Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" is often analyzed for its use of language and nonsense words. But Carroll's repetition of the first stanza to close the poem is far more important. Analyzing details from the text allow us to find hints that introduce an idea of a cyclic pattern occurring for the characters within the story.   

The second stanza introduces three potential threats, a Jabberwock, a Jubjub Bird, and a Bandersnatch.  One of the characters prepares himself to take on these beasts and ready's his sword.  When one of the beasts, the Jabberwock, emerges from the woods, he kills it, "He left it dead, and with its head he went galumphing back."  Upon arrival, he is met with a rejoicing father, thrilled to see the monster dead.  The first stanza is then repeated to show that the group of characters are excited and happy and at peace.  But what about the other threats? A Jabberwock has been killed but what about the Jubjub Bird or the Bandersnatch?

To find another hint, supporting the cyclic implications of this repetition, can be found when analyzing the fathers reaction so his sons arrival. The father says, "Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous the day! Callooh! Callay!"  The father is joyous, but he doesn't describe the event as an end or a final victory, rather, as a "frabjous" day.  

The description of the actual confrontation also supports the idea of an ongoing struggle with the beasts.  It describes the boy killing the Jabberwock, saying, "One, two! One, two! And through and through! The vorpal blade went snicker snack! He left it dead"(Carroll 36). This confrontation is described quickly and simply, it gives off the feeling that it was easy for the son to kill the Jabberwock.  For it to have been that easy, the son must have had practice in dealing with these creatures. This is evidence that he has had to go through this situation before and has had experience in this area. This further supports that the encounter and death of the Jabberwock is not a story of a beginning and an end, but an ongoing fight by the characters to protect themselves from all of the beasts.

When we look at the son's attitude before he encounters the Jabberwock, it is clear he has been in a situation like this before.  It describes the son, saying, "He took his vorpal sword in hand; Long time the manxome foe he sought- So rested he by the Tumtum tree And stood awhile in thought"(Carroll 36)  If someone was waiting for their first encounter with a deadly beast, they would not be calm enough to "stand awhile in thought."  His attitude is a clear indication that he knows exactly what he needs to do in this situation, and his swiftness in killing the beast only confirms that he has experience in dealing with the beasts.  

Even the second stanza, where the father describes the beasts, supports that they have dealt with the beasts as on ongoing problem. The father says, "'Beware the Jaberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch"(Carroll 36)  The only way the father would know these details about the Jabberwock is if he has encountered it before.  This illustrates that the father has taught the son how to defend against the Jabberwock, as well as the other beasts, the Jubjub Bird and the Bandersnatch.  The idea of a father teaching his son also hints, in itself, to a cycle, as each generation has new children, they will continue to be taught and have skills passed down to them.  

With all of these details in mind, the father knowing details of the Jabberwock, the son simply standing in thought before easily decapitating the Jabberwock with a "One, two! One, two"(Carroll 36), and the father celebrating the day rather than the time to come, leads us to a conclusion.  Closing the poem with the same stanza that initially introduces it, eludes to a cycle that is occurring within the story. The language used by Carroll has one purpose, to remove the focus on the descriptions.  Usually people pick apart the word choice when looking at poetry or any piece of writing for that matter, by removing the ability to analyze the word choice, we are able to focus more closely on the plot of the poem itself and recognizing the purpose of the repetition we can see what type of life the characters are living. By reading the same lines at the end of the poem the reader is drawn back to the beginning, the same way the characters are eventually going to be back where they started when a new enemy arrives. Without this idea of repetition, the story dies with the Jabberwock.  But, when picked apart, the meaning changes from one about a great triumph to one of repeated and ongoing struggle. 

