Editing The Hunting of the Snark (section)

== Plot ==

=== Setting ===

''The Hunting of the Snark'' shares its fictional setting with Lewis Carroll's earlier poem "[[Jabberwocky]]" published in his 1871 children's novel ''[[Through the Looking-Glass]]''.{{sfn|Lennon|1962|p=176}} Eight nonsense words from "Jabberwocky" appear in ''The Hunting of the Snark'': ''[[bandersnatch]], beamish, frumious, galumphing, [[jubjub bird|jubjub]], mimsiest'' (which previously appeared as ''mimsy'' in "Jabberwocky"), ''outgrabe'', and ''uffish''.{{sfn|Lennon|1962|p=242}} In a letter to the mother of his young friend [[Gertrude Chataway]], Carroll described the domain of the Snark as "an island frequented by the jubjub and the bandersnatch{{snd}}no doubt the very island where the jabberwock was slain."{{sfn|Gardner|2006|p=7}}

=== Characters ===

The crew consists of ten members, where all but one description of the members begin with the letter B:{{sfn|Kelly|1990|p=67}} a [[Town crier|Bellman]], the leader; a [[Shoeshiner|Boots]]{{efn|In his German translation of ''The Hunting of the Snark'',<ref>Günther Flemming, ALICE. Band 3: "Die Jagd nach dem Schnark (Lewis Carroll), ALICEANA & Essays zu Leben und Werk". Aus dem Englischen übersetzt und kommentiert, 668 pages, (Berlin, 2013) ISBN 978-3-8442-6493-7</ref> Günther Flemming assumes on p. 161 that "Boots" is a portmanteau word for "Bonnets and Hoods", and that therefore the Snark hunting party only consists of nine members, not of ten members.}} (the only member of the crew without an illustration);{{sfn|Gardner|2006|p=17}} a maker of [[Bonnet (headgear)|Bonnet]]s and Hoods (the only description which does not begin with the letter B); a [[Barrister]], who settles arguments among the crew; a [[Appraiser|Broker]], who can appraise the goods of the crew; a [[Billiards|Billiard]]-marker, who is greatly skilled; a [[Banker]], who possesses all of the crew's money; a [[Beaver]], who makes lace and has saved the crew from disaster several times; a [[Baker]], who can only bake wedding cake, forgets his belongings and his name, but possesses courage; and a [[Butcher]], who can only kill beavers.{{sfn|Carroll|1898|pp=8–14}}

<gallery>
File:Snark Bellman.jpg|Bellman
File:Snark Bonnet Maker.jpg|Maker of Bonnets and Hoods
File:Snark Barrister.jpg|Barrister
File:Snark Broker.jpg|Broker
File:Snark Billiard Marker.jpg|Billiard-marker
File:Snark Banker.jpg|Banker
File:Snark Beaver.jpg|Beaver
File:Snark Baker.jpg|Baker
File:Snark Butcher.jpg|Butcher
</gallery>

=== Summary ===
{{Listen |filename=The Hunting of the Snark.ogg |title=The Hunting of the Snark |description=The poem read by Robert Garrison, from the [[LibriVox]] project.}}
[[File:Lewis Carroll - Henry Holiday - Hunting of the Snark - Plate 6.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Henry Holiday's illustration of the hunt. Note accompanying Hope (midground, with anchor) and Care (background, shrouded).]]

After crossing the sea guided by the Bellman's map of the Ocean (a blank sheet of paper) the hunting party arrives in a strange land, and the Bellman tells them the five signs by which a [[Snark (Lewis Carroll)|snark]]{{efn| Carroll did not give the word ''"[[wiktionary:snark|snark]]"'' any meaning. The word "snarking" had been used in 1866 to describe a sound.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Sermons in Stones |journal=Notes and Queries |date=29 September 1866 |series=Series&nbsp;3 |volume=10 |issue=248 |page=248 |doi=10.1093/nq/s3-X.248.248-f |url=https://archive.org/stream/s3notesqueries10londuoft#page/247/mode/1up|last1=Anon }}</ref> The word "snarky" was used to mean "crotchety or snappish" in the early part of the 20th century, but that usage was later replaced by its current meaning of "sarcastic, impertinent or irreverent";<ref>{{cite web |title=Definition of ''Snarky'' |publisher=Merriam-Webster |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snarky#etymology |access-date=22 January 2019}}</ref> that adjective in turn has been back-formed to the noun "snark", meaning "an attitude or expression of mocking irreverence and sarcasm".<ref>{{cite web |title=Definition of ''Snark'' |publisher=Merriam-Webster |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snark |access-date=22 January 2019}}</ref>|group="snark meaning"}} can be identified. The Bellman warns them that some snarks are highly dangerous boojums; on hearing this, the Baker faints. Once revived, the Baker recalls that his uncle warned him that if the Snark turns out to be a boojum, the hunter will "softly and suddenly vanish away, and never be met with again".{{sfn|Carroll|1898|p=23}} The Baker confesses that this possibility terrifies him.

The hunt begins:
<blockquote><poem>
They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care;
They pursued it with forks and hope;
They threatened its life with a railway-share;{{efn|A reference to the [[Railway Mania]] of the time.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}}}
They charmed it with smiles and soap.{{sfn|Carroll|1876|p=79}}
</poem></blockquote>
Along the way, the Butcher and Beaver, previously mutually wary, become fast friends after they hear the cry of a [[jubjub bird]] and the Butcher ends up giving the Beaver a lesson on maths and zoology. The Barrister, meanwhile, sleeps, and dreams of witnessing a court trial of a pig accused of deserting its [[sty]], with a snark as its defence lawyer.

During the hunt, the Banker is attacked by a [[bandersnatch]], and loses his sanity after trying to bribe the creature.

The Baker rushes ahead of the party and calls out that he has found a snark, but when the others arrive, he has mysteriously disappeared.
<blockquote><poem>
They hunted till darkness came on, but they found
Not a button, or feather, or mark,
By which they could tell that they stood on the ground
Where the Baker had met with the Snark.

In the midst of the word he was trying to say,
In the midst of his laughter and glee,
He had softly and suddenly vanished away—
For the Snark was a Boojum, you see.{{sfn|Carroll|1876|p=83}}
</poem></blockquote>