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Logical Nonsense: The Logic within Lewis Carroll's Works and Life

Juliana O'Neill

Dr. Kent, Dr. Bart, and Dr. Raney Honors Thesis: HON 401-402

8 April 2011

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Most readers consider Lewis Carroll's works delightful, entertaining, and hilarious, but

few consider them logical. After investigating the life and writings of Carroll, however, logical

is the only word to describe his work. Lewis Carroll, a pseudonym for Charles Lutwedge

Dodgson, was a mathematician with a very logical mind. By playing with language, Carroll

went beyond nonsense writing and created logical nonsense. With this paradoxical genre, he

could express his worldview, amuse readers of all ages, and offer them an escape from the chaos

of reality. By infusing nonsense with logic in his writings and life, Carroll reveals his positive

worldview and his love for the complexities within people and the world.

Lewis Carroll was born Charles Lutwedge Dodgson on January 27, 1832 and was the

oldest son of an Anglican clergyman. A very imaginative child, he loved to write plays and draw

pictures for his seven sisters and three brothers. After attending a boarding school, he lived and

studied at Christ Church, Oxford. Although, he was a very devout Christian and planned to enter

the clergy, he received special permission from the Dean of Christ Church to remain at school as

a Deacon without taking Holy Orders. He never married and was known as a shy man with a

stutter. Although he taught mathematics at school and published a few books about logic and

geometry, he was by no means a great mathematician. In his spare time, he was a photographer.

He was very fond of children, especially little girls. On July 4, 1862 while rowing to a picnic

with three girls (one of them was named Alice), he told a story that would make him famous. He

only made one trip abroad, retired early, and died on January 14, 1898 at his sister's house near

London (Woolf 2-3).

Both Carroll and his work have received extensive analysis from critics since his death.

Some of these critics believe Carroll was a twisted man and others see within him an innocent,

childlike man. The former opinion is surely the more tempting one, which may explain its

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popularity among present day scholars: “As might be imagined, the Freudians have had a field

day analyzing [Carroll's] relationships with small girls...But there is no reason to believe that his

conscious affection was ever impure” (Kirk 5). Other scholars believe that Carroll had a split

personality due to the disparity between Dodgson the mathematician and Carroll the frivolous

companion of children. After rejecting these claims, some recent scholars believe that “flashy”

conclusions about Carroll's personal life have “gotten into the hands of those unskilled in

psychology, with the result that what should be cocktail-party chatter now appears under the

guise of scholarship” (Kirk ii). Regardless, these opinions and debates have not discouraged the

steady appreciation and love of Carroll’s work. The Alice books, Alice’s Adventures in

Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, have delighted and

intrigued readers of all ages since the day of their publication. Indeed, the only way to discover

the truth about a mysterious man is to study his own words.

Carroll's writings reveal his loving nature. The commemorative cards at his funeral

reveal a particularly insightful passage from his sermon called “An Easter Greeting”:

I do not believe God means us to divide life into two halves – to wear a grave face on Sunday, and to think it out of place to even so much as mention Him on a week-day....And if I have written anything to add to these stores of innocent and healthful amusements that are laid up in books for the children I love so well, it is surely something I may hope to look back upon without much shame and sorrow (as how much of life must then be recalled!) when my turn comes to walk through the valley of shadows. (In Lindseth i)

Carroll understood the importance of maintaining a unified life. Even though his interests

varied, he centered his life around his faith. He also had an immense love for others, especially

children. At his death, his friends focused on these two facts. In one of his letters, Carroll

expresses his love for other people: “One of the deep secrets of Life [is] that all that is really

worth...doing is what we do for others” (Dodgson Letters Vol 1 813). His letters also reveal his

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focus on service:

The letters...spell out the way that Dodgson practiced what he preached. Indeed, he spent much of his life in the service of others: writing for their instruction and amusement; paying for their schooling, for their lessons in French, music, and art; getting them jobs; guiding their careers; meeting their dentists' bills; buying them railway tickets; treating them to the theatre; giving them inscribed copies of his books and other presents; taking their photographs; inventing games and puzzles for them; tutoring them in mathematics and logic; giving them religious guidance; feeding and clothing them; and, of course, telling them stories. (Cohen Preface to Letters Vol 1 xv)

His writings and the testimonies of his contemporaries create a picture of a loving and innocent

man. While Carroll possibly performed all of these kind deeds in order to create a façade to

distract the world from his true nature, the amount of references to the goodness of his deeds and

heart cast doubt on this theory.

Carroll's writings reveal his heart, but they also reveal his whimsical and childlike side.

Much of Carroll's nonsense has tempted scholars into over-analyzing both his work and the

minute details of his life: “For twenty-one years (approximately 1870-1891), he consistently

wrote in purple ink; and then suddenly stopped. The significance of this is unclear” (Greenacre

168). This eagerness to find deeper meaning in Carroll's everyday actions casts doubt on some

of the current popular opinions about this author. For instance, though many scholars believe

that Carroll was a pedophile, the accounts of the children he befriended do not support this

theory. For example, Isa Bowman – one of Carroll's young friends – truly adored this man. He

saw her perform in a play and became good friends with her until his death. He even dedicated

his novel Sylvie and Bruno to her. Her book, Lewis Carroll: As I Knew Him, reveals her strong

affection for this loving and caring man. She referred to him as “the greatest friend that children

ever had” (Bowman 132). Besides personal testimonies to Carroll's innocence, the pure

nonsensical nature of his work also reveals his childlike and whimsical personality. His poem

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“The Walrus and the Carpenter” from Through the Looking-Glass, for instance, does not contain

hidden meaning beyond its nonsensical value. Sense did not always have the strongest influence

over his word choice:

When Carroll gave the manuscript of his poem to [the illustrator], he offered the artist a choice of drawing a carpenter, a butterfly, or a baronet. [The illustrator] chose the carpenter. Any of the words would have suited the meter and rhyme scheme, and Carroll apparently had no strong preference as far as the nonsense was concerned. Since Carroll acknowledged that some words in this piece are interchangeable, one would be well advised not to press such a poem too hard for a meaning. (Kelly 60)

Carroll himself admitted that some of his work was merely nonsense. After the publication of

his nonsense poem, The Hunting of the Snark, people begged Carroll to tell them whether the

poem was an allegory, political satire, or full of some hidden moral. The author only had one

response: “I don't know!” (Kelly 64). Some parts of Carroll's life and works are not worth over-

analyzing merely for the simple reason that they do not contain any hidden, deeper meaning.

The key to discovering the truth behind Lewis Carroll and his works is to focus on the important

parts of his life and his works as a whole.

The first step to understanding Carroll is to integrate his seemingly disparate

personalities. Could the whimsical man responsible for the popular Alice books also be the same

person as the reserved, stammering deacon and mathematician? Some scholars used this

disconnect between Carroll's two sides as proof for the scandalous theories about him: “Dodgson

considered himself a happy man, but there is a gentle undertow of sadness that runs beneath

much of his nonsense: the loneliness of a shy, inhibited bachelor who lay awake at night battling

what he called 'unholy thoughts” by inventing complicated 'pillow problems' and solving them in

his head” (Gardner Sphere Packing 43). Carroll may have found release from his impure

thoughts through the logical and dry nature of mathematics. Gardner's analysis of Carroll's

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nonsense, however, seems to gloss over much of the joy within his life. Indeed, his works

probably would have never achieved their past and current popularity nor would they have

delighted countless readers if they had contained an “undertow of sadness.” Finding a way to

understand these two sides, however, is essential since the unity between them reveals insight

into Carroll's work. The problem with Carroll's two personalities begins immediately with his

two names: “It is always a problem to know how to refer to Carroll. Should he be 'C. L.

Dodgson,' as his friends and family knew him, or 'Lewis Carroll', the famous author? I have for

no particular reason, chosen the later” (Woolf 9). There is no meaningful reason to choose one

name over the other since both names refer to the same man. It is convenient, however, to refer

to this man as Carroll since his literary works are more popular and well known than his

mathematical works published under the name Dodgson. The separation of these names is

sometimes used in arguments proposing that Carroll had a split personality. Before

understanding Carroll, the reader must integrate these two sides. A recent scholar has found such

a way and coined the term “semeiotician” to describe Carroll: “I have chosen 'semeiotician,'

derived from 'semeiotic,' a modern name for the study of 'any system of signs which can be used

in some communicative function.' Only such a broad, exotic, and yet precise name properly

describes Dodgson, whose uncommon mind went out to language in almost all of its facets”

(Kirk 1-2). Under this analysis, there cannot be two separate men. When looking at language

from a mathematical prospective, it is possible to see the connections among Carroll's writing.

He approached literature both with a logical, mathematical mind and with the heart of a child.

Carroll's writing is more than just nonsensical; it is logical nonsense. His nonsense “is

not merely the denial of sense, a random reversal of ordinary experience and an escape from the

limitations of everyday life into a haphazard infinity, but is on the contrary a carefully limited

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world, controlled and directed by reason, a construction subject to its own laws” (Sewell 5).

Carroll's nonsense reveals his love for language. The subject of Carroll's work seems outlandish

and absurd, but it is governed by the rules of nonsense. In this sense, there is a logic to his

nonsense. The goal of this nonsense is “to create a universe which will be logical and orderly,

with separate units held together by a strict economy of relations, not subject to dream and

disorder with its multiplication of relationships and associations” (Sewell 113). Carroll's

mathematical mind never leaves him, even in the midst of his literary writing:

“His serious poetry is largely derivative, romantic, sentimental, lyrical, and moral. His nonsense poetry, on the other hand, is highly original, cerebral, amoral and sometimes sadistic...Underlying and unifying both modes of poetic expression is Carroll's profound and obsessive concern with order and meaning in a world that constantly threatened him with anarchy and absurdity” (Kelly 30).

His nonsense seems to be a way for Carroll to deal with the chaos of the world; he escapes to a

world that is both ridiculous and organized. His writings appeal to children due to its whimsical

nature, but also to adults by releasing them from the world and returning to a childlike wonder

and imagination.

This creation of logical nonsense sets Carroll apart from all other nonsense writers and

explains his lasting success:

When he 'relaxes' into his nonsense mode he implicitly acknowledges the terrifying absurdity and chaos of reality and proceeds to deal with it as if it were capable of control. Tweedledee and Tweedledum fighting over a rattle, the Snark hunters, the Walrus and the Carpenter – all go about their business with a cool, logical, and careful determination. Their actions, however, ultimately make no sense because they are all emblems of the unknowable void that underlies Carroll's nonsense. They are comic characters because they act as if they are operating in a comprehensible, ordered world. Thus the importance of puzzles, numbers, formulae, rules, and regulations in his comic poetry and nonsense. (Kelly 37)

Carroll's nonsense completely changes the rules of language. While his works do not strike

people as beautiful or full of life meaning, their logical nature eventually becomes quite evident:

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“Nonsense is by nature logical and anti-poetic, an attempt to render language as a closed and consistent system on its own. It reorganizes language, not according to the rules of prose or poetry, but according to those of play; and the objects of that play are words. Since what is highly variable cannot be played with, ambiguity must be stripped as far as possible from the language. Nonsense works with discrete units or words, and organizes them within a strict self-referential framework....Nonsense disorders references that words have to the familiar sequence of events in everyday life” (Kelly 38).

Nonsense should be organized; it is the ordered response to the chaotic world. It also should be

enjoyable. Carroll's whimsical and logical nature allows him to reach the full potential of

nonsense; his nonsense becomes logical nonsense.

The nonsense, in itself, does not mean anything, but Carroll uses nonsense as a medium

for expressing his worldview. The specific details of the nonsense, such as whether the Walrus

goes for a walk with a Carpenter, butterfly, or baronet, do not mean anything to Carroll: “The

natural tendency of a reader is to ask, What does this line mean? The answer, in nonsense, is that

it means what it says and nothing more” (Kelly 38). In fact, understanding the plot or the

definitions of the words is not even necessary to enjoy Carroll's nonsense: “The central interest

in 'Jabberwoky', [a famous poem from Through the Looking-Glass,] is not in its story line but in

its language. Our unfamiliarity with 'slithy toves,' 'borogoves,' and 'Bandersnatch' makes the

poem mysteriously fun. The words conjure up associations in our minds that provide a 'feeling'

for their meanings” (Kelly 58). In his works, Carroll perfectly combines his intellect and

playfulness. He makes “structures so complex and entire that, for whatever reason[,] we come to

them and...we [are] held within them simply by the pleasure of watching Dodgson playing, this

time, with the stuff of his very life, and at the very top of his game” (Gray x-xi). Taking Carroll's

works as a whole reveals his outlook on the world. Within these works, Carroll reveals “the

inestimable value of play. [It is] an activity that releases man from mechanical routine and

enhances his human spirit....Games, like laughter, remind us of our humanity in so far as they

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free us of mechanical routine. Logic, to Carroll, is essentially a game” (Kelly 166). If games,

and therefore logic, rescue man from the drudgery of life and release his true humanity, Carroll's

work does have meaning. Carroll's “view of life as a game is essentially a comic (not frivolous)

one, and such a view, with its focus upon objectivity and upon spontaneity within rigidly defined

limits, arouses and engages our human instincts” (Kelly 166). In a letter to his brother

Skeffinton in 1893, Carroll reveals how this worldview has affected all parts of his life: “I always

feel that a sermon is worth the preaching, if it has given some help to even one soul in the puzzle

of Life” (Cohen Letters vol 2 946). In the same way, a bit of nonsense is useful if it has helped at

least one person in the “puzzle of Life.” Carroll has two thoughts regarding the world; it is an

enigma and the people within it need help. His response is to create logical nonsense and, for the

most part, he succeeds in lifting his readers from the world by delighting them with his nonsense:

“Carroll's unique vision of the world has now been assumed into our own dream life, our

imaginations, and our popular culture....[an] absurd world made comfortable by the grace of wit

and laughter” (Kelly 167). The details of Carroll's nonsense meant nothing, but its overall

message meant everything.

Carroll's mathematical background allowed him to create logical nonsense. For him,

language was merely an extension of mathematics and it fascinated him “how its words can be

manipulated like mathematical symbols to make sense or nonsense; how it can entertain or bore;

how when mishandled it can lead the mind down devious paths; how it can be used for puns,

riddles, and fantastic tricks” (Kirk 1). Indeed, Carroll could see the mathematics contained

within language. While many scholars note that Carroll was a mathematician, few explore this

part of his life and how it relates to his writings (Kirk 2). Some readers even consider his logic

books a “waste of time” (Kirk 23). His mathematical life did not really have an effect on the

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world: “Never was he to appear as a startling and original scholar, never was he to contribute

important ideas to the growing field of theoretical mathematics, either as a teacher or writer”

(Kirk 8). His works, however, reveal Carroll's firm sense of order and logic: “Thoroughness,

conscientiousness, and conservatism – these qualities remained characteristic of all the serious

mathematical work Dodgson did” (Kirk 8). All of Carroll's works, however, contain the same

lightheartedness and frivolity that is typical of his other works.

One of his more well-known mathematical pieces, Euclid and His Modern Rival, truly

reveals Carroll's wit and love for mathematics. This work was relevant in Carroll's time because

of the current debate over Euclid's geometry in the mathematical world:

In the late 1860s there was widespread concern that Euclid's geometry, as taught in English secondary schools, was archaic when compared with the more flexible approach to geometry taught in Continental schools. The French had abandoned Euclid in the Napoleonic era...In England, teachers were obliged to follow geometrical propositions in Euclid's order without deviation, often leading to the parroting of Euclid without any conception of what it meant to think geometrically. (Crilly 309)

This disagreement over methods of teaching geometry lasted for over thirty years (Crilly 310).

Carroll was one of the few supporters of Euclid's geometry; his book, Euclid, is a defense of

Euclid written in dialogue form and divided into four acts. The book begins with a geometry

professor Minos, named after the judge of the dead in Hades, correcting student papers. He and

a colleague, Rhadamanthus, begin complaining about how the new geometry textbooks have

caused the students to turn in papers filled with circular, illogical, and confusing proofs. Minos

dreams later that he meets the ghost of Euclid, who defends his works against modern rivals.

Carroll's book continues with various defenses for Euclid (Carroll Euclid, Kirk 12-13). This

work is truly unlike any other mathematical piece of the time. Carroll often adds humor to the

book, but it never detracts from his argument and points (Kirk 13-14). Although Carroll signed

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all of his mathematical work as Charles Lutwedge Dodgson, he clearly integrated the two sides

of his life in every activity; he brought mathematical thinking to literature and literary ingenuity

to mathematics.

This blend of mathematics and literature set Carroll and his work apart from

contemporaries and possibly explains his success throughout various time periods. Carroll

certainly puzzled many people with his two different interests: “How could a professional

mathematician, thinking customarily along strict, straight disciplined

lines...create...worlds...where nonsense rules?” (Cohen Interviews xxii). His mathematics and

creative interests could not remain separate. Indeed, one would need to have a firm grasp of

logic in order to create such nonsensical worlds found in the Alice books. This skill of

integrating the ideas of mathematics with literature impressed his readers. In his academic

pamphlets, he inserts numerous puns and variations of wordplay, “but more fascinating is [his]

humorous introduction of mathematical and logical terminology into contexts where they

normally would never appear” (Kirk 31). This unusual but pleasing practice made all of Carroll's

activities amusing: “Still, even in mathematics his whimsical fancy was sometimes suffered to

peep out, and little girls who learnt the rudiments of calculation at his knee found the path they

had imagined so thorny set about with roses by reason of the delightful fun with which he would

turn a task into joy” (Bowman 5). This blend of mathematics and literature also made Carroll's

opinions very unique. For instance, he – being a very precise and logical man – hated

exaggerations. Bowman remembered that Carroll particularly disliked the phrase, “I nearly died

of laughing” (Bowman 24). Considering the wordplay in the Alice books, this hatred for

hyperbole does not seem too far-fetched. Much of his books revolve around characters

attempting to interpret the world by understanding everything by its literal meaning. Carroll was

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likely to rebuke any use of exaggeration in his younger friends, but also jokingly ridicule them

(Bowman 24). One time Bowman and her sisters ended a letter to Carroll saying that they sent

him “millions of kisses.” In Carroll's response, he calculated exactly how long it would take for

Bowman and her sisters to distribute these millions of kisses – about twenty-three weeks – and

then told them that he just could not spare that kind of time (Bowman 24-25). This kind of

logical playfulness allowed Carroll to create logical nonsense and delight countless readers.

Carroll's works are full of games, riddles, and logic problems that he created based on his

love for logic and other mathematical concepts. These puzzles “will be enjoyed by children of

ages five to ninety-five, and also by some adults” (Wakeling Preface Rediscovered Puzzles xiii).

Many of the games in the Alice books are syntax games:

Dreaming of apples on a wall And dreaming often, dear, I dreamed that, if I counted all, – How many would appear? (Carroll in Kirk 35)

Here, Carroll is merely “playing with ordinary language on the level of syntax, drained of all

semantic meaning” (Kirk 35). The answer to the riddle is ten; the “often” in the second line also

stands for “of ten,” thus giving the answer. He is also credited with writing a square poem,

which can be read across and down:

I often wondered when I cursed, Often feared where I would be - Wondered where she'd yield her love When I yield, so will she. I would her will be pitied! Cursed be love! She pitied me. (Gardner The Universe 20).

This poem must have taken time and patience, which Carroll needed to have as a mathematician.

Also, the symmetry of the poem is quite pleasing from a mathematical perspective.

Some of Carroll's jokes are based on more basic mathematical concepts. His characters

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argue by using algebraic ideas:

Carroll's great nonsense ballad, The Hunting of the Snark, bristles with word play, logic paradoxes, and mathematical nonsense. When the Butcher...tries to convince the Beaver that 2 plus 1 is 3, he adopts a procedure that starts with 3 and ends with 3. It is not apparent, unless you write an algebraic expression for the operations, that the process must end with the same number you start with. The algebraic expression is: [(x+7+10)(1000-8)/992]-17. (Gardner The Universe 10)

This algebraic expression simplifies to x. A stanza from one of Carroll's poem from his book,

Rhyme? And Reason?, also reveals an example of an interesting mathematical equation:

Yet what are all such gaieties to me Whose thoughts are full of indices and surds? x2+7x+53 = 11/3 (Carroll in Gardner The Universe 15)

Some scholars have speculated that this stanza may be a whimsical self-portrayal of Carroll.

There is no value for x in the final equation. If the 53 had instead have been -53, then the

problem would have two irrational solutions. Carroll, the logical and organized mathematician,

would have surely caught such an error. Perhaps he meant the equations to be nonsense

(Gardner The Universe 15-18). These two examples of mathematical equations in his literary

works reveal Carroll's mathematical mind. Most readers would probably pass over these

algebraic details and miss this interesting puzzle. Some of Carroll's puzzles and games had more

useful values. For example, he devised a system for figuring out the day of every date. It

involved adding four different values computed from the century, year, month, and day in

modulo seven1

Carroll’s writings also contain mathematical ideas that do not involve any algebra.

, with the solution giving the day that corresponded with the proper number

(Gardner The Universe 25).

1 Modular arithmetic, sometimes called clock arithmetic, is a form of addition where the numbers return to zero after reaching a factor of the selected number. In modulo seven, 7=n. e.g. In modulo seven, 6 would remain 6, 8 would become 1, 19 would become 5, and 49 would become 0.

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Carroll also has two riddles without answers. The first is the Hatter's question, “Why is a Raven

like a writing desk?” (Carroll Wonderland in Completed Works 68) and the other is the last comic

poem in the Looking-Glass:

'First, the fish must be caught.' That is easy: a baby, I think, could have caught it. 'Next, the fish must be bought.' That is easy: a penny, I think, would have bought it. 'Now cook me the fish!' That is easy, and will not take more than a minute. 'Let it lie in a dish!' That is easy, because it already is in it. 'Bring it here! Let me sup!' It is easy to set such a dish on the table. 'Take the dish-cover up!' Ah, THAT is so hard that I fear I'm unable! For it holds like glue- Holds the lid to the dish, while it lies in the middle: Which is easiest to do, Un-dish-cover the fish, or dishcover the riddle? (Carroll Looking-Glass in Completed Works 242)

Some readers believe that answer to the latter riddle is an oyster. Carroll offers answers for

neither of these riddles: “[A]n unanswered riddle exemplifies Carroll's idea of language games”

(Kelly 63). All of the puzzles within his works reveal Carroll's delight in combining literature

and mathematics. He brings his logical and mathematical mind into all of his activities and it can

be credited with some of Carroll's success.

Much of the puzzles and jokes in the Alice books reveal Carroll's love for logic. For

Carroll, logic was relevant in mathematics and in language. He was mostly interested in “syntax,

which is concerned with the relationship between linguistic symbols....A good deal of logic and

mathematics falls into the category of syntax” (Kirk 34). In his poem, “Jabberwocky,” Carroll

continues to play with the logic within language: “[T]he same mind that was attracted to the

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peculiar symbols of logic and mathematics, and that sought in the technical works to investigate

the ambiguities and tangles of linguistic confusion, expressed itself indirectly in some of the

finest passages of Alice” (Kirk 57-59). For example, during the mad tea party with the Mad

Hatter in Wonderland, the Hatter attempts to teach Alice the importance of converses (Carroll in

Collected Works 69). Despite his confusing nonsense, he explains that “I mean what I say” and

“I say what I mean” are not the same. They are actually converses and the party continues with a

variety of examples of converses. Alice does not understand the difference between most of the

statements. This intrusion of logic reveals “that the Mad Tea-Party is not quite so mad after all”

(Kirk 63). The characters in Carroll's works are subject to his logical mind, despite their

surrounding nonsensical environments: “Sometimes the folk of Wonderland make sense,

sometimes not. When they speak nonsense, a reader is instantly aware that sometime has gone

wrong, but often the exact nature of their error is not so easily grasped” (Kirk 63). This vague

confusion follows the reader throughout Wonderland; instead of frustrating the readers, however,

it amuses and fascinates them.

Carroll's logical nonsense not only delights and intrigues readers, but it also reveals some

philosophical issues from his time; this comparison reveals Carroll’s positive worldview. One

scholar even made the bold claim that Carroll “influenced modern British philosophy more than

any other English writer” (Rosenbaum 13). In particular, Carroll's Alice books contain some of

the philosophical ideas of Ludwig Wittgenstein, an Austrian philosopher. Much of Carroll's

nonsense “has its source in certain fundamental confusions and errors...[T]he very same

confusions with which Wittgenstein charges philosophers were deliberately employed by Carroll

for comic effect” (Pitcher 231). Although their approach and reaction to nonsense differed, both

of these men considered nonsense a world governed by logic. For the philosopher, logical

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nonsense was more dangerous than regular nonsense since it “has the semblance of sense”

(Pitcher 230). Though Carroll enjoyed discovering logical nonsense, Wittgenstein warned

against this sort of nonsense.

Much of Wittgenstein's instances of logical nonsense deals with the details of language

which absolutely delighted Carroll, like syntax problems and confusing the meaning of words.

For instance, Wettgenstein “makes the point that one must not be seduced into thinking that one

understands a certain sentence simply because it is grammatically well-formed and consists

entirely of familiar words: The sentence may, in fact make no sense whatever” (Pitcher 232).

This example of nonsense happens countless times in the Alice books:

Alice felt dreadfully puzzled. The Hatter's remark seemed to her to have no sort of meaning in it, and yet it was certainly English. “I don't quite understand you,” she said, as politely as she could. (Carroll Wonderland in Collected Works 70)

Wittgenstein also comments on the meaning of words. He “attacks the idea that what a person

means when he says anything is essentially the result of his performance of a mental act of

intending (or meaning) his words to mean just that” (Pitcher 242). Carroll's works are full of

instances of characters meaning one thing and saying another. Some of these characters admit

that they are choosing a meaning of the words that disagrees with the conventional meaning:

“I don't know what you mean by ‘glory’,” Alice said. Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. “Of course you don't — till I tell you. I meant ‘there's a nice knock-down argument for you!’” “But ‘glory’ doesn't mean ‘a nice knock-down argument’,” Alice objected. “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master — that's all.” Alice was too much puzzled to say anything; so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. “They've a temper, some of them — particularly verbs: they're the proudest — adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs — however, I can manage the whole lot of them! Impenetrability! That's what I say!”

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“Would you tell me please,” said Alice, “what that means?” “Now you talk like a reasonable child,” said Humpty Dumpty, looking very much pleased. (Carroll Looking-Glass 196)

While amusing in Carroll's works and a typical occurrence in everyday life, this belief that the

meaning of words can change to fit a situation causes problems when attempting to communicate

an idea. As a mathematician, Carroll understood this need for a common language; although, he

would frequently use different symbols and terminology in his mathematical proofs (Rice and

Torrence 94). This deviation from the common and well-known symbols – the practice of being

“master” over the definition of one’s words – guarantees a breakdown in communication.

Wittgenstein also identifies some nonsense that relates to mathematical proofs, which

were a significant part of Carroll's life as a mathematician. One such mathematical idea is the

Law of the Excluded Middle, which states that for every proposition, either the proposition is

true or its negation is true, but never both or neither. Wittgenstein argued that in philosophy,

“the Law of the Excluded Middle...say[s] nothing” (Pitcher 234). Carroll addresses this idea in

Alice’s conversation with the Knight:

“It's long,” said the Knight, “but it's very, very beautiful. Everybody that hears me sing it – either it brings tears into their eyes or else–” “Or else what?” said Alice, for the Knight made a sudden pause. “Or else it doesn't, you know.” (Carroll Looking Glass in Collected Works 224)

In a sense, the Law of the Excluded Middle is not actually helpful in a real world setting. It is

essential in mathematical proofs since nothing can be assumed without being proven. In the

world, knowing that either of two options is true does not necessarily add to one's knowledge and

understanding. Wittgenstein also argues that “one cannot always with sense make the easy

transition from some to all” (Pitcher 237). He provides the example: “[A]lthough it certainly

makes sense to say that people sometimes make false moves in some games, it does not make

sense to suggest that everyone might make nothing but false moves in every game” (Pitcher

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237). Carroll playfully brings up this issue when the Caterpillar scolds Alice for incorrectly

reciting the words of a poem.

“That is not said right,” said the Caterpillar. “Not quite right, I'm afraid,” said Alice timidly: “Some of the words have got altered.” “It is wrong from the beginning to end,” said the Caterpillar; and there was silence for some minutes. (Carroll Wonderland in Collected Works 52)

Carroll reveals his mathematical precision in this passage. If one part of a poem or mathematical

proof is incorrect, it ruins the entire piece. In the world, however, a small amount of inaccuracy

is usually not enough to ruin the whole composition. Carroll brings his mathematical mind to his

writing to create pleasing, logical nonsense and to cause his reader to think about some of the

illogical practices in the world.

Wittgenstein also focuses on instances where the relationship between ideas fails. He

makes the point that “there are acts which make little or no sense because nothing of the right

sort follows from them; they do not have the consequences or connections that are needed to

make them into the kind of acts they purport to be” (Pitcher 233). Alice discovers this fact when

she attempts to measure her height by placing her hand on the top of her head. This action is a

very typical childlike response, but because it does not provide any information regarding height,

it is nonsensical: “Alice ate a little bit, and said anxiously to herself 'Which way? Which way?',

holding her hand on the top of her head to feel which way it was growing; and she was quite

surprised to find that she remained the same size” (Carroll Wonderland in Collected Works 22).

Wittgenstein also studies relationships “between...what a thing (quality, process, etc.) is and what

it is called” (Pitcher 238). Carroll plays with this idea when the Cheshire Cat describes himself

as “mad” because he does not fit the description of a cat:

“Well, then,” the Cat went on, “you see a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm

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angry. Therefore I'm mad.” “I call it purring, not growling,” said Alice. “Call it what you like,” said the Cat. (Carroll Wonderland in Collected Works 66)

The Cat's response is quite interesting. The reader is unsure whether Carroll agrees with Alice or

with the Cat. Renaming concepts in order to fit an idea can lead to an illogical system, but the

Cat's initial comparison to a dog did not really have a basis. This passage merely provides an

example of Carroll playing with logic and leaving the reader without any concrete answers.

Another famous passage dealing with relationships occurs when the Knight attempts to tell Alice

the name of his song:

“The name of the song is called 'Haddocks' Eyes.'” “Oh, that's the name of the song, is it?” Alice said, trying to feel interested. “No, you don't understand,” the Knight said, looking a little vexed. “That's what the name is called. The name really is 'The Aged Aged Man.'” “Then I ought to have said 'That's what the song is called'?” Alice corrected herself. “No, you oughtn't: that's quite another thing! The song is called 'Ways and Means': but that's only what it's called, you know!” “Well, what is the song, then?” Said Alice, who was by this time completely bewildered. “I was coming to that,” the Knight said. “The song really is 'A-Sitting On A Gate': and the tune's my own invention.” (Carroll Looking-Glass in Collected Works 224)

The Knight and Alice clearly have different ideas about the relationship between an item and its

name. This passage exemplifies Carroll's logical nonsense. The Knight clearly has a strong

grasp of language and of the importance of precise language, yet the reader feels Alice's

exasperation. The Alice books truly reveal Carroll's delight for language.

While Wittgenstein and Carroll both identify sources of nonsense, Carroll uses nonsense

whereas Wittgenstein attempts to destroy it. The nature of nonsense can be frustrating. Even

Alice struggles to understand the nonsense surrounding her: “Alice's 'ear' for nonsense is

infallible; but she is never able to locate the source of the trouble” (Pitcher 238). Carroll's

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logical nonsense is very childlike, which is why it appeals both to children and to the child in

every adult: “It is the kind of nonsense that results from the very natural confusions and errors

that children might fall into, if only they were not so sensible. It is nonsense, in any case, that

can delight and fascinate children” (Pitcher 249). Wittgenstein is unable to see this childlike

innocence in nonsense and this point more than any other divides him from Carroll’s worldview:

“[Nonsense] tortured Wittgenstein and delighted Carroll. Carroll turned his back on reality and

led us happily into his (wonderful) world of myth and fantasy. Wittgenstein, being a philosopher,

exerted all his efforts to drag us back to reality from the (horrible) world of myth and fantasy”

(Pitcher 250). Indeed, this delight in logical nonsense and childlike joy are the reasons for

Carroll's lasting success.

Carroll reveals his love for mathematics, logic, and people throughout his works and this

interdisciplinary nature of his writings is responsible for their success. The Alice books changed

children's literature into a less serious and a more entertaining genre. Besides the Bible and

William Shakespeare, Carroll is one of the most quoted authors (Cohen Interviews xvi). The

Alice books have certainly received all sorts of praise: “Alice in Wonderland is worth the

attention of all literate people..[I]t is funny, sophisticated, entertaining, beautiful, thought

provoking, instructive, and universal in its significance – in short, a masterpiece of the first

rank!” (Kirk ii). There are two reasons for Carroll's immense success: he loved mathematics and

he loved making people happy. Carroll and his readers experience the most joy from his writing

when he uses mathematical concepts: “Carroll the mathematician and logician, then, is

inseparable from Carroll the nonsense writer: the principles of order, logic, and gamesmanship

hold the same for both. Nearly all of Carroll's jokes are jokes either in pure or applied logic”

(Kelly 157). Carroll's works also reveal his love for people, especially children. Isa Bowman

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recalled that when Carroll became famous, he dreaded the attention. She did believe, however,

that he was proud of his work and its positive effect in the world: “I believe it was a far greater

pleasure for him to know that he had pleased some child with Alice or The Hunting of the Snark,

than it was to be hailed by the press and public as the first living writer for children” (Bowman

117). With his logical nonsense, Carroll was able to connect with his audience and bring joy to

readers of all ages.

With his passion for logic, Lewis Carroll created logical nonsense and used it to express

both his positive worldview and his love for people. Carroll could see the mathematics within

language and the beauty within all mathematics. This kind of interdisciplinary thinking allowed

him to create a new genre and infuse it with meaning beyond the typical frivolousness of

children's literature or nonsense works. Examining his overall work, the reader can see Carroll’s

delight in the world and the people within it.

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