For some, it is alcohol, pornography, or drugs.  For others, it is shopping, television, or YouTube.  For many unlucky fellows, it is a mixture of any of the above.  Whatever it is, there is no denying the fact that everyone struggles with inner demons.  Not everyone, however, meets a literal, sentient representation of their particular vice whilst innocently strolling through the woods.  Unfortunately for the plucky young girl in the picture Jabberwock by John Tenniel, running across a demon is exactly what happens to her.  The lovely thing about John Tenniel's sketch of the Jabberwock and indeed the poem it illustrates is that both are very open to interpretation.  Written almost entirely in nonsense words, The Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll is vaguely the story of a young man who goes out searching for a frightful monster and, after he finds it, slays it.  However, depending upon any number of factors, one might come up with any number of different interpretations for The Jabberwocky and Jabberwock.  These factors might include how one defines the nonsense words, what kind of persona one gives to the characters in the poem, and ones level of prior knowledge of the works of Lewis Carroll and John Tenniel.  However, from the very human-like qualities of the Jabberwock, from the use of negative vs positive imagery, and from the fact that there seems to be no inherent reason for the fight in the first place, an interpretation that we can defer about the picture Jabberwock by John Tenniel is that the young girl is facing a literal representation of one of her inner demons come to life.  

Due to the fact that the only description of the Jabberwock in Lewis Carroll's poem is that it has "jaws that bite and claws that catch" and "eyes of flame", an artist can take as much imaginative license as he wants when sketching an illustration of it (Carroll, 31).  Therefore, it is quite interesting that John Tenniel deliberately gave his drawing of the Jabberwock distinctly human qualities.  For example, the change in texture along the tops of the arms and the base of the neck, as well as the round, button-like objects on the chest make it seem very much like the Jabberwock is wearing some kind of vest.  In addition to that, the wrinkles and change of texture around the ankles look suspiciously like the tops of shoes.  Then there is the fact that one can ascribe attributes like arms, legs, or ankles to a supposedly mythical creature in the first place.  While it's ghastly head, tail, and wings are definitely aspects of the supernatural, this does not negate the fact that it also has a head in the first place, elbows and knees, and very human eyes and teeth.  One cannot invent an entirely new idea; one can only connect two pieces of information together in a way nobody has thought of before.  If man's greatest demon is himself as an old proverb suggests, it would be very fitting for the Jabberwock to look just human enough to help the reader to make the connection between the demonic and humanity.  The Jabberwock's indisputably human characteristics lend themselves to the theory that what the girl is really fighting is one of her own inner demons.  

One of the more striking things about this picture is the fact that there is a good deal of negative vs. positive imagery.  For example, since the use of color is one of the artist's most valuable tools for getting a point across, it is always interesting when an artist chooses to sketch a picture in black and white.  While there are many varying shades and textures in this picture, the lines themselves that form them are black.  One might also point out the fact that the background is dark while the figures in the foreground are much lighter.  When one thinks of truth, one normally sees it as black and white, as evil and good.  In this instance, the black and white of this picture might denote the fact that the girl's struggle with the creature is a metaphor for her real life, her true struggle with life's problems.  Another example of negative vs. positive imagery in this picture is that the girl's face is hidden while the Jabberwock's face is thrown into sharp, gruesome detail.  This might possibly allude to the fact that inner battles are often about forgetting oneself and focusing on the problem before one instead.  By using negative and positive imagery such as black vs. white and hidden vs. revealed, one might conclude that this picture of the Jabberwock is a commentary on the battle of the girl against her demons.  

An additional observation about this picture is the fact that there is no clear reason for the girl and the Jabberwock to be attacking each other in the first place.  Clearly, they are fighting.  Each figure has weapons (in the girls case a sword, and in the Jabberwock's case claws) poised to kill the other.  One might also point out the fact that the chaotic and confusing lines of this picture give the impression of conflict.  For example, all the shading is done with crosshatching instead of simply block color.   The dense trees in the background confuse the picture by crossing over to the foreground at the sides of the picture, making it difficult to piece together exactly what is going on at first glance.  However, there is no indication as to why the girl and the Jabberwock are attacking each other.  In fact, there is no indication as to which is attacking the other in the first place.  This ambiguity helps the viewer to place themselves in the girl's shoes which in turn gets them to think about what they would be fighting were they there instead of the girl.  Further supporting the theory that the monster the girl is fighting is actually a representation of one of her own inner demons, the vagueness of the reason for the fight as well as the definiteness of the fight itself gives the viewer a chance to fill in the reason with their own struggle, while giving them the common ground of the conflict to latch onto.

Ambiguity in a work of art is at once an amazing and dangerous thing.  It is amazing because it allows the reader (or viewer) to discern their own interpretation for a work.  It is dangerous because oftentimes the search for a meaning of a work gives way to the search for one "true" meaning of the work.  Where one person looks at the human qualities of the Jabberwock and sees a representation of an inner demon, another person might see a literal human caught mid transformation into a dragon.  Where one person observes the negative vs. positive imagery in Jabberwock and interprets it to imply a fight between good and evil, another person might say it is merely used to convey action and excitement.  Where one person insists that the seemingly senseless fight is a device used to help the viewer to connect to the image more, another person might point out the fact that the woods looks very haunted and that the girl is wearing armor, insinuating that she went looking for the Jabberwock.  Needless to say, there is no one "right" interpretation of Jabberwock by John Tenniel.  Yet, no matter what the interpretation, there is no denying that anyone can enjoy this fight between an intrepid little girl and a very large dragon.  

