
C. The narrator’s ironic detachment mirrors the crew’s passive acceptance of dysfunction, reinforcing the theme of systemic complicity.
D. The narrator’s playful deflection in the first paragraph is abandoned in favor of outright ridicule in the anecdote.
E. The narrator’s tone shifts from defensive to didactic, using the Bellman as an example of how not to lead.

Question 5

The phrase “Such is Human Perversity” is most thematically aligned with which of the following interpretations of the passage?

A. A lament about humanity’s inability to appreciate the beauty of invented languages like “slithy toves.”
B. A celebration of human creativity in subverting linguistic and social norms.
C. An observation that humans inherently resist authority, as seen in the helmsman’s silent rebellion.
D. A critique of the human tendency to impose incorrect or rigid interpretations onto ambiguous systems.
E. A neutral description of the inevitable chaos that arises when individuals prioritize personal whims over collective rules.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: E

Why E is most correct: The Bellman’s adherence to an incomprehensible Naval Code—despite its impracticality—most closely aligns with a bureaucrat enforcing an obsolete procedural manual. Both scenarios involve blind adherence to rules that have lost their original purpose or functionality, leading to absurd or counterproductive outcomes. The passage emphasizes the Code’s incomprehensibility and the crew’s helplessness, which parallels how bureaucracies often perpetuate dysfunction through unquestioned adherence to outdated systems.