Good vs Evil
This is perhaps the most prominent theme throughout the poem. From the outset, there is a clear division between who is good and who is evil. The Jabberwocky, with its ‘jaws that bite’ and ‘claws that catch!’ is immediately notified as the evil being, whereas the boy who slays the creature is praised for it, is the good one. But in reality, who is the good one? The Jabberwocky was only rumored to be a violent creature but perhaps it was just a peaceful creature? The boy gave no chance to find out if this was the case before he ‘took his vorpal sword in hand’ and ‘left it dead, and with its head - He went galumphing back.’ There is a grey area as to who is truly the good – is it the Jabberwocky who is only described to look evil but whom Carroll did not clarify behaved in an evil way, or is the boy, who ‘chortled in his joy’ at the fact that he had managed to kill it.
Courage
The poem explicitly highlights the bravery of the young boy in his defeat against the Jabberwocky. Terms and phrases such as ‘O frabjous day!’ and ‘Callooh! Callay!’ express the excitement at having rid off a once terrifying beat. Indeed other phrases to praise the boy, such as ‘beamish boy’ highlights that the slayer of the Jabberwocky will go on to experience eternal glory for this kill.
