poetry texts, poem archive at plagiarist.com

This is a take on Capitalism and Christianity. The Carpenter stands as a Christ figure, while also being that which feeds from the smaller, defenseless oysters (consumers feeding on the weaker consumers) Is this a negative response towards religion?!

The poem the Walrus and teh Carpenter was written in a form of abcbdb

This poem's one of my favourites. I think Caroll writes funny poetry in a mock-serious tone really well. Reminds me of Ogden Nash, rather. It's got a nice sense of movement when you're reading it - it falls into a rhythm automatically. Plus I suppose there's the whole nostalggia thing - I read it when I was a kid and enjoyed it. Though I hold that some children's books you really enjoy when you're older.

This poem means not too much of anything, but it is a comment about how people are naive at times and see things differently than they are. It is about how people can be decieved with a wink and then shown the true colors of that wink later. (it has NOTHING to do with Christianity and Capitalism) if you read the Bible you'll find that Christ was a prophet and a teacher and the son of God, none of which are the character "The Walrus" and He (Christ) did not deceive, He (Christ) came to bring LIGHT onto deception.

Much to my surprise, I found familiars at our little neighborhood sports bar trying to remember what follows: " 'The time has come,' the Walrus said, 'to talk of many things; Of shoes -- and ships -- and sealing-wax -- ' "
I was astonished that they knew it and they were still more astonished that I was able to carry on, " 'Of cabbages -- and kings -- And why the sea is boiling hot -- And whether pigs have wings.'
When I expressed my surprise that they knew Lewis Carroll, they said it wasn't Lewis Carroll they were quoting, refused to believe it came FROM Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass until I was able to produce the book. They checked my memory against the original (I'm 75) and then these divorced Dads went on to discuss providing recreation for children (live music, reading aloud to small informal groups).

This GROUP of hard-working tradesmen were totally committed to the discussion and were glad to accept a pocket book edition as a resource for their community work. The age gap between us is about 40 years. A younger GROUP had no connection whatever with the subject, never heard of it.
Beyond this local application, it is apt comment on the current global politico-economic situation. (G8 policy conferences).

I recently read in a biography of John Lennon that the Walrus symbolises communism and the Carpenter capitalism. However, on reading the poem this is not clear to me. Could somebody please explain?

The movie "Dogma" which is an excellent movie by Kevin Smith, explains a theory behind the poem:

Nun: "So let me get this straight: you don't believe in God because of Alice in Wonderland?"

Loki: "No, 'Through the Looking Glass.' That poem, the Walrus and the Carpenter? That's an indictment on organized religion. The Walrus, with his girth and good nature, obviously represent either Budda, or with his tusks, the hindu elephant god Lord Ganesha. That takes care of your eastern religions. Now For the western religions, you have the carpenter, which is an obvious reference to Jesus Christ who was raised a carpenter's son. Now in the poem, what do they do? They dupe a bunch of oysters INTO following them, and proceed to shuck and devour the helpless creatures en masse. I don't know what that says to you, but to me it says that following these faiths based on mythological figures ensures the destruction of one's inner being. Organized religion destroys who we are, by inhibiting our actions, by inhibiting our decisions, out of fear of some intangible parent figure who shakes a finger at us FROM thousands of years ago, and says "Do it and i'll F***in' spank you!""

The comment that religion corrupts inner man is absurd. For thousands of years religion has been the driving force behind education and learning. We are just now seeing what the ridding of the morals of religion from oursleves has done to society. The out of wedlock birth rate, drugs etc. All of these things cost society. The only thing i see is the incredible ways religion had driven society as a whole. Without it the world would not be a very pleasant place.

It's funny how the human race needs some imaginary force that they never meet to make them be decent people. I don't see why we need religion so bad - we just need more people who are morally decent and can make decisions without the menacing threat of damnation to hell by a group of religious people. Most of the tithes people give only go into bills the church has to pay - tell me why you couldn't just donate it all to a real fund and actually make a difference? Because organized religion is a cult that sucks out your money. As for this poem, I believe that the previous post entitled DOGMA sums it up perfectly - I couldn't agree more.

I find it interesting that certain religious fundamentalists on this site can't separate criticism from belief. Just because someone points out that a poem can be interpreted as a criticism of your beliefs does't mean that someone is attacking your beliefs. (Also, you can't use the doctrines organzied religion to argue about the validity of organized religion!) If you can't realize that "The Walrus And The Carpenter" is a commentary on organzied religion just because you are a part of organized religion, you are proving Lewis Carroll's point.