The Hunting of the Snark Gardner sees the poem as dealing with existential angst, and states that the Baker may be Carroll's satire of himself, pointing to the fact that the Baker was named after a beloved uncle, as was Carroll, and that the two were around the same age at the time of the writing of the poem. Alternatively, Larry Shaw of the fan magazine "Inside and Science Fiction Advertiser" suggests that the Boots, being the Snark, actually murdered the Baker. Also references to religious issues had been suggested, like the Baker's 42 boxes being a reference to Thomas Cranmer's "Forty-Two Articles" with a
Nicole Carroll Nicole Carroll Nicole C. Carroll-Lewis (born April 18, 1968, in San Francisco, California) is an American track and field athlete known for the javelin throw. She competed for USA at the 1996 Olympics after qualifying on the last throw. She is a two time American Champion in the event in 1996 and 1998. Carroll went to Alameda High School, where she was merely a shot putter and discus thrower. She took up javelin at the College of San Mateo after encouragement from Mike Lewis, a friend of her father, a San Francisco firefighter. Lewis continued as her coach and later,