Interpretations of The Fangly Snafferdoo

The Fangly Snafferdoo is an epic poem of early 21st century literature, in the style of Lewis Caroll's "Hunting of the Snark" with a distinct Seussian influence indicative of people with way too much time on their hands who think they know something. It has created much controversy as to it's possible hidden meanings and contradictory interpretations among literary scholars who specialize in amateur Internet publications of the period such as "blogs" and "tweets" which descended from the pamphlet press of the 15th-20th centuries.

Absurdist/existentialist interpretation

The total incoherence of the narrative is a metaphor for all of human history: that everything man thinks he has achieved is but sound and fury, signifying nothing, just like how the poem doesn't mean anything. The stage is set for a great epic battle between the hunters and what they hunt which turns out to be trivial and unimportant.

Conspiracy theorist (paranoid) interpretation

The poem deals with the theme of mind control as when the Snafferdoo can read the hunter's minds and eventually manipulates the whole world. Also, the poem itself is an example of what they want you to think listen to me i am giong to tell you the truth so listen closely before i disappear because they're coming for me now the first thin you need to do is

Dialectical/Hegelian interpretation

The Snafferdoo cools itself by lying in the sun, which is what most animals do to get warmer. It comes from a land where boiling magma causes icicles to form. The theme of strange temperatures and opposites eventually resolving into a harmony is an allegory of Hegel's concept of the historical dialectic where the thesis and the synthesis conflict with one another but eventually form the synthesis.

Environmentalist interpretations

Snafferdoo's journey as metaphor for animal rights

The Snafferdoo seems to be perfectly content in it's natural habitat until it is invaded by man, who trick it into coming to the Zoo to become enslaved by the ways of man who are spoiling the planet. Yet man does not entirely control nature as he thinks, for it's cage is made of cardboard and it has let man win - "chess" in the final line representing the eventual rebellion of the animals against man and the establishment of animal rights. Even though it has been brought to the Zoo, the Snafferdoo is quite capable of competing on an equal level with man and it's talents may cause the children, hunters and zookeepers to realize it's worth as life.

Dire prophecy of climate change

The "saltless seas" and strange, contradictory temperatures are references to what is happening to the entire Earth due to man's attempts to "make a buck" at the expense of the environment.

Feminist interpretation

The hunters are male and the Snafferdoo is female. The goals of the hunters to kill or subjugate the Snafferdoo represents male chauvinism but the Snafferdoo's interest in games and competition represents the advancement of women despite the sexist oppression they face.

Freudian interpretation

The poem is a form of psychosexual expression of the author's deep-seated subconscious wish-fulfillment.

Which is what Freudians say about everything. Also, Rule 34 applies.

Marxist interpretation

The hunters are bourgeoisie, mercilessly exploiting the proletariat Snafferdoo to "make a buck." It could become the world chess champion without being subjugated to the decadent Zoo of the capitalists if it lived under a more progressive, communist regime.

Objectivist interpretation

The Fangly Snafferdoo is a story of achievement. The hunters set out on a noble quest to achieve all that life has to offer them (to "make a buck") and meet the Snafferdoo, who is lost in a strange world of mystics. The saltlessness of the sea and the hotness and coldness of the strange land it lives in are symbols of mysticism: things that cannot be understood by reason. The hunters and the Snafferdoo together come to an agreement for their mutual benefit in a form of trade, for clearly the Snafferdoo agrees to come along with them. In the end, the poem demonstrates the virtues of competition by praising the Snafferdoo's ambitions once it has freed itself of the prison of mysticism. Its new home in the Zoo isn't really a prison, for its "cage" is made of cardboard. The strange, faroff island is the real prison and only its own ignorance has kept it there. Now that it is no longer subjugated by mysticism and has high ambitions, its potential is unlimited.

Pacifistic interpretation

Violence seems about to erupt between the hunters and the Snafferdoo until it proposes a nonviolent way to resolve their conflict. This shows that war is never the answer.

Pro-Life interpretation

The Fangly Snafferdoo is a parody of modern society's objectification of the concept of personhood. Throughout the work, the Snafferdoo is referred to as an "it" rather than as a "he" or a "she." The hunters believe it is a mere object that can be killed for their own convenience, but the Snafferdoo exhibits traits of personhood. In the end, it is adopted instead of being killed, and it achieves great things. Thus, the Snafferdoo is rather like the unborn, who can reach unknown potential if crisis pregnancies end in adoption rather than abortion.

"The Snafferdoo Code:" Probing the Hidden Secrets of the Island of Hot and Cold

Hidden within the poem is a series of hidden messages that reveal that whatever the person who discovered them wanted them to be saying is what they are really saying.and that whatever everyone else has always believed the poem is about is naive and unsophisticated. This will enable whoever discovered "The Snafferdoo Code" to sell lots of books and appear on TV.