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For the poem, see The Walrus and the Carpenter.
The Walrus and the Carpenter (characters)
Walruscarpenter tenniel1
General Information
Occupation Red Bishop
Red Knight

The Walrus and the Carpenter are a pair of fictional characters from the novel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll. They only appear within a poem, that Tweedledee and Tweedledum recite in Chapter Four.

Description[]

According to the poem, the Walrus and Carpenter were walking along a beach one night when both sun and moon are visible. They came upon an offshore bed of oysters, four of whom they invited to join them; to the disapproval of the eldest oyster, many more follow them. After walking along the beach (a point is made of the fact that the oysters are all neatly shod despite having no feet), the two titular characters are revealed to be predatory and eat all of the oysters. After hearing the poem, the good-natured Alice attempts to determine which of the two leading characters might be the more sympathetic, but is thwarted by the Tweedles' further interpretation:

"I like the Walrus best," said Alice, "because you see he was a little sorry for the poor oysters."
"He ate more than the Carpenter, though," said Tweedledee. "You see he held his handkerchief in front, so that the Carpenter couldn't count how many he took: contrariwise."
"That was mean!" Alice said indignantly. "Then I like the Carpenter best—-if he didn't eat so many as the Walrus."
"But he ate as many as he could get," said Tweedledum.
This was a puzzler. After a pause, Alice began, "Well! They were both very unpleasant characters—-"

The dramatis personae for Through the Looking-Glass, identifies the Walrus as the Red Queen's bishop and the Carpenter as the Red Queen's knight.[1]

Other Appearances[]

  • Pat O'Malley voices both the Walrus and the Carpenter in the 1951 animated film, Alice in Wonderland.
  • In the novel series "The Looking Glass Wars", the walrus is re-imagined as the Walrus-Butler, who used to work for Queen Genevieve, but after she died, he works for Redd because he fears her power. Unfortunately, the carpenter doesn't make an appearance.
  • In the TV miniseries "Alice", they appear in human forms.
  • In the 2010 film, the Walrus makes a cameo appearance as a portrait on the right when Ilosovic Stayne enters the room.

Gallery[]

References

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