A visual text is any form of literacy that is presented in the form of an image and gives the reader the ability to interpret the picture to make meaning of it.  There are numerous elements which the author can choose from to give the image the interpretation they want to get across. The whole point of this is to get the reader to interpret the image just like the author would describe it, but without using words. The details of the picture sub in as words to "speak" to the reader to tell a meaning.   In "Jabberwock" by John Tenniel, he uses different elements which provide an image of the fight between the monster and the kid to portray a fight with the magnitude and meaning of David verses Goliath without using a single word. 

The contrast between the two sides of going up against each other brings out the symbolism in the painting. There is a contrast in color as there is a clear border of good vs evil.  The forest is dark and gloomy, while the girl is encroaching on its territory, bringing with her all the cleanliness that follows.  The appearance of our two figures are total opposites.  The girl is weak and like an ant compared to this big, demonist monster.  The monster is fat and appears to be able to stomp out this fragile, innocent looking girl with ease.  Perfect for giving the fight a David vs Goliath feel to it as she is such an underdog and has little chances of winning. Which may be why the dad is so surprised she wins: "And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?" (Carroll).  This provides the classic symbolism that no matter what the odds are, you can overcome it with enough willpower and heart. She clearly has that as she is still going after the monster despite not being on the same size level.  This excellent use of all different types of contrasting elements brings out details of the picture that otherwise would not be so prominent.

The first element of a visual text that a reader can notice is the color of the image.  However, this does not make it any less important than other more complex elements of design because of the fact that the color of a work can set the tone for the whole interpretation.  Tenniel only uses black and white colors, which set up the classic fight of youth, purity and cleanliness verses power, authority and evil.  The light colors surround the front of the image where the little girl is standing, while the forest and background is all dark and gloomy. The forest is a character in itself. Its dark and evil with no branches on the bottom, but enough leaves at the top to block out any light.  This can show that the Jabberwock controls the forest and it is pure evil. No light enters the forest which means no goodness will either. The one part that is open to interpretation based on color is: why is the front of the Jabberwocky light? I feel the beast is light in the front, which means goodness and clearly it is not, is because it is coming out of hiding in the forest and facing purity right in the eyes. All that goodness is blinding the monster as it is exposed to its defeater, which is why his eyes are all squinted up.  The light is finally encroaching on the big bad darkness which has the monster taken back almost surprised. However, as the hero overcomes this terrible monster, light will work its way back.  It is amazing how much meaning can be inferred in context by the usage of these two simplest colors.

Another element that plays a key role in the interpretation of the painting is the realism of the detail.  The first is that the hero is portrayed as a girl by Tenniel. This is not positive but with the long hair, dress and tights it is a good possibility. This is surprising because it is a prince in the poem. Not only is it a girl, but this girl is overpowered. She is weak, fragile and young.  It is a struggle to even pick up her sword, much less kill this huge monster that is standing in front of her.  Now for the monster, some of his creating's can be traced to the poem: "The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!" (Carroll).  In the painting it has huge buck teeth, almost like that of a beaver which would be perfect for biting something ...  or someone.  The claws are scary looking, almost like tree branches on the end of its arms.  I imagine them as being sticky and being able too grab up whatever it sees fit. The rest of the monster is made up by Tenniel and a combination of lots of different animals, which fits the poem.  The one element that could really mean anything on the monster is that it is wearing the shirt of a human.  The only way I see it is that the shirt is that of one of its victims.  This adds a whole new level to the evilness of this creature, like that of some twisted murderer. Its on to show other competitors and victims that it isn't playing around and there is nothing it wont do to keep the dominance of the forest it has created. The background is the forest which is made up of tumtum trees. All of these details play a huge role in showing just how much darkness this little girl is up against.  

As we go more in depth to the interpretation, proximity comes about as to how clear an image is and if we are supposed to relate to it as defined by McCloud. He teaches us that as an image is blurry and far away, the reader does not get a visual on it so we can think of it as any normal person. We can relate to it.  If the image is defined well, the reader is not supposed to infer what the face is supposed to look like so we can not relate to it.  The monster is close up in the painting and is clearly defined.  This is most likely due to the fact that we as readers are not supposed to relate to it, because after all none of us look like a human eating monster. A visual relationship is established as the whole point of the painting to identify what this monster looks like.  However I think that the girls face is not shown on purpose so that the viewers can relate to it.  Since there is not a clear definition of what the hero looks like, then we can think of it as whoever we want to. It could even be any one of us readers.  Not necessarily fighting a weird looking creature, but symbolizing that we are all going to go through something that we are not expected to win. Instead of just giving up if we attack it head on and have no fear, just like the picture, then just maybe an underdog wins once in a while.  

As all these different layers of art are combined in this picture, there is a creation of good verses evil with the good being way over powered. With will power and hard work though we learn that no matter what you are up against anything is possible as long as you believe in yourself.  All this was taken from John Tenniel's "Jabberwock"  without the hint of a single word, just as good visual text should.    

