The story is presented in the form of a conversation that takes place between Father and son. The son is quite curious about some abilities of his father. He thinks his father is too old, so it surprises him. In the first question, the son says that his father is very old and his hair is white.’ But, it is a surprise that he continuously stands on his head. So, he asks his father whether he thinks it is right at such an age.
In reply, the father says that he used to do that since his childhood. First, he was in constant fear it would injure his brain. But, now, he perfectly knows that this exercise would not harm Him. Therefore, he engages in doing it. In his second question, the son says that although he is ancient, he has grown obese. Yet, he quite promptly turns back somersaults at the door. So, the son asks what the reason is for that.
In reply, the father, without showing embarrassment and shaking his curly white hair, says that when he was a young man, he used to keep all his limbs supple or flexible. For this purpose, he used a kind of ointment – one bottle or pill cost one shilling. Then, he very funnily invites his son to buy some drugs.
Thirdly, the son talks about his father’s jaws and teeth. As he is ancient, his jaws and teeth should be weak. Therefore, anything challenging, he should find it difficult to bite. But, to his astonishment, he could chew a whole goose, including its bones and the beak. So, he asks his father how he managed to do it.
In reply, their father says that when he was a young man, he used to do law practice. He argued law points with his wife. As a result, he received muscular strength, and as a result, he got powerful jaws and teeth. He was sure this strength would remain for the rest of his life.
In the last question, the son refers to his father’s eyesight.
“…… one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;.”
He wants to emphasize that his eyesight is very weak, but to his surprise, he balances an eel on the end of his nose. So, he asks what made him so clever. But, at the peak of the incident, the older man loses his temper. He says that he has already answered three questions, and he accuses that his son is trying to affect his superiority. He asks whether he thinks he can listen to such stuff. So, finally, quite surprisingly satirically, he chases his son away. The incident is presented in a conversational form so that the dialogues are in direct speech form. The poet tries to apply a dramatic value to the story. One can dramatize the conversation as it is in an old ballad. In each situation, the son describes his ‘surprise’ and then asks the question.
The questions are based on situations that one finds difficult to analyze as realistic. They need some validity whether such an older man in his old age could perform such miracles.
“Incessantly stand on the head.”
“Turned back somersault.”
“Finished the goose with the bones and the beak.”
“Balanced an eel on the end of ‘your nose.”
The Young man presents these situations as if he has experienced or visualized them. But, in general, the reader must argue for these ‘skills’ validity. However, in his replies, the father has tried to reason out each ‘wonder. He argues that he has been practicing all these skills since his youth so that he finds it no difficulty to perform them even today, although it is a surprise for his son. And in each situation, it appears that he seeks some reason to make all these extraordinary abilities realistic.
First, he was pretty hesitant that when he stood on his head, it would damage his brain. Secondly, he has got his limbs supple because he has been applying some ointment. Thirdly, as he used to argue some law points with his wife from an early, he still enjoys the strength of his jaws and teeth. But, it is pretty controversial to trust all these excuses as they are far beyond the validity and reality. They are some extraordinary exceptions that one cannot readily believe.
However, the primary purpose or objective of the poet was to generate humor or fun through sarcasm and irony. The whole incident becomes a laughing stock mainly because of the older man’s behavior. It appears that the poet is not so much concerned about the trustworthiness of these incidents. Still, they should be presented as some funny incidents from which specially child-readers can gain enormous enjoyment. Children like this kind of wonder and miracles. Therefore, the poet Louis Carrols has successfully created surprise, curiosity, fun, and pleasure.
Specially speaking, the way the questions are asked is very humorous. The son
levels some hard sarcasm at his father. For instance,
“Do you think, at your age, it is right?”
The son clearly suggests that it is not right for such an old man.
“Pray, what is the reason of that?”
Turning somersault is not suitable for such an old man. Here, the expression
‘pray’ is very effective. It denotes the surprise as well as displeasure.
“Pray, how did you manage to do it?”
To the point of view of the Youngman, it is quite impossible for an old man to
have such an ability to bite even the bones and beak of a goose.
“What made you so awfully clever?”
This is the most serious situation how the old man balanced an eel at the end of
his nose. This is really not practicable. So, the son in this question, challenges on his
father’s cleverness.
All these questions create sharp irony in the character of the older man. The poet presents his character as an unusual one. This extract from the reputed children’s story “Alice In Wonderland” shows that this character has been fabricated merely to convey a sense of comicality so that the characters’ reality could hardly be expected. The answers are more satirical. The responses to each question are far from the truth. On the other hand, they are also confined to humor and mocking.
“In my mouth,
I feared it would injure the brain;
But now That I’m perfectly sure I have none,
Why do I do it again and again.”
When we build up the image of an old man whose hair had been turned ‘verywhite’ who has grown ‘uncommonly fat,’ whose jaws and teeth are very weak, and whom one would hardly suppose that his eyesight is steady, how can the reader believe in all these gossips?
He talks about some beautiful ointment that has enabled him to keep his limbs active. He has argued law points with his wife to get muscular strength in his jaws and teeth. These all can be considered as some ‘petty excuses,’ and they essentially contribute to the comic effect of the whole story.
The last stanza is quite sarcastic. It is pretty natural that older people every quickly loses their temper. Very often, they are hot-tempered. That nature is illustrated vividly in the last stanza. So far in the poem, the son asked tough questions that challenged the age of the gatherer. But, in each question, the son looks at his father mockingly. However, the older man is quite wise and tactful that he gives some evasive answers, sometimes exceeding the limits of reality. The father responds quite hyperbolically.
“………which it gave to my jaw?
Has lasted the rest of my life.”
In the last stanza, the way the father answers is quite frustrating. By then, the reader has been quite fascinated by how he answers. They create enormous enjoyment and entertainment. Now, in the last question, he tries to escape his responsibility.
“I have answered three questions, and that is enough.
……….don’t give yourself airs
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I’ll kick you downstairs!”
He accuses his son that by asking the questions, he has tried to demote him so that he does not want to answer any more questions. That means the older man has already understood that his son wanted to bully him, so he refruses giving any answer to the last question.