The Walrus and the Carpenter

As in all of Lewis Carroll’s works, nonsense is deliberate and inescapable—the poem is, after all, a classic example of the literary nonsense genre. In the novel, Alice encounters the poem of “The Walrus and the Carpenter” in the looking-glass world, where everything is reversed from the real world. This reversal features as a motif in the poem from the very beginning, where the sun blazes in the middle of the night, causing the moon to feel upset.

The first stanzas, describing the interaction between the sun and the moon, seemingly have little to do with the story about the Walrus and the Carpenter, but the upside-down setting sets the tone for the rest of the poem. Besides representing Carroll’s trademark silliness, the male sun’s infringement on the female moon’s domain—the night—introduces the themes of Deception and Betrayal and The Exploitation of the Weak by the Powerful, which become central later in the poem when the Walrus and Carpenter set out to deceive the oysters.

Nonsense continues to reign throughout the poem. The Walrus and the Carpenter weep copiously at the sight of all the sand on the beach, for reasons that are never specified. They wonder if “seven maids with seven mops” (25) could sweep away all the sand in half a year, and conclude that they would be unable to do so. Notwithstanding the pointlessness of the task of sweeping away all the sand from the beach, the Carpenter sheds “a bitter tear” (30) when he remarks that it cannot be done. The subjects of conversation the Walrus lists to the oysters are also nonsensical:

‘The time has come,’ the Walrus said,

‘To talk of many things:

Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax—

Of cabbages—and kings—

And why the sea is boiling hot—

And whether pigs have wings’ (Lines 61-62).

Sometimes, the poem calls attention to its own absurdity, as in the description of the oysters:

Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,

Their shoes were clean and neat—

And this was odd, because, you know,

They hadn’t any feet (Lines 45-48).

But the poem is not pure nonsense. In fact, few of Carroll’s poems have inspired as many diverse interpretations as “The Walrus and the Carpenter,” in spite of Carroll’s own efforts to prevent readers from making too much of the poem’s intended symbolism. In a note to Harry Furniss dated September 27, 1889, Carroll explained how he had offered to change the “Carpenter” of “The Walrus and the Carpenter” to a different character if that would better suit John Tenniel, the illustrator Carroll employed for Through the Looking-Glass; Carroll himself suggested “baronet” and “butterfly,” either of which would have suited the meter just as well, but Tenniel ultimately decided to keep “Carpenter.”

Carroll’s note to Harry Furniss suggests that there is no special significance or symbolism behind the figures of the Walrus or the Carpenter, though many readers have suggested that the Walrus represents the Buddha (because the Buddha was large like a walrus) and that the Carpenter represents Jesus Christ (because Jesus was a carpenter). This is unlikely to have been Carroll’s intention, but that is not to say that the poem is completely devoid of meaning. The characters of the Walrus and the Carpenter are commonly thought to represent authority figures who exploit the vulnerable, and several writers and authors have interpreted the poem through a political lens. The British essayist J. B. Priestley, for example, argued that the Walrus and the Carpenter represent two different kinds of politicians with their different “styles” of manipulation (“The Walrus and the Carpenter.” New Statesman, Aug. 1957, p. 168), while Walter Russell Mead took the Walrus and the Carpenter as an allegory for Britain and the United States, respectively (God and Gold. Atlantic Books, 2007, pp. 43-45).

Interpreted in a political light, Carroll’s poem critiques the abuse of authority and highlights the dangers of unquestioning obedience. The oysters, treacherously lured from their natural habitat, represent the unsuspecting and easily swayed individuals who are tricked by those who hold power. The description of the oysters following the Walrus and the Carpenter “thick and fast” (51) speaks to the idea of conformity and the tendency of individuals to simply follow in the wake of authority, even when it leads to their own ruin.

Though the Walrus and the Carpenter are equally complicit in deceiving the oysters, they are very different characters. The Walrus, with his charismatic yet hypocritical charm, represents those who manipulate others for personal gain, and points most directly to the theme of Moral Ambiguity and Hypocrisy. Thus, he makes a show of displaying remorse for his treatment of the oysters and even weeps for them:

‘I weep for you,’ the Walrus said,

‘I deeply sympathize.’

With sobs and tears he sorted out

Those of the largest size,

Holding his pocket-handkerchief

Before his streaming eyes (Lines 97-102).

The Carpenter, on the other hand, represents those who are more direct in their deception and manipulation. He complains only about how thickly the butter is spread and tells the oysters to go home after he and the Walrus have eaten (though, by then, no oysters are left).

Alice faces a conundrum when deciding which of the two titular characters is more sympathetic. After Tweedledum and Tweedledee recite the poem in Chapter 4 of Through the Looking-Glass, Alice admits that she prefers the Walrus because he at least expresses sympathy for the oysters, but the Walrus’s sympathy does not stop him from deceiving the oysters, and even as he weeps, he continues to select “[t]hose of the largest size” (Line 100) for his consumption. Alice thus finds herself confronted with the same ethical dilemma that confronts all readers of this poem, that is, whether one should judge a person by their actions or by their intentions.