Swift's Moral Satire in Gulliver's Travels
"In its most serious function, satire is a mediator between two perceptions-the unillusioned perception of man as he actually is, and the ideal perception, or vision, of man as he ought ot be," (Bullitt, 3). Likewise, "misanthropy" can be understood as being the product of one of two world views: 1) The Pure Cynic or Misanthropist has no faith in human nature and has given up on any notion of ideals. This type lies and manipulates as a matter of course and these are the types that tend to run the world. 2) The "Burned" or Disillusioned Idealist's misanthropy arises out of disappointment in humankind. In many ways, the second type exhibits more bile as he is constantly frustrated by what men do as opposed to what they ought to do. Jonathon Swift is the second type of misanthropist and Gulliver's Travels is arguably his greatest satiric attempt to "shame men out of their vices" (Ibid., 14) by constantly distinguishing between how man behaves and how he thinks about or justifies his behavior in a variety of situations. Pride, in particular, is what enables man to "deceive himself into the belief that he is rational and virtuous when, in reality, he has not developed his reason, and his virtue is merely appearance," (Ibid., 66). This satire works on so many levels that a paper such as this allows me to deal with only three elements, and in a necessarily superficial way: the ways in which the structure and choice of metaphor serve Swift's purpose, a discussion of some of his most salient attacks on politics, religion, and other elements of society, and his critique on the essence and flaws of human nature. Swift's purpose was to stir his readers to view themselves as he viewed humankind, as creatures who were not fulfilling their potential to be truly great but were simply flaunting the trappings of greatness. Gulliver's Travels succeeds in this goal brilliantly.
The form and structure of the whole work enhanced Swift's purpose, as did the specific metaphors in each of the four voyages. Firstly, Swift went to great pains to present Gulliver's Travels in the genuine, standard form of the popular travelogues of the time. Gulliver, the reader is told, was a seaman, first in the capacity of a ship's surgeon, then as the captain of several ships. Swift creates a realistic framework by incorporating nautical jargon, descriptive detail that is related in a "factual, ship's-log" style, and repeated claims by Gulliver, in his narrative, "to relate plain matter(s) of fact in the simplest manner and style." This framework provides a sense of realism and versimilitude that contrasts sharply with the fantastic nature of the tales, and establishes the first ironic layer of The Travels. As Tuveson points out (58), "In Gulliver's Travels there is a constant shuttling back and forth between real and unreal, normal and absurd...until our standards of credulity are so relaxed that we are ready to buy a pig in a poke." The four books of the Travels are also presented in a parallel way so that voyages 1 and 2 focus on criticism of various aspects of English society at the time, and man within this society, while voyages 3 and 4 are more preoccupied with human nature itself, (Downie, 281). However, all of these elements overlap, and with each voyage, Gulliver, and thus the reader, is treated not only to differing but ever deepening views of human nature that climax in Gulliver's epiphany when he identifies himself with the detestable Yahoos. As such, the overall structure also works like a spiral leading to a center of self-realization. Or, as Tuveson puts it, Swift's satire shifts from "foreign to domestic scenes, from institutions to individuals, from mankind to man, from others to ourselves," (62).
The choice of metaphor in each voyage serves more particularly the various points of Swift's satiric vision. "The effect of reducing the scale of life in Lilliput is to strip human affairs of their self-imposed grandeur. Rank, politics, international war, lose all of their significance. This particicualr idea is continued in the second voyage, not in the picture of the Brobdingnagians, but in Gulliver himself, who is now a Lilliputian," (Eddy, 149). And where the Liiliputians highlight the pettiness of human pride and pretensions, the relative size of the Brobdingnagians, who do exemplify some positive qualities, also highlights the grossness of the human form and habits, thus satirizing pride in the human form and appearance. In the voyage to Laputa, the actual device of a floating island that drifts along above the rest of the world metaphorically represents Swift's point that an excess of speculative reasoning can also be negative by cutting one off from the practical realities of life which, in the end, doesn't serve learning or society (Downie, 282). And in the relation of the activities of the Grand Academy of Lagado, Swift satirizes the dangers and wastefulness of pride in human reason uninformed by common sense. The final choice of the Houyhnhnms as the representatives of perfect reason unimpeded by irrationality or excessive emotion serves a dual role for Swift's satire. The absurdity of a domestic animal exhibiting more "humanity" than humans throws light on the defects of human nature in the form of the Yahoo, who look and act like humans stripped of higher reason. Gulliver and the reader are forced to evaluate such behavior from a vantage point outside of man that makes it both shocking and revelatory, (Tuveson, 62). The pride in human nature as superior when compared to a "bestial" nature is satirized sharply. However, the Houyhnhnms are not an ideal of human nature either. Swift uses them to show how reason uninformed by love, compassion, and empathy is also an inadequate method to deal with the myriad aspects of the human situation.
Within this framework, very little of human social behavior, pretensions, or societal institutions escape the deflating punctures of Swift's arrows. Ewald states that, "As a satire, the main purpose of Gulliver's Travels is to show certain shortcomings in 18th century English society..." (151). Much of the first voyage lampoons court intrigue and the arbitrary fickleness of court favor, (Eddy, 110). The rank and favor of the Lilliputian ministers being dependent on how high they can jump over a rope literally illustrates this figurative point. Gulliver himself falls out of favor because he does not pander to the King's thirst for power. The two political parties being differentiated by the height of their heels points out how little substantive difference there was between Whig and Tory, (or today between Democrat and Republican), and similarly, the religious differences about whether the Host was flesh or symbol is reduced to the petty quarrel between the Big-Endians and the Small-Endians. Swift also highlights the pretensions of politics by informing the reader of some of the laudable and novel ideals and practices of Lilliputian society such as rewarding those who obey the law, holding a breach of trust as the highest offense, and punishing false accusors and ingratitude, but shows that, like humans, even the Lilliputians do not live up to their own standards when they exhibit ingratitude for Gulliver's help and accuse him of high treason, (Downie, 278).
Of course, the perspective shifts in the second voyage, where Gulliver finds himself in the same relation to the Brobdingnagians as the Lilliputians were to him, which not only leads to some different kinds of satiric insights, but many which are sightly darker in tone. Most of the social and political criticism occurs in Chapters six and seven. Gulliver describes European civilization to Brobdingnag's King, including England's political and legal institutions and how they work, as well as some of the personal habits of the ruling class. Yet, even though Gulliver subsequently confesses to the reader that he cast this information in the most favorable light, the King still deduces that every strata of society and political power is infested with rampant corruption and dismissively concludes "the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth." This echoes a basic message of the first voyage but the attack here is more direct and corrosive. The relative size of the Brobdingnagians adds a physical dimension to the King's judgment and enhances its veracity. Also, "all the transactions of life, all passion, and all social amenities, which involve the body, lose their respectability in Brobdingnag," (Eddy, 150), from Gulliver's description of the odious breast to his viewing of a public execution. In contrast, Brobdingnagian society has many things to recommend it such as excellence "in morality, history, poetry, and mathematics," although Gulliver ironically laments that these are only applied to the practical aspects of life and not used for abstractions. However, much of Swift's political writings indicate that he, like the Brobdingnagians, favored a conception of government and society based on common-sense, (Lock, 132-134). The supreme moment of ironical criticism of European civilization occurs in Chapter seven when, after offering the secret of gun powder to the King and his subsequent horrified refusal, Gulliver declares the King to possess "narrow principles and short views!" Of course, mankind would never be so short-sighted as to turn away from learning a new method of injuring, torturing, or killing one's fellows! Aside from this sharp comment on human nature, Swift is also alluding to the eagerness with which European nations would leap at such an offer as an aid to waging war against their neighbors.
The main focus of social criticism in the voyage to Laputa is on intellectuals, such as scholars, philosophers, and scientists, who often get lost in theoretical abstractions and conceptions to the exclusion of the more pragmatic aspects of life, in direct contrast to the practical Brobdingnagians. Many critics feel Swift was satirizing "the strange experiments of the scientists of the Royal Society," but may also have been warning his readers against "the political projectors and speculators of the time," (Davis 149-150). The Laputians excel at theoretical mathematics, but they can't build houses where the walls are straight and the corners are square. Instead, they constantly worry about when the sun will burn out and whether a comet will collide with the earth. This misuse of reason is hilariously elaborated on in Chapters five and six, where the various experiments occuring at the Grand Academy of Lagado are described. Of course, the point is highlighted as Gulliver professes his sincere admiration for such projects as extracting sunbeams from cucumbers and building houses from the roof down. The satire in Voyage three attacks both the deficiency of common sense and the consequences of corrupt judgment (Quintana, 317).
Most of the criticism in the Voyage to the Houyhnhnms is directed at human nature itself, although the trend to more particular targets begun in the third voyage is continued with glancing, but increasingly direct blows to the subjects of war, (destruction clothed in the pretext of valour and patriotism), lawyers, (social parasites who measure their worth by their excellence at deception and therefore, actually inhibit justice), and money, (the greed of a few is fed by the labor and poverty of the many, as well as the relative uselessness and corruption of these priveleged few). In addition, Swift makes some very cogent observations on imperialism in the concluding chapter which point out the arrogance and self deception of European nations when they claim to civilize, through brutality and oppression, groups of indigenous people who were often mild and harmless. Of course, as Swift implies, the real goal of imperialism is greed. The most ironic point occurs when the author disclaims that this attack on imperialist countries does not include Britain, which history shows was equally as brutal as its European rivals and, in many cases, even more so, considering its Empire became at one time the largest of any European country. What I found most interesting was how many critics took this disclaimer seriously as an expression of the author's patriotism, (Ewald, 143-144, Bullitt, 64). It seems obvious that Swift is making the point that Gulliver's naive patriotism, the last remnant of identification he has with his own kind, is misplaced and it is Swift's final, palpable hit.
The main object of the satire in Gulliver's Travels is human nature itself, specifically Man's pride as it manifests in "pettiness, grossness, rational absurdity, and animality," (Tuveson, 57). Gulliver's character, as a satirical device, serves Swift's ends by being both a mouthpiece for some of Swift's ideals and criticisms and as an illustration of them (Ewald, 138-9); Thus, critiques on human nature are made through Gulliver's observations as well as through Gulliver's own transformation from a "naive individual...into a wise and skeptical misanthrope," (Ibid.,142).
Chapter seven of the first Voyage, where Gulliver is informed that he is about to be indicted for high treason by the Lilliputian Court, provides the most bitter satiric attack on hypocrisy, ingratitude, and cruelty (Tuveson, 75), yet Gulliver, and the reader, are able to distance themselves from these qualities by concluding that though these tiny creatures are aping human behavior, they are still not human. In the second voyage, both the human pride in physical appearance is attacked through Gulliver's perspective of the Brobdingnagians, and Gulliver's own pride in himself and his country is reduced to ridiculousness as Gulliver becomes the object of comic satire (Ibid., 76). Gulliver's offer of the secret of gunpowder only underscores that he is a typical member of his race. From Gulliver's theme of the excellence of mankind, begun in Chapter six, the episode concludes "with the shocking demonstration of what man's inhumanity is capable of" (Ibid., 78).
One of the most interesting comments on the human condition is the description of the immortal Struldbrugs in Voyage Three. Swift's treatment of the subject of immortality is characteristically practical and down to earth. What would it really be like to live in perpetuity? His answer: A living death. The main problem is that the human body ages and is not a fit vessel to house a perpetual consciousness. In relating this episode, Swift affirms with cutting precision that we have much in common with the rest of earth's creatures; any superior reason we may possess, and the pride we take in it, does not exempt us from the natural laws of physical death and regeneration. In Book Three, Swift not only shows the possible perversions of reason in the doings at the Academy of Lagado, but also shows its limitations in shielding us from the natural consequences of physical life. Here, he implies the importance of a moral structure to human life; reason is not enough and immortality would only make things worse.
Yet on the surface, Book four seems to argue that reason is the one quality, when properly developed, that can elevate man to his ultimate potential. But ironically it is the horse-like Houyhnhnms that possess this perfect development of reason, whereas the Yahoos, whom Gulliver most resembles, are primitive and bestial. I agree with Ewald that Voyage four contains Swift's clearest attack on human pride (154). Indeed, the quality of reason only enables humans "to aggravate their natural corruptions and to acquire new ones which Nature had not intended." Even a dispassionate view of human history would find it difficult to dispute this conclusion. Whereas the attacks on human nature in the first three Voyages deal with actions that are symptomatic of man's nature-"the corrosive satire of the last voyage is concerned with the springs and causes of action" (Tuveson, 80), in other words, the essence of man. As such, the satire directed against the pretensions of court, political corruption, and the excesses of speculative reasoning may divert and disturb Gulliver, and the reader, but it is possible to distance oneself from the attacks. But the object of the satiric attack in the last voyage is man himself: it is Gulliver and the reader. Here, "Swift is attacking the Yahoo in each of us" (Ibid., 81).
Human nature is cut into two parts: The Houyhnhnms possess reason and benevolence, and selfish appetites and brutish awareness are left for the Yahoos. The microscopic analysis of the human form that took place in the second voyage is now used to analyze the defects of man's moral nature, and it is pride that prevents man from recognizing his flaws and dealing with them. When Gulliver experiences the shock of recognition that he, too, is a Yahoo, Gulliver passes from being a "perfect example a character acting in ignorance of his condition" to experiencing "a terrifying insight into evil (which) is accompanied by all the bitterness of a profound disillusionment" (Bullitt, 61, 65). Yet, I agree with many of the critics who say that though Gulliver makes the mistake of identifying himself completely with the Yahoos, Swift and the reader do not (Ibid., 65). "For the truth, as we are meant to realize, is that man is neither irrational physicality like the Yahoos nor passionless rationality like the Houyhnhnms" (Ibid.) but are something in between. We are meant to be repulsed by the chilling calmness with which the Houyhnhnms accept death as described in Chapter nine as much as we are by the selfishness of the Yahoos, and it is clear Swift does not present Gulliver's comic and absurd withdrawal from people as a viable solution. Instead, Swift wants us to be shocked out of the pride that allows us to deceive ourselves into thinking man is completely virtuous when he is not by experiencing, with Gulliver, our own limitations without making Gulliver's final mistake. The solution to the human dilemma is not so simple as Gulliver's rejection of humanity, and Swift's final success, in terms of stimulating response, is that, after masterfully dissecting and presenting the problem, he leaves the application of his lessons to "the judicious reader."
For many critics, Gulliver's Travels "is in a sense, a tragic work...in that it is the picture of man's collapse before his corrupt nature, and of his defiance in face of the collapse" (Dobree, 447). Yet, obviously Swift felt that humbling human pride, enabling a more honest self-assessment, was absolutely vital to addressing the suffering and injustice so prevalent in human life. Contrary to many who label Swift a misanthropist, only a man who cared deeply about humanity could have produced a work like Gulliver's Travels. Weilding the scalpel of satire, Swift cuts through our self-deception to our pride, the source of our moral denial and inertia. As we travel with Gulliver through the voyages, Swift brilliantly peels away our pretensions, layer by layer, until he shows us what we are and challenges us, intensely and urgently, to be better. In Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift continues to vex the world so that it might awaken to the fact that humankind needs saving, but it has to save itself.
Swift Misanthrope or Humanitarian
Posted on Saturday the 24th of June, 2006 at 6:17 pm in History
One of the most important literary lessons one can learn from “Gulliver’s Travels” is the separation of protagonist, narrator and author. Although some times these three personalities blend into one many times they are two or three separate personalities. For example Shelly’s “Frankenstein” separates the author from the narrator and protagonist, although the protagonist is the narrator he does not know what is going to happen, just what has. Atwood’s “Happy Endings” is narrated by the author with the protagonists (although it is a stretch to call them that) are powerless. By contrast Alcott’s “I Know Why A Caged Bird Sings” combines the narrator, protagonist and the author into one single personality. An even more important part of this is how much of the author pervades the narrator and protagonist?
For “Gulliver’s Travels” it is hard to say this or that is the authors feeling or this is definitely the way the author thinks because Swift allows Gulliver to act insane and say some quite…er insane things. So unlike La Rouchefoucauld where it is easy to see what he thinks Swift hides behind Gulliver. Although the reader can easily pick up on the overwhelming theme of the book it is harder to decide what Swift’s exact feelings on the subjects are. Was Swift misanthropic I don’t think we will ever know for sure, we just have centuries old clues to go on. However one has to wonder if Swift was misanthropic why did he write a book about how man can fix his more problematic behaviors? It would seem more likely that if he was misanthropic he would right the same book without leading the reader to a path towards self improvement. Swift does list all the things that humans do wrong, and most of us will agree with them. But instead of saying that humans do all this wrong, have no good qualities and should just give into their base natures Swift also tells the reader how he thinks that humans should behave.
Swift may or not have been misanthropic, however what is clear is he was a humanitarian. Although these two terms may seem and are by definition antonyms it is possible to be both and Swift if he was indeed a misanthrope would be a good example of how the two qualities can mesh. Swift was most obviously concerned about social welfare, he believed in humans reaching above what they were and this is the very definition of humanitarian. Another way to think of is it is a blind man tells you that a flower smells beautiful do you laugh at him and tell him that he can’t tell you the flower smells beautiful because he has never seen beauty? The same way, even if Swift hated humanity he believed in humanities ability to overcome its short comings and he knew how humanity could do it. He used logic a la Orwell that unshort means the same thing as tall, instead of saying that this is what you need to become, he says this is what you are, know what are you going to do about it?
Gulliver's Travels
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Gulliver's Travels
First Edition of Gulliver's Travels
Author
Jonathan Swift
Original title
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of several Ships
Country
England
Language
English
Genre(s)
Satire and sometimes Science Fiction
Publisher
Benjamin Motte
Publication date
1726
Media type
Print
Gulliver's Travels (1726, amended 1735), officially Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of several Ships, is a novel by Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift that is both a satire on human nature and a parody of the "travellers' tales" literary sub-genre. It is Swift's best known full-length work, and a classic of English literature.
The book became tremendously popular as soon as it was published (John Gay said in a 1726 letter to Swift that "it is universally read, from the cabinet council to the nursery"[1]); since then, it has never been out of print.
Contents[hide]
1 Plot summary
1.1 Part I: A Voyage to Lilliput
1.2 Part II: A Voyage to Brobdingnag
1.3 Part III: A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan
1.4 Part IV: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms
2 Composition and history
2.1 Faulkner's 1735 edition
2.2 Lindalino
3 Major themes
4 Cultural influences
5 Allusions and references from other works
5.1 References
5.2 Sequels and imitations
5.3 Uses of characters
5.3.1 Gulliver
5.3.2 Lilliputians
5.3.3 Houyhnhnms
6 Adaptations
6.1 Literary abridgments
6.2 Music
6.3 Film, Television and Radio
6.4 Parody
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
9.1 Online Text
9.2 Film
9.3 Other Information
[edit] Plot summary
The book presents itself as a simple traveller's narrative with the disingenuous title Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, its authorship assigned only to "Lemuel Gulliver, first a surgeon, then a captain of several ships". Different editions contain different versions of the prefatory material which are basically the same as forewords in modern books. The book proper then is divided into four parts, which are as follows.
[edit] Part I: A Voyage to Lilliput
Mural depicting Gulliver surrounded by citizens of Lilliput.
May 4, 1699 — April 13, 1702
The book begins with a short preamble in which Gulliver, in the style of books of the time, gives a brief outline of his life and history prior to his voyages. He enjoys traveling, although it is that love of travel that is his downfall.
On his first voyage, Gulliver is washed ashore after a shipwreck and awakes to find himself a prisoner of a race of people one-twelfth the size of normal human beings (6 inches/15 cm tall), who are inhabitants of the neighbouring and rival countries of Lilliput and Blefuscu. After giving assurances of his good behaviour, he is given a residence in Lilliput and becomes a favourite of the court. From there, the book follows Gulliver's observations on the Court of Lilliput, which is intended to satirise the court of George I (King of England at the time of the writing of the Travels). Gulliver assists the Lilliputians to subdue their neighbors the Blefuscudians (by stealing their fleet). However, he refuses to reduce the country to a province of Lilliput, displeasing the King and the court. Gulliver is charged with treason and sentenced to be blinded. With the assistance of a kind friend, Gulliver escapes to Blefuscu, where he spots and retrieves an abandoned boat and sails out to be rescued by a passing ship which safely takes him back home.
[edit] Part II: A Voyage to Brobdingnag
Gulliver Exhibited to the Brobdingnag Farmer by Richard Redgrave
June 20, 1702 — June 3, 1706
When the sailing ship Adventure is steered off course by storms and forced to go in to land for want of fresh water, Gulliver is abandoned by his companions and found by a farmer who is 72 feet (22 m) tall (the scale of Lilliput is approximately 1:12; of Brobdingnag 12:1, judging from Gulliver estimating a man's step being 10 yards (9.1 m)). He brings Gulliver home and his daughter cares for Gulliver. The farmer treats him as a curiosity and exhibits him for money. The word gets out and the Queen of Brobdingnag wants to see the show. She loves Gulliver and he is then bought by her and kept as a favourite at court.
Since Gulliver is too small to use their huge chairs, beds, knives and forks, the queen commissions a small house to be built for Gulliver so that he can be carried around in it. This box is referred to as his travelling box. In between small adventures such as fighting giant wasps and being carried to the roof by a monkey, he discusses the state of Europe with the King. The King is not impressed with Gulliver's accounts of Europe, especially upon learning of the usage of guns and cannons. On a trip to the seaside, his "travelling box" is seized by a giant eagle which drops Gulliver and his box right into the sea where he is picked up by some sailors, who return him to England.
[edit] Part III: A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan
August 5, 1706 — April 16, 1710
After Gulliver's ship is attacked by pirates, he is marooned near a desolate rocky island, near India. Fortunately he is rescued by the flying island of Laputa, a kingdom devoted to the arts of music and mathematics but utterly unable to use these for practical ends.
Laputa's method of throwing rocks at rebellious surface cities also seems the first time that aerial bombardment was conceived as a method of warfare. While there, he tours the country as the guest of a low-ranking courtier and sees the ruin brought about by blind pursuit of science without practical results in a satire on the Royal Society and its experiments.
While waiting for passage Gulliver takes a short side-trip to the island of Glubbdubdrib, where he visits a magician's dwelling and discusses history with the ghosts of historical figures, the most obvious restatement of the "ancients versus moderns" theme in the book. He also encounters the struldbrugs, unfortunates who are immortal, but not forever young, but rather forever old, complete with the infirmities of old age. Gulliver is then taken to Balnibarbi to await a Dutch trader who can take him on to Japan. While there, Gulliver asks the Emperor "to excuse my performing the ceremony imposed upon my countrymen of trampling upon the crucifix", which the Emperor grants. Gulliver returns home, determined to stay there for the rest of his days.
[edit] Part IV: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms
September 7, 1710 – July 2, 1715
Despite his earlier intention of remaining at home, Gulliver returns to sea as the captain of a 35ton merchant man as he is bored of his employment as a surgeon. On this voyage he is forced to find new additions to his crew who he believes to have turned the rest of the crew against him. His pirates then mutiny and after keeping him contained for some time resolve to leave him on the first piece of land they come across and continue on as pirates. He is abandoned in a landing boat and comes first upon a race of (apparently) hideous deformed creatures to which he conceives a violent antipathy. Shortly thereafter he meets a horse and comes to understand that the horses (in their language Houyhnhnm or "the perfection of nature") are the rulers and the deformed creatures ("Yahoos") are human beings in their base form. Gulliver becomes a member of the horse's household, and comes to both admire and emulate the Houyhnhnms and their lifestyle, rejecting humans as merely Yahoos endowed with some semblance of reason which they only use to exacerbate and add to the vices Nature gave them. However, an Assembly of the Houyhnhnms rules that Gulliver, a Yahoo with some semblance of reason, is a danger to their civilization and he is expelled. He is then rescued, against his will, by a Portuguese ship, and is surprised to see that Captain Pedro de Mendez, a Yahoo, is a wise, courteous and generous person. He returns to his home in England. However, he is unable to reconcile himself to living among Yahoos; he becomes a recluse, remaining in his house, largely avoiding his family and his wife, and spending several hours a day speaking with the horses in his stables.
[edit] Composition and history
It is uncertain exactly when Swift started writing Gulliver's Travels, but some sources suggest as early as 1713 when Swift, Gay, Pope, Arbuthnot and others formed the Scriblerus Club, with the aim of satirising then-popular literary genres. Swift, runs the theory, was charged with writing the memoirs of the club's imaginary author, Martinus Scriblerus. It is known from Swift's correspondence that the composition proper began in 1720 with the mirror-themed parts I and II written first, Part IV next in 1723 and Part III written in 1724, but amendments were made even while Swift was writing Drapier's Letters. By August 1725 the book was completed, and as Gulliver's Travels was a transparently anti-Whig satire it is likely that Swift had the manuscript copied so his handwriting could not be used as evidence if a prosecution should arise (as had happened in the case of some of his Irish pamphlets). In March 1726 Swift travelled to London to have his work published; the manuscript was secretly delivered to the publisher Benjamin Motte, who used five printing houses to speed production and avoid piracy.[2] Motte, recognising a bestseller but fearing prosecution, simply cut or altered the worst offending passages (such as the descriptions of the court contests in Lilliput or the rebellion of Lindalino), added some material in defence of Queen Anne to book II, and published it anyway. The first edition was released in two volumes on October 26, 1726, priced 8s. 6d. The book was an instant sensation and sold out its first run in less than a week.
Motte published Gulliver's Travels anonymously and, as was often the way with fashionable works, several follow-ups (Memoirs of the Court of Lilliput), parodies (Two Lilliputian Odes, The first on the Famous Engine With Which Captain Gulliver extinguish'd the Palace Fire...) and "keys" (Gulliver Decipher'd and Lemuel Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Regions of the World Compendiously Methodiz'd, the second by Edmund Curll who had similarly written a "key" to Swift's Tale of a Tub in 1705) were produced over the next few years. These were mostly printed anonymously (or occasionally pseudonymously) and were quickly forgotten. Swift had nothing to do with any of these and specifically disavowed them in Faulkner's edition of 1735. However, Swift's friend Alexander Pope wrote a set of five Verses on Gulliver's Travels which Swift liked so much that he added them to the second edition of the book, though they are not nowadays generally included.
[edit] Faulkner's 1735 edition
In 1735 an Irish publisher, George Faulkner, printed a complete set of Swift's works to date, Volume III of which was Gulliver's Travels. As revealed in Faulkner's "Advertisement to the Reader", Faulkner had access to an annotated copy of Motte's work by "a friend of the author" (generally believed to be Swift's friend Charles Ford) which reproduced most of the manuscript free of Motte's amendments, the original manuscript having been destroyed. It is also believed that Swift at least reviewed proofs of Faulkner's edition before printing but this cannot be proven. Generally, this is regarded as the editio princeps of Gulliver's Travels with one small exception, discussed below.
This edition had an added piece by Swift, A letter from Capt. Gulliver to his Cousin Sympson which complained of Motte's alterations to the original text, saying he had so much altered it that "I do hardly know mine own work" and repudiating all of Motte's changes as well as all the keys, libels, parodies, second parts and continuations that had appeared in the intervening years. This letter now forms part of many standard texts.
[edit] Lindalino
The short (five paragraph) episode in Part III, telling of the rebellion of the surface city of Lindalino against the flying island of Laputa, was an obvious allegory to the affair of Drapier's Letters of which Swift was proud. Lindalino represented Dublin and the impositions of Laputa represented the British imposition of William Wood's poor-quality copper currency. Faulkner had omitted this passage, either because of political sensitivities raised by being an Irish publisher printing an anti-British satire or possibly because the text he worked from didn't include the passage. It wasn't until 1899 that the passage was finally included in a new edition of the Collected Works. Modern editions thus derive from the Faulkner edition with the inclusion of this 1899 addendum.
Isaac Asimov notes in The Annotated Gulliver that Lindalino is composed of double lins; hence, Dublin.
[edit] Major themes
Gulliver's Travels has been the recipient of several designations: from Menippean satire to a children's story, from proto-Science Fiction to a forerunner of the modern novel.
Published seven years after Daniel Defoe's wildly successful Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels may be read as a systematic rebuttal of Defoe's optimistic account of human capability. In The Unthinkable Swift: The Spontaneous Philosophy of a Church of England Man Warren Montag argues that Swift was concerned to refute the notion that the individual precedes society, as Defoe's novel seems to suggest. Swift regarded such thought as a dangerous endorsement of Thomas Hobbes' radical political philosophy and for this reason Gulliver repeatedly encounters established societies rather than desolate islands. The captain who invites Gulliver to serve as a surgeon aboard his ship on the disastrous third voyage is named Robinson.
Possibly one of the reasons for the book's classic status is that it can be seen as many things to many different people. Broadly, the book has three themes:
a satirical view of the state of European government, and of petty differences between religions.
an inquiry into whether men are inherently corrupt or whether they become corrupted.
a restatement of the older "ancients versus moderns" controversy previously addressed by Swift in The Battle of the Books.
In terms of storytelling and construction the parts follow a pattern:
The causes of Gulliver's misadventures become more malignant as time goes on - he is first shipwrecked, then abandoned, then attacked by strangers, then attacked by his own crew.
Gulliver's attitude hardens as the book progresses — he is genuinely surprised by the viciousness and politicking of the Lilliputians but finds the behaviour of the Yahoos in the fourth part reflective of the behaviour of people.
Each part is the reverse of the preceding part — Gulliver is big/small/sensible/ignorant, the countries are complex/simple/scientific/natural, forms of Government are worse/better/worse/better than England's.
Gulliver's view between parts contrasts with its other coinciding part — Gulliver sees the tiny Lilliputians as being vicious and unscrupulous, and then the king of Brobdingnag sees Europe in exactly the same light. Gulliver sees the Laputians as unreasonable, and Gulliver's Houyhnhnm master sees humanity as equally so.
No form of government is ideal — the simplistic Brobdingnagians enjoy public executions and have streets infested with beggars, the honest and upright Houyhnhnms who have no word for lying are happy to suppress the true nature of Gulliver as a Yahoo and are equally unconcerned about his reaction to being expelled.
Specific individuals may be good even where the race is bad — Gulliver finds a friend in each of his travels and, despite Gulliver's rejection and horror toward all Yahoos, is treated very well by the Portuguese captain, Don Pedro, who returns him to England at the novel's end.
Of equal interest is the character of Gulliver himself — he progresses from a cheery optimist at the start of the first part to the pompous misanthrope of the book's conclusion and we may well have to filter our understanding of the work if we are to believe the final misanthrope wrote the whole work. In this sense Gulliver's Travels is a very modern and complex novel. There are subtle shifts throughout the book, such as when Gulliver begins to see all humans, not just those in Houyhnhnm-land, as Yahoos.
Despite the depth and subtlety of the book, it is often classified as a children's story because of the popularity of the Lilliput section (frequently bowdlerised) as a book for children. It is still possible to buy books entitled Gulliver's Travels which contain only parts of the Lilliput voyage.
[edit] Cultural influences
From 1738 to 1746, Edward Cave published in occasional issues of The Gentleman's Magazine semi-fictionalized accounts of contemporary debates in the two Houses of Parliament under the title of Debates in the Senate of Lilliput. The names of the speakers in the debates, other individuals mentioned, politicians and monarchs present and past, and most other countries and cities of Europe ("Degulia") and America ("Columbia") were thinly disguised under a variety of Swiftian pseudonyms. The disguised names, and the pretence that the accounts were really translations of speeches by Lilliputian politicians, were a reaction to a Parliamentary act forbidding the publication of accounts of its debates. Cave employed several writers on this series: William Guthrie (June 1738-Nov. 1740), Samuel Johnson (Nov. 1740-Feb. 1743), and John Hawkesworth (Feb. 1743-Dec. 1746).
The popularity of Gulliver is such that the term "Lilliputian" has entered many languages as an adjective meaning "small and delicate". There is even a brand of cigar called Lilliput which is (not surprisingly) small. In addition to this there are a series of collectible model-houses known as "Lilliput Lane". The smallest light bulb fitting (5mm diameter) in the Edison screw series is called the "Lilliput Edison screw". In Dutch, the word "Lilliputter" is used for adults shorter than 1.30 meters. On the other side, "Brobdingnagian" appears in the Oxford English Dictionary as a synonym for "very large" or "gigantic".
In like vein, the term "yahoo" is often encountered as a synonym for "ruffian" or "thug".
In the discipline of computer architecture, the terms big-endian and little-endian are used to describe two possible ways of laying out bytes in memory; see Endianness. One of the satirical conflicts in the book is between two religious sects of Lilliputians, some of whom who prefer cracking open their soft-boiled eggs from the little end, while others prefer the big end.
[edit] Allusions and references from other works
[edit] References
Philip K. Dick's short story "Prize Ship" (1954) loosely referred to Gulliver's Travels[3]
Salman Rushdie refers to a country called Lilliput-Blefuscu in his novel Fury.
Hayao Miyazaki's anime film Laputa: Castle in the Sky is about a mythical flying island.
Rutherford Calhoun, the fictional narrator of Charles R. Johnson's novel Middle Passage briefly alludes to the Brobdingnagians.
In the 9th book of The Time Wars Series, Simon Hawke's The Lilliput Legion, the protagonists meet Lemuel Gulliver and battle the titular army.[4]
In Fahrenheit 451, Montag briefly reads a section of Gulliver's Travels to his wife, who insists that it makes no sense. The section read is "It is computed that eleven thousand persons have at several times suffered death rather than submit to break their eggs at the smaller end."
In the anime series Digimon Adventure 02 of the popular Digimon franchise, episode 28 referred to Gulliver's Travels by Iori who compared it to that of the Giga House that they were in.
In the novel Waves, by Ogan Gurel, Chapter 6 (Happiness) includes a descriptive scene in which a fantastically microscopic 'Dr.Lilliput' (a cross between Gulliver and the Lilliputians) travels inside the brain touching cells and proteins.
In an episode of Midsomer Murders, "Small Mercies", one of the victims is found murdered tied down like Gulliver in Lilliput.
Online MMORPG Latale has a town named Lilliput. To the right of this town, one may fight boats of the Lilliput army. Everything in the town is miniature, probably about 1/12 the size of your character.
SNES RPG, Mother 2 (EarthBound in US) has a "Your Sanctuary" location called "Lilliput Steps", it is a series of small footprints.
The third page in Francisco Goya's Bordeaux Album I (also known as Album H), one of eight albums of personal drawings created by the Spanish artist, is entitled "Gran coloso durmido (Large giant asleep)." It depicts the large head of a sleeping man, with dozens of miniature people next to and on him, having used ladders to climb up. According to the Goya expert Pierre Gassier (1915–2000) in his catalogue raisonné of Goya's personal album drawings[5], Goya was directly inspired by Part I, Chapter I of Gulliver's Travels.
[edit] Sequels and imitations
Many sequels followed the initial publishing of the Travels. The earliest of these was the Abbé Pierre Desfontaines' Le Nouveau Gulliver ou Voyages de Jean Gulliver, fils du capitaine Lemuel Gulliver (The New Gulliver, or the travels of John Gulliver, son of Captain Lemuel Gulliver), published in 1730. The author was also the first French translator of Swift's story.
The Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy (1887–1938) wrote two novels in which a 20th-century Gulliver visits imaginary lands. One, Utazás Faremidóba (i.e. Voyage to Faremido), recounts a trip to a land with almost robot-like, metallic beings whose lives are ruled by science, not emotion, and who communicate through a language based on musical notes. The second, Capillaria, is a satirical comment on male-female relationships. It involves a trip by Gulliver to a world where all the intelligent beings are female, males being reduced to nothing more than their reproductive function.
Soviet Ukrainian science fiction writer Vladimir Savchenko published Gulliver's Fifth Travel - The Travel of Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and Then a Captain of Several Ships to the Land of Tikitaks (Russian: Пятое путешествие Гулливера - Путешествие Лемюэля Гулливера, сначала хирурга, а потом капитана нескольких кораблей, в страну тикитаков) - a sequel to the original series in which Gulliver's role as a surgeon is more apparent. Tikitaks are people who inject the juice of a unique fruit to make their skin transparent, as they consider people with regular opaque skin secretive and ugly.
Davy King's 1978 short story "The Woman Gulliver Left Behind"[6] is a sort of satirical feminist spin on the tale, telling it from the point of view of Gulliver's wife. Alison Fell's novel "The Mistress of Lilliput" does likewise: Mary Gulliver goes travelling herself.
In 1998 the Argentine writer Edgar Brau published El último Viaje del capitán Lemuel Gulliver (Captain Lemuel Gulliver´s Last Travel), a novel in which Swift´s character is presented on an imaginary fifth journey, this time into the River Plate. It satirizes ways and customs of present day society, including sports, television, politics, etc. To justify the parody, the narrative is set immediately after the last voyage written by Swift (precisely, 1722), and the literary style of the original work is kept throughout the whole story.
The British children's book Mr Majeika on the Internet (2001) by Humphrey Carpenter includes modernized parallels to the lands of the Lilliputians, Brobdingnagians, Laputans and Houyhnhnms.
Adam Roberts' novel Swiftly (2008) is set 120 years after Gulliver's time and shows a world where the inhabitants of Lilliput and Blefuscu are now slaves of the British, and the Brobdingnagians are allied to France in a war against Britain.
[edit] Uses of characters
Saturday, 17 January 2009
Is Swift really a misanthrope?
The word ‘misanthrope’ means hater of mankind or the one who has a distrust for human character in general. To some extent Gulliver directs his satires towards the meanness of human being.
The allegation of 'misanthropy' has been levelled against Swift in context of his book 'Gulliver's Travels'. In Book I, Gulliver is a ship’s surgeon who sails from Bristol. After a shipwreck he sails to an island, Lilliput. Gulliver has talked of the selfishness of man everywhere(he reduces the people to the height of six inches). In Book II, Gulliver is in Brobdingnag, where in front of the tall people he seems to be a Lilliputian. The book is replete with instances showing human vanities. Gulliver has used the words: “the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth.” In Book III, Gulliver laughs at the futile efforts of scientists and philosophers. In the flying island named Lagodo, he watches scientists engaged in foolish pursuits. The charge of misanthropy is proven more in case of Book IV. In Book IV, Swift has described the country of Houyhnhnms, who are horses blessed with reason. The author here contrasts their rational society with the beastiality of Yahoos, who are beasts in shape of human beings.
In his essay 'A Modest Proposal' Swift writes that the Irish should reduce their burden by selling their surplus children to the rich. His book 'A Tale of Tub' is also considered a proof towards Swift's misanthropy.
So what do you think: Is Swift really a misanthrope? Share your views.
You might also like:
Man Booker Prize 2008 Shortlist
Realism in Jane Austen's 'Mansfield Park'
Blake's Symbolism
LinkWithin
Posted by Amritbir Kaur at 9:23 PM
Labels: British authors, Johnathan Swift
5 comments:
VirusHead said...
He was a satirist. Satire is aimed at recognition and social change, but leery of literalist preaching.His satire is social critique in court jester form.
18 January 2009 23:44
Tomas said...
I think that any musing about who Swift was will make Guliver just the gathering of the letters on the paper, meanwhile he is one of us...and I bet that many of those, who are familiar with Guliver, have no idea about Swift. We can discuss for a long, but that wouldn't change a jot. It is a bit hard to talk plainly while writing with the dictionary in hand in language I didn't hear on my daily walk, but I hope you will understand me clearly. The Art heroes never knows their fathers. Such is the destiny of the artist. He dies for to live in his artworks and thus Swift looks at us for we will discover Guliver by looking at ourselves. That is the application of a theory to the practice. I think the above is only way to understand though something indeed in case we don't want to think into the meaningless war of words.Not the painters, but the colors talk in the Fine Arts Museums for we could enjoy not the canvases but the sky above us. Swift was such and such, but Guliver boldly smell the flowers and call us to follow him - to do the same: not to muse but to live.
19 January 2009 04:28
Amritbir Kaur said...
Welcome to my blog, VirusHead and thanks for sharing your views. I fully agree with what you have said. This was the reply that I was looking for. I left the post open-ended deliberately as I wanted to collect varied opinions. We cannot indeed call Swift a misanthropist due to this very reason
Ludax
Because of his writing.Swift's supposed misanthrophy is epitomized in his book 'A Modest Proposal', in which he "suggested" the Irish unburden themselves of their numerous children — and break the cycle of poverty in the process — by selling them to the rich as food!Many people however believe Swift simply had a darkly humorous outlook towards mankind.
Feb 09 06, 8:55 AM
Baloo55th
The trouble with satire and sarcasm (and skitting, even) is that people without a sense of humour will take you at face value. And the passage of time often doesn't help. Most people who read (or watch) Gulliver's Travels now don't realise that it isn't an adventure story - it's a satire on Great Britain in the time of Swift. Nowadays, it has to be done in a rather more obvious fashion. I actually watched 'Little Britain' at New Year. (Being firmly sat on by a small cousin at the time, I had no choice.) I found it to be rather funny, against my expectations. But I think there are implications in it missed by many watchers.
Feb 09 06, 11:13 AM
lanfranco
As in "I love humanity, it's people I can't stand"?Sorry, I don't think there's much of a distinction to be made there. In any case, I wouldn't say Swift WAS a misanthrope -- simply a cynic with a highly-ironic sense of humor that was occasionally beyond his readers.
Feb 09 06, 4:22 PM
TabbyTom
Swift’s reputation certainly suffered at the hands of readers without a sense of humour. There is probably something in the charge of misanthropy: he found it difficult to feel goodwill towards the human race in general, though he maintained friendly relationships with men like Pope, Gray, Delaney and others, and he was certainly charitable to the poor.As he said of himself in a letter to Pope: “I have ever hated all nations, professions and communities, and all my love is towards individuals .... Principally I hate and detest that animal called Man; although I heartily love John, Peter, Thomas, and so forth.” This strikes me as a more likeable attitude than that of most of our modern politicians, who profess undying love for the human race or the country but obviously can’t stand most of the voters.
Feb 09 06, 4:56 PM
Davistotle
For nearly all intents and purposes, Swift was, by mere definition, a misanthrope. Although his work “A Modest Proposal” is often cited, a more accurate and exhaustive account of his position concerning human nature is to be found in “Gulliver’s Travels.” Each book (I-IV) contains a satirical perspective concerning some degree of human nature, whether it be class systems, perverted learning, vanity, and so forth. A quick reading will no doubt conclude in one considering him an outright misanthrope. Ultimately, however, Swift has designed another tub which many are caught chasing (See “A Tale of a Tub”). In outlining his perspective on human nature, which appears obviously bleak, he provides us with a clear look at our behavior, and by discussing its pitfall; he furnishes us with the ability to improve our condition. Viewed in this light, Swift is a misanthrope, but one who cares deeply for his fellow man and wishes only for their improvement.
Saturday, 17 January 2009
Is Swift really a misanthrope?
The word ‘misanthrope’ means hater of mankind or the one who has a distrust for human character in general. To some extent Gulliver directs his satires towards the meanness of human being.
The allegation of 'misanthropy' has been levelled against Swift in context of his book 'Gulliver's Travels'. In Book I, Gulliver is a ship’s surgeon who sails from Bristol. After a shipwreck he sails to an island, Lilliput. Gulliver has talked of the selfishness of man everywhere(he reduces the people to the height of six inches). In Book II, Gulliver is in Brobdingnag, where in front of the tall people he seems to be a Lilliputian. The book is replete with instances showing human vanities. Gulliver has used the words: “the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth.” In Book III, Gulliver laughs at the futile efforts of scientists and philosophers. In the flying island named Lagodo, he watches scientists engaged in foolish pursuits. The charge of misanthropy is proven more in case of Book IV. In Book IV, Swift has described the country of Houyhnhnms, who are horses blessed with reason. The author here contrasts their rational society with the beastiality of Yahoos, who are beasts in shape of human beings.
In his essay 'A Modest Proposal' Swift writes that the Irish should reduce their burden by selling their surplus children to the rich. His book 'A Tale of Tub' is also considered a proof towards Swift's misanthropy.
So what do you think: Is Swift really a misanthrope? Share your views.
You might also like:
Man Booker Prize 2008 Shortlist
Realism in Jane Austen's 'Mansfield Park'
Blake's Symbolism
LinkWithin
Posted by Amritbir Kaur at 9:23 PM
Labels: British authors, Johnathan Swift
5 comments:
VirusHead said...
He was a satirist. Satire is aimed at recognition and social change, but leery of literalist preaching.His satire is social critique in court jester form.
18 January 2009 23:44
Tomas said...
I think that any musing about who Swift was will make Guliver just the gathering of the letters on the paper, meanwhile he is one of us...and I bet that many of those, who are familiar with Guliver, have no idea about Swift. We can discuss for a long, but that wouldn't change a jot. It is a bit hard to talk plainly while writing with the dictionary in hand in language I didn't hear on my daily walk, but I hope you will understand me clearly. The Art heroes never knows their fathers. Such is the destiny of the artist. He dies for to live in his artworks and thus Swift looks at us for we will discover Guliver by looking at ourselves. That is the application of a theory to the practice. I think the above is only way to understand though something indeed in case we don't want to think into the meaningless war of words.Not the painters, but the colors talk in the Fine Arts Museums for we could enjoy not the canvases but the sky above us. Swift was such and such, but Guliver boldly smell the flowers and call us to follow him - to do the same: not to muse but to live.
19 January 2009 04:28
Amritbir Kaur said...
Welcome to my blog, VirusHead and thanks for sharing your views. I fully agree with what you have said. This was the reply that I was looking for. I left the post open-ended deliberately as I wanted to collect varied opinions. We cannot indeed call Swift a misanthropist due to this very reason
Ludax
Because of his writing.Swift's supposed misanthrophy is epitomized in his book 'A Modest Proposal', in which he "suggested" the Irish unburden themselves of their numerous children — and break the cycle of poverty in the process — by selling them to the rich as food!Many people however believe Swift simply had a darkly humorous outlook towards mankind.
Feb 09 06, 8:55 AM
Baloo55th
The trouble with satire and sarcasm (and skitting, even) is that people without a sense of humour will take you at face value. And the passage of time often doesn't help. Most people who read (or watch) Gulliver's Travels now don't realise that it isn't an adventure story - it's a satire on Great Britain in the time of Swift. Nowadays, it has to be done in a rather more obvious fashion. I actually watched 'Little Britain' at New Year. (Being firmly sat on by a small cousin at the time, I had no choice.) I found it to be rather funny, against my expectations. But I think there are implications in it missed by many watchers.
Feb 09 06, 11:13 AM
lanfranco
As in "I love humanity, it's people I can't stand"?Sorry, I don't think there's much of a distinction to be made there. In any case, I wouldn't say Swift WAS a misanthrope -- simply a cynic with a highly-ironic sense of humor that was occasionally beyond his readers.
Feb 09 06, 4:22 PM
TabbyTom
Swift’s reputation certainly suffered at the hands of readers without a sense of humour. There is probably something in the charge of misanthropy: he found it difficult to feel goodwill towards the human race in general, though he maintained friendly relationships with men like Pope, Gray, Delaney and others, and he was certainly charitable to the poor.As he said of himself in a letter to Pope: “I have ever hated all nations, professions and communities, and all my love is towards individuals .... Principally I hate and detest that animal called Man; although I heartily love John, Peter, Thomas, and so forth.” This strikes me as a more likeable attitude than that of most of our modern politicians, who profess undying love for the human race or the country but obviously can’t stand most of the voters.
Feb 09 06, 4:56 PM
Davistotle
For nearly all intents and purposes, Swift was, by mere definition, a misanthrope. Although his work “A Modest Proposal” is often cited, a more accurate and exhaustive account of his position concerning human nature is to be found in “Gulliver’s Travels.” Each book (I-IV) contains a satirical perspective concerning some degree of human nature, whether it be class systems, perverted learning, vanity, and so forth. A quick reading will no doubt conclude in one considering him an outright misanthrope. Ultimately, however, Swift has designed another tub which many are caught chasing (See “A Tale of a Tub”). In outlining his perspective on human nature, which appears obviously bleak, he provides us with a clear look at our behavior, and by discussing its pitfall; he furnishes us with the ability to improve our condition. Viewed in this light, Swift is a misanthrope, but one who cares deeply for his fellow man and wishes only for their improvement.
Saturday, 17 January 2009
Is Swift really a misanthrope?
The word ‘misanthrope’ means hater of mankind or the one who has a distrust for human character in general. To some extent Gulliver directs his satires towards the meanness of human being.
The allegation of 'misanthropy' has been levelled against Swift in context of his book 'Gulliver's Travels'. In Book I, Gulliver is a ship’s surgeon who sails from Bristol. After a shipwreck he sails to an island, Lilliput. Gulliver has talked of the selfishness of man everywhere(he reduces the people to the height of six inches). In Book II, Gulliver is in Brobdingnag, where in front of the tall people he seems to be a Lilliputian. The book is replete with instances showing human vanities. Gulliver has used the words: “the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth.” In Book III, Gulliver laughs at the futile efforts of scientists and philosophers. In the flying island named Lagodo, he watches scientists engaged in foolish pursuits. The charge of misanthropy is proven more in case of Book IV. In Book IV, Swift has described the country of Houyhnhnms, who are horses blessed with reason. The author here contrasts their rational society with the beastiality of Yahoos, who are beasts in shape of human beings.
In his essay 'A Modest Proposal' Swift writes that the Irish should reduce their burden by selling their surplus children to the rich. His book 'A Tale of Tub' is also considered a proof towards Swift's misanthropy.
So what do you think: Is Swift really a misanthrope? Share your views.
You might also like:
Man Booker Prize 2008 Shortlist
Realism in Jane Austen's 'Mansfield Park'
Blake's Symbolism
LinkWithin
Posted by Amritbir Kaur at 9:23 PM
Labels: British authors, Johnathan Swift
5 comments:
VirusHead said...
He was a satirist. Satire is aimed at recognition and social change, but leery of literalist preaching.His satire is social critique in court jester form.
18 January 2009 23:44
Tomas said...
I think that any musing about who Swift was will make Guliver just the gathering of the letters on the paper, meanwhile he is one of us...and I bet that many of those, who are familiar with Guliver, have no idea about Swift. We can discuss for a long, but that wouldn't change a jot. It is a bit hard to talk plainly while writing with the dictionary in hand in language I didn't hear on my daily walk, but I hope you will understand me clearly. The Art heroes never knows their fathers. Such is the destiny of the artist. He dies for to live in his artworks and thus Swift looks at us for we will discover Guliver by looking at ourselves. That is the application of a theory to the practice. I think the above is only way to understand though something indeed in case we don't want to think into the meaningless war of words.Not the painters, but the colors talk in the Fine Arts Museums for we could enjoy not the canvases but the sky above us. Swift was such and such, but Guliver boldly smell the flowers and call us to follow him - to do the same: not to muse but to live.
19 January 2009 04:28
Amritbir Kaur said...
Welcome to my blog, VirusHead and thanks for sharing your views. I fully agree with what you have said. This was the reply that I was looking for. I left the post open-ended deliberately as I wanted to collect varied opinions. We cannot indeed call Swift a misanthropist due to this very reason
Ludax
Because of his writing.Swift's supposed misanthrophy is epitomized in his book 'A Modest Proposal', in which he "suggested" the Irish unburden themselves of their numerous children — and break the cycle of poverty in the process — by selling them to the rich as food!Many people however believe Swift simply had a darkly humorous outlook towards mankind.
Feb 09 06, 8:55 AM
Baloo55th
The trouble with satire and sarcasm (and skitting, even) is that people without a sense of humour will take you at face value. And the passage of time often doesn't help. Most people who read (or watch) Gulliver's Travels now don't realise that it isn't an adventure story - it's a satire on Great Britain in the time of Swift. Nowadays, it has to be done in a rather more obvious fashion. I actually watched 'Little Britain' at New Year. (Being firmly sat on by a small cousin at the time, I had no choice.) I found it to be rather funny, against my expectations. But I think there are implications in it missed by many watchers.
Feb 09 06, 11:13 AM
lanfranco
As in "I love humanity, it's people I can't stand"?Sorry, I don't think there's much of a distinction to be made there. In any case, I wouldn't say Swift WAS a misanthrope -- simply a cynic with a highly-ironic sense of humor that was occasionally beyond his readers.
Feb 09 06, 4:22 PM
TabbyTom
Swift’s reputation certainly suffered at the hands of readers without a sense of humour. There is probably something in the charge of misanthropy: he found it difficult to feel goodwill towards the human race in general, though he maintained friendly relationships with men like Pope, Gray, Delaney and others, and he was certainly charitable to the poor.As he said of himself in a letter to Pope: “I have ever hated all nations, professions and communities, and all my love is towards individuals .... Principally I hate and detest that animal called Man; although I heartily love John, Peter, Thomas, and so forth.” This strikes me as a more likeable attitude than that of most of our modern politicians, who profess undying love for the human race or the country but obviously can’t stand most of the voters.
Feb 09 06, 4:56 PM
Davistotle
For nearly all intents and purposes, Swift was, by mere definition, a misanthrope. Although his work “A Modest Proposal” is often cited, a more accurate and exhaustive account of his position concerning human nature is to be found in “Gulliver’s Travels.” Each book (I-IV) contains a satirical perspective concerning some degree of human nature, whether it be class systems, perverted learning, vanity, and so forth. A quick reading will no doubt conclude in one considering him an outright misanthrope. Ultimately, however, Swift has designed another tub which many are caught chasing (See “A Tale of a Tub”). In outlining his perspective on human nature, which appears obviously bleak, he provides us with a clear look at our behavior, and by discussing its pitfall; he furnishes us with the ability to improve our condition. Viewed in this light, Swift is a misanthrope, but one who cares deeply for his fellow man and wishes only for their improvement.
Summary
Chapter IGulliver summarizes the story of his life before the main plot begins with his arrival in the country of Lilliput. He is the third of five sons of the owner of an estate in Nottinghamshire, England. He is educated at Cambridge University and serves an apprenticeship with a surgeon. After marrying a woman called Mary Burton, he takes up a post as surgeon aboard a ship traveling to the South Seas. On the way to the East Indies, the ship is blown onto rocks and wrecked. Gulliver manages to swim to land and falls asleep from exhaustion. When he awakes, he finds that he is tied to the ground and surrounded by tiny human beings of six inches high. He tries to escape his bonds, but they fire arrows at him, causing him pain. One makes a speech in a language he does not understand. He signals that he is hungry, and the little people feed him with baskets of food. He is tempted to crush them, but resists because he fears that they could harm him and because he feels that he has made them a promise of honor by his submissive behavior.
An emissary from the Emperor climbs onto Gulliver's body and makes clear that he is to be conveyed to the capital city. There, they give him a disused temple to live in and tether him to it with a chain.
Chapter IIGulliver describes in detail the difficult process of defecation, with the aim of defending himself against accusations of uncleanliness. The first time, he relieves himself inside his house, but thereafter he does so outside the house, and his excrement is taken away by servants.
The Emperor arrives and makes a speech. Afterwards, some people in the crowd shoot arrows at Gulliver. The colonel delivers them to Gulliver for punishment, but he sets them free. The Lilliputians are impressed by this show of mercy.
The Emperor holds a council to debate what to do with Gulliver. His advisors are concerned that he will cause a famine because he eats so much, and that if they kill him, his carcass might cause a plague. The debate is interrupted by the arrival of army officers, who report Gulliver's mercy to his attackers. The Emperor and his advisors are so pleased that they arrange for him to be fed, clothed, and taught their language.
Gulliver receives many visits from the Emperor and repeatedly asks for his freedom. The Emperor refuses, saying that Gulliver must first swear to honor a peace treaty.
Chapter IIIGulliver describes two diversions which are practiced by people seeking positions and honors at court. The first is rope-dancing, whereby candidates for office at court dance on a rope. Whoever jumps highest without falling is given the job. Sometimes, existing ministers are expected to show that they still possess this skill. The rivalry is such that often there are fatal accidents, as ministers strain too far and fall. In the second activity, candidates for honors at court must leap over, and creep under, a stick held out by the Emperor. Whoever shows most agility at "leaping and creeping" is awarded a piece of colored silk.
The people begin to trust Gulliver, and he arranges for the Emperor to organize military exercises on his handkerchief.
At last, the Emperor allows the subject of Gulliver's freedom to be debated in his council. The only one to oppose it is Skyresh Bolgolam, the Admiral, who has made himself Gulliver's enemy. Bolgolam is overruled, but he draws up a list of conditions to which Gulliver must agree. These include not leaving the country without the Emperor's permission, not trampling on the people, and helping the Lilliputians fight their enemies from the Island of Belfescu, who are about the invade. In return, the Lilliputians promise to feed him. Gulliver agrees and is released from his chains.
AnalysisSwift goes to some lengths to portray his protagonist, Gulliver, and his travels with an air of realism. Gulliver's background is described in credible detail, and his journey to Lilliput is presented in the style of a travelogue, including references to actual places such as the West Indies. When he reaches Lilliput, details about the country and its people are given which are aimed at painting a believable picture of real human beings in a real society. This serves Swift's satirical purpose, as the implication is that the Lilliputians are sufficiently like the reader for the reader to apply what is said about them to his or her own society.
The only far-fetched aspect of Lilliput is the minuscule size of the people, but this too makes an important satirical point. Though the average Lilliputian adult is about six inches tall, the Lilliputians think of themselves as important and impressive, and of their affairs as highly significant. Gulliver reports of the Emperor, "He is taller by almost the breadth of my nail than any of his court, which alone is enough to strike an awe into the beholders" (Chapter II). In Skyresh Bolgolam's document listing the conditions of Gulliver's freedom, the Emperor is addressed by his long name and is called the "delight and terror of the universe . . . whose feet press down to the centre, and whose head strikes against the sun ." (Chapter III). This is ludicrous exaggeration for the purpose of flattery, as the Emperor is tiny in comparison to Gulliver. The effect of Swift's satire is to puncture the pomposity of human beings - those of Gulliver's size as much as that of the Lilliputians. After all, who is to say that there is not some Gulliver who dwarfs human society on Earth? Size is relative, and, Swift suggests that in the greater scheme of things, the human race may be less awe-inspiring than it believes.
The Lilliputians' smallness also draws attention to their moral limitations. They (particularly their leaders) are morally diminished people in comparison to Gulliver, who is a fairly honest and well-meaning man.
Swift satirizes the system of appointments and honors in contemporary European courts in his description of the Lilliputian diversions of rope-dancing and "leaping and creeping" (Chapter III). Positions at court are given to those who can dance highest on the rope without falling. Similarly, honors (the pieces of colored silk awarded to Lilliputian favorites accurately describe some of the real honors given by real monarchs) are given to those who leap over, and creep under, a stick held by the Emperor with most agility. In both cases, Swift means that people at court are promoted not because of worth but because they please the monarch in some way, perhaps with elaborate flattery.
European society's obsession with time is satirized in the Lilliputians' assumption that Gulliver's watch is a god that he worships, since "he seldom did any thing without consulting it" (Chapter II).
Many critics have noted Swift's preoccupation with bodily functions (called scatology). This section of Gulliver's Travels is an example. Gulliver's habits of defecation and urination are detailed, along with an episode in which the Emperor has Gulliver stand with his legs apart and marches his army march underneath them, whereupon they cannot resist looking up. It is probable that such material reflects Swift's own preoccupations, but it also serves his satirical purpose. The eighteenth century, when Swift wrote Gulliver's Travels, was called "the Age of Enlightenment" when writers and thinkers emphasized the power of man's reason to lift him above the lower kingdom of animals. Reason was thought to be the basis of ethics, aesthetics, and proper government, as well as the way in which man could obtain knowledge of the truth. Some commentators believed it to be a divine faculty that brought man close to God. In Gulliver's Travels, Swift celebrates reason in the form of the Houyhnhynms, who appear in Part IV (though significantly, he makes his reason-based characters horses, not people).
advertisementBut he was also convinced that man is an animal, complete with base appetites. His emphasis on bodily functions is a way of never letting his reader forget this.
It is noteworthy that Gulliver seldom gives his own views of what he sees and hears on his travels. He is drawn as an objective and, indeed, naïve, observer. This is another tactic that reinforces Swift's satirical purpose, as any satirical conclusions drawn belong to the reader, while Swift and his protagonist hide behind a veneer of innocence and impartiality.
“Gulliver's Travels,” by Jonathan Swift is a classic satirical tale that has been republished again and again since 1726.The story is told from the point of view of Captain Gulliver. When the book begins he is an young man trying unsuccessfully to support himself and his family. Gulliver's medical practice finally folds and he is forced to find another form of employment, so he decides to become a surgeon on board a ship to the South Sea.Some months into the voyage a violent storm drives the ship onto a rock destroying it completely. Gulliver and a few of his shipmates escape on the boat but it is quickly overturned by the storm and Gulliver is forced to swim for his life. Gulliver is washed ashore on a small island, where he falls asleep from fatigue.Upon awakening, though, Gulliver receives a nasty surprise, for he finds that he is tied down to the ground by numerous small ropes and threads. Soon Gulliver discovers that the island that he landed upon is peopled by a diminutive race of people less than six inches in height. Thought Gulliver tries his best to escape the people shoot numerous arrows at him and this convinces him to cease his resistance.The little people, who call themselves Lilliputians, give Gulliver some drugged wine which causes him to go to sleep and when he awakes he finds that they have transported him inland on a large machine of their making and chained one of his legs securely.After some weeks during which Gulliver learns the language of the Lilliputians and proves that he is trustworthy the little people grant him his freedom provided that he help them on numerous public projects that could benefit from his vast strength.One project that Gulliver takes on is conquering the Blefuscudians, another race of small people who live on a nearby island and who are determined to conquer the Lilliputians. Gulliver sneaks up on the island and steals all of their warships by tying cables to them and then pulling them back to Lilliput. This deed earns him the title of Nardac, a great honor in Lilliput.However, another of Gulliver's helpful deeds is not appreciated quite as much. When a fire breaks out at the national palace Gulliver rushes to the aid only to find that there is little water available to put out the fire. Ever resourceful Gulliver uses his urine to extinguish the fire. This expedient saves the rest of the palace but causes great resentment among certain Lilliputians. They begin to use this as part of a weighty argument against Gulliver. They say that feeding Gulliver will soon starve everyone on the island. By referring to his disgraceful service to the palace and a pretended alliance with the Lilliputian's enemies the Blefuscudians they say that Gulliver should be killed and his body disposed of.Gulliver learns of the plot through a friend, so he escapes to Blefuscu to save his life. There he finds the overturned boat washed ashore. After restoring it and building a store of provisions he leaves the Lilliputians and after a brief voyage meets up with a ship that takes him back to England.This first part of “Gulliver's Travels” is pure political satire. Jonathan Swift uses the Lilliputians, the Blefuscudians and their miniature disputes and wars to make fun of real governments and conflicts of his time. For example, in Lilliputian society there are two rival political groups, the High-Heels and the Low-Heels. As there names would indicate these two rival groups are differentiated by the size of their heels. These represent the Tories and the Whigs, two rival English political parties of the 18th century. Jonathan Swift then criticizes George II, then prince, by portraying him in the book as inclined to both parties such that he hobbles along on heels of different sizes. In addition, Swift also religious disputes. A key event in the story of Gulliver's first voyage is the way between the Lilliputians and the Blefuscudians. According to the Lilliputian king this war began over which side of the egg it is proper to crack open first, either the large end or the small end. The two groups of people, the Big-Endians, and the Little-Endians stand for the Protestants and the Roman Catholics.After a broad criticism of governmental and religious conflict by portraying it in the light of tiny people beneath a giant man, Jonathan Swift switches to a entirely different point of view. On the second voyage, Gulliver once again goes to sea. On this voyage he and a group of crew members stop off at a unknown foreign shore to search for water. However, when his crew mates see what they think to be a giant monster, actually a huge man, they take off in the long boat and leave Gulliver stranded. Gulliver explores inland and soon discovers that the land is inhabited by giants as tall as “an ordinary spire-steeple.” Gulliver attempts to hide in a field of giant corn put the reapers find him.Soon Gulliver finds himself in the ownership of a giant farmer who informs him that Gulliver has found his way to Brobdingnag, the land of giants. The man cares for Gulliver fairly well. However he soon finds that he can make large amounts of money showing him from town to town. Soon he has Gulliver working all day to make a show for crowds of curious people. When he determines that Gulliver's death from being overworked is nigh he sells Gulliver to the king and queen.At the court Gulliver finds slightly better conditions, but must still endure the persecutions of a dwarf who hates him and continual danger from various huge animals, from frogs, and insects, to fierce rats, and even a monkey.In the end Gulliver is carried out to sea in a box by a giant eagle who then drops the box into the sea. A passing sea captain picks up Gulliver and takes him home, but Gulliver's mind is affected by the experience:
“My wife ran out to embrace me, but I stooped lower than her knees, thinking she could otherwise never be able to reach my mouth. My daughter kneeled to ask my blessing but I count not see her till she arose, having been so long used to stand with my head and eyes rest to above sixty foot.”
Gulliver's second voyage is about the futility and the frustration of human life and fighting against powers larger than yourself. At the same time, though, Jonathan Swift explores other interesting lines of thought. For example, in one passage Gulliver is talking to the king of the giant Brobdingnags. Gulliver tells the king about English tools of war such as muskets, gunpowder, cannons, and shells. Then he offers to tell the King about how to make gunpowder and other tools of war. The giant King's response is very interesting:
“The King was struck with horror at the description I had given of those terrible engines, and the proposal I had made. He was amazed how so impotent and groveling an insect as I (those were his expressions) could entertain such inhuman ideas, and in so familiar a manner as to appear wholly unmoved at all the scenes of blood and destruction, which I had painted as the common effects of those destructive machines; whereof he said some evil genius, enemy to mankind, must have been the first contriver. As for himself, he protested that although few things delighted him so much as new discoveries in art of in nature; yet he would rather lose half of his kingdom than be privy to such a secret; which he commanded me as I valued my life never to mention any more.”
In “Gulliver's Travels” Jonathan Swift portrays Gulliver as critical of the king's stand. Gulliver feels that the King is narrow minded and shouldn't have passed such an opportunity. However, it is obvious from Swift's tone that Swift himself wishes that the kings of Europe would be similarly enlightened. What I wonder would Swift think of modern times, when airplanes, incendiary weapons and atomic weapons have made mere weapons of gunpowder seem harmless? What about the many people who when watching movies or playing video games are “wholly unmoved at all the scenes of blood and destruction”?Gulliver's third voyage takes an obvious poke at science and higher learning. This time Gulliver's ship is pursued by pirates. Knowing that there is no hope to resist them, Gulliver orders his men to give up without a fight. The pirates imprison the men without killing them, but they have considerably less pity for Gulliver. Gulliver is put out to sea on a small lifeboat with a few supplies.Soon Gulliver ends up on a remote island where he must live on birds eggs and what food he can find. But then one day he sees a strange sight. A huge island covered in buildings and terraces and floating in the air approaches Gulliver's island. Gulliver hails them and soon they take pity on him and haul him up onto their island.In this way Gulliver meets the Laputians. According to Gulliver these people are great learners, constantly thinking about problems of astronomy and mathematics. In fact the higher Laputians are always in such deep thought that they have to employ special servants to alert them when there is something worth seeing or hearing or when a response is needed. This servant, called a flapper, has a special tool with which he lightly taps his servants ears, eyes, or mouth:
“This flapper is likewise employed diligently to attend his master in his walks, and upon occasion to give him a soft flap upon the eyes, because he is always so wrapped up in cogitation, that he is in manifest danger of falling down every precipice, and bouncing his head against every post, and in the streets of jostling others, or being jostled himself into the kennel.”
This humorous passage reminded me of stories of Albert Einstein who was said to take long walks and often appear distracted because he was so deep in thought that he wouldn't notice his surroundings.A little later on during Gulliver's third voyage he gets the Laputians to drop him off on Lagado, where there is a great Academy of higher learning. Jonathan Swift portrays Gulliver as he explores the Academy and meets some its very eccentric and downright insane professors and philosophers. Speaking of one Gulliver says:
“His employment from his first coming into the Academy was an operation to reduce human excrement to its original food, by separating the several parts, removing the tinctures which it receives from the gall, making the odour exhale, and scumming off the saliva.”
Another of the Academy's thinkers had “contrived a new method for building houses, by beginning at the rood, and working downwards to the foundation, which he justified to me by the like practice of those two prudent insects, the bee and the spider.”In addition to poking fun at learning and science, Gulliver's third voyage also has political connotations, with the Flying Island of Laputa representing England, and the Laputians dominion, Ireland. Even as the Flying Island demanded that the grounded cities below give tribute or the Flying Island would descend to crush them, likewise England demanded taxes and dues from Ireland.Gulliver's fourth voyage is without a doubt the strangest of all. Once again Gulliver is captain of his own ship, but his men conspire against him, and after confining him within his cabin for a long period of time they then set him ashore in a distant land.One of the first things that Gulliver sees in this new land is a very disagreeable sort of animal. Gulliver describes them as being highly grotesque, but at the same time they have all the characteristics of humans, except that they are brute animals, with long claws on their hands and feet.Soon Gulliver discovers that horses are the sentient beings of this new land. They call themselves Huoyhnhnms, while they call their human-like slaves Yahoos. When these intelligent horses first discover Gulliver they think that he is some strange new breed of Yahoo, but soon Gulliver learns the language of the Huoyhnhnms and begins to understand their customs.Throughout Gulliver's fourth voyage, Jonathan Swift focuses on drawing similarities between humans and the grotesque Yahoos that are the Huoyhnhnms' slaves. According to Swift the warlike nature, base cruelties, and disgusting lust of humans make them no better than the Yahoos that he depicts as wild animals. Gulliver uses none but the strongest words when he describes the Yahoos as “cunning, malicious, treacherous, and revengeful... insolent, abject, and cruel.”When Gulliver finally returns from the land of the Huoyhnhnms he finds the presence of other humans very distasteful. He faints at the very idea of touching on, and stops up his nose with rue or tobacco to avoid their “odious” scent. Gulliver spends his last days in the stable with two common horses which he buys so that he can enjoy some decent company.When Jonathan Swift wrote the fourth voyage of Gulliver he was slowly descending into madness, and would spend the last part of his own life in a manner similar to that of his main character Gulliver. Jonathan Swift's hate of humans and gradual dissatisfaction with life and with society are evident throughout “Gulliver's Travels.”“Gulliver's Travels” is a very interesting satirical novel. Its biting wit and sarcastic examination of human nature are just as interesting as its highly imaginative plot and characters. As a piece of classic literature I would highly recommend that everyone read “Gulliver's Travels” at least once.
Misanthropy
"Misanthrope" redirects here. For the Molière comedy, see Le Misanthrope. For the French metal band, see Misanthrope (band).
Misanthropy is a general dislike, distrust, or hatred of the human species, or a disposition to dislike and/or distrust other people. The term is also applicable to those who self-exile themselves or become loners because of the aforementioned feelings. The word comes from the Greek words μίσος ("hatred") and άνθρωπος ("man, human being"). A misanthrope or misanthropist is a person who dislikes or distrusts humanity as a general rule.
Contents
1 Forms of misanthropy
2 Misanthropy in literature
3 Misanthropy in philosophy
4 Misanthropy in popular culture
4.1 Comic books/graphic novels
4.2 Television
4.3 Cinema
4.4 Popular music
4.5 Other
5 References
6 See also
Forms of misanthropy
While misanthropes express a general dislike for humanity on the whole, they generally have normal relationships with specific individuals. Misanthropy may be motivated by feelings of isolation or social alienation, or simply contempt for the prevailing characteristics of humanity.
Overt expressions of misanthropy are common in satire and comedy, although intense misanthropy is generally rare. Subtler expressions are far more common, especially for those pointing out the shortcomings of humanity.
Some religions, or schools of religious thought, maintain that humanity as a whole is evil, or an unnatural cancer on the earth, leading to their practitioners turning themselves into religious misanthropes.
Misanthropy in literature
Misanthropy has been ascribed to a number of writers of satire, such as William S. Gilbert ("I hate my fellow-man"), but such identifications must be closely scrutinized, because a critical or darkly humorous outlook toward humankind may be easily mistaken for genuine misanthropes.
The character of Heathcliffe in Wuthering Heights is an intense misanthrope due to the societal constraints which hinder the fulfillment of his love for Cathy.
In 1992, Southern American essayist and National Review columnist Florence King, a self-described misanthrope, wrote a humorous book on the history of misanthropy called With Charity Toward None: A Fond Look at Misanthropy.
Perhaps the most famous example of a misanthrope in literature is the protagonist in Molière's 1666 play, Alceste. (Fr. Le Misanthrope).
Iago, the villain in William Shakespeare's play Othello manipulates those around him with utter contempt and reaps a genuine pleasure from doing so. One critic has said, for Iago, "Honour, loyalty, reverence, and fidelity - the highest and the holiest virtues of humanity - are but base commodities to be bought and sold."[1]. Shakespeare's most thoroughgoing misanthropist, however, is probably the invective-spewing Timon of acts four and five of the play, Timon of Athens.
The American satirical author Kurt Vonnegut often expressed misanthropic views in his books. In one of his most popular works, Slaughterhouse Five, the protagonist Billy Pilgrim "becomes unstuck in time." He is taken hostage by the Tralfamadorians, a race able to see in 4D, who can travel through time and experience all the events in their lives, not necessarily in chronological order. Through the novel they teach him a fatalistic philosophy, summed up in the book's signature phrase, "so it goes."
In another Vonnegut novel, Breakfast of Champions, the protagonist Kilgore Trout, a science fiction author, writes many books about man destroying the world and the pointlessness of human existence. The book has passages throughout showing the destruction of earth due to man and man's pointless existence.
Some works by Franz Kafka such as The Metamorphosis and "A Hunger Artist" also display misanthropic views.
In No Exit, Jean-Paul Sartre wrote, "So that is what hell is. I would never have believed it. You remember: the fire and brimstone, the torture. Ah! the farce. There is no need for torture: hell is other people."
Eighteenth century Irish satirist Johnathan Swift, in a letter to the poet Alexander Pope concerning Gulliver's Travels, a novel written by the former, wrote: "[but] principally I hate and detest that animal called man." Swift conveyed misanthropic views via narrative. Lemuel Gulliver, considered by many to be Swift's alter ego, expresses an overwhelming disgust with human beings, particularly in "A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms."
Misanthropy in philosophy
In Plato's Phaedo, Socrates states, "Misology and misanthropy arise from similar causes."[2] He equates misanthropy with misology, the hatred of speech, drawing an important distinction between philosophical pessimism and misanthropy. Immanuel Kant said, "Of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing can ever be made," and yet this was not an expression of the uselessness of humanity itself. Similarly, Samuel Beckett once remarked, "Hell must be like... reminiscing about the good old days when we wished we were dead." This statement that may, perhaps, be seen as rather bleak and hopeless, but not as anti-human or expressive of any hatred of humankind.
Seneca the Younger, in his treatise On Anger, suggests that one's misanthropy can be mitigated or cured by laughing at the foibles of humanity rather than resenting them. Seneca's Stoic philosophy regarded all forms of anger as corruptions of reason and therefore detrimental to good judgement; he thus argues that hatred and misanthropy must be eliminated for the individual to attain sanity.
The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, on the other hand, was almost certainly as famously misanthropic as his reputation. He wrote, "Human existence must be a kind of error." Schopenhauer concluded, in fact, that ethical treatment of others was the best attitude, for we are all fellow sufferers and all part of the same will-to-live. He also discussed suicide with a sympathetic understanding which was rare in his own time, when it was largely a taboo subject. However, his metaphysics ultimately led him to conclude that suicide was no escape from the suffering of the world. He claimed that the world was one side representation--how we perceived it, and one side will--the underlying indivisible metaphysical matter that was the basis of existence. Because suicide does not allow one to escape from the will (from which all suffering proceeds), it is pointless to kill oneself. Schopenhauer instead suggests aesthetic enjoyment as the only escape from the suffering of the world. This would be along the lines of the cathartic release points of Mozart's Requiem, or the charmingly mysterious smile of the Mona Lisa. He also offers an escape from suffering through compassion; however, he believed that very few are capable of reaching this state, and those who do reach it have rejected their humanity (further demonstrating his misanthropy).
The Finnish eco-philosopher Pentti Linkola is considered the most influential misanthrope currently living. He has openly advocated genocide as means of population control, Social Darwinism to promote euthanasia campaigns for extermination of life unworthy of living, execution of doctors keeping stillborns alive and Plato-style aristocracy as form of governance to keep living standards low enough for sustainable ecology.
The Cynic philosopher Diogenes of Sinope was a well known misanthrope. Known for his contempt for all human beings and his enormous respect for animals such as mice and dogs, Diogenes dedicated his life to showing that the norms and conventions which most people live by are in fact worthless and utterly counterproductive to true happiness.
Gulliver's Travels By Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) A Study Guide
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...Original Title and Byline . Gulliver's Travels was originally entitled Travels Into Remote Nations of the World. The author was identified as Lemuel Gulliver, not Jonathan Swift. Swift denied himself a byline not only to make the fictional Gulliver appear to be a real person but also to protect himself from the wrath of the people he was satirizing.
Type of Work .. Gulliver's Travels is a novel of satire and adventure which has four main sections, called "books," divided into chapters. Preceding the first book is a message from the publisher, Richard Sympson. It claims that Lemuel Gulliver is a real person known to Sympson. This message is followed by a letter to Sympson from Gulliver. Each of these prolegomena is a fabrication, of course—the work of Swift's mischievous mind—designed to enhance the realistic characteristics of his fictional narrator. Educated adults generally read the book as a satire on current events and social, cultural, religious political trends. Children generally read the book as an adventure story.
Publication of Expurgated and Unexpurgated Editions
The book was published first in 1726 in a shortened edition that deleted passages deemed offensive. A second edition was published in 1735; it contained most, but not all, of the deleted passages. A third edition containing the complete novel was published in 1899.
Settings
The adventures in Gulliver's Travels take place between May 4, 1699, and December 5, 1715. Between 1715 and 1720, the fictional main character, Lemuel Gulliver, readjusts to life in England. In 1720, he begins writing an account of his voyages and, in 1727, releases them for publication. The action in the story takes place in England, on the seas, on many strange islands—including one that travels in the air—and in various countries, including ones unknown and uncharted.
Characters . Lemuel Gulliver: English ship surgeon and accomplished seaman. Gulliver, the main character, narrates the story of his voyages to strange lands with amazing creatures and sights. He is one of five sons of a gentleman with a small estate in Nottinghamshire. Richard Sympson: Friend of Gulliver who writes an introduction to the story Gulliver tells. Mary Burton Gulliver: Wife of Lemuel Gulliver and daughter of Edmund Burton, a hosier. While Gulliver travels, she remains at home. James Gates: London surgeon under whom Gulliver studied medicine. Abraham Pannel: Captain of the Swallow, a ship on which Gulliver served as surgeon for three-and-a-half years. William Prichard: Captain of the Antelope, on which Gulliver travels to the East Indies. Lilliputians: Inhabitants of the country of Lilliput. They are no more than six inches tall. Their size symbolizes their pettiness and the small-mindedness of many government officials in England and other European countries. Emperor of Lilliput: Ruler of Lilliput, who calls himself by the august name of Golbasto Momaren Evlame Gurdilo Shefin Mully Ully Gue. He is a capricious ruler whose physical represents the intelligence of his rule. He has been compared with England's King George I (1698-1727), who ruled from 1714 to 1727. One of the main issues that concern the emperor and his subjects centers on which end of an egg to open first, the big end or the small end. Those who argue in favor of the big end symbolize Roman Catholics. Those who argue in favor of the small end, including the emperor, symbolize Protestants. Empress of Lilliput: Wife of the emperor. She likes Gulliver but turns against him after he extinguishes a palace fire by urinating on it. She represents Queen Anne (1665-1714), who ruled England from 1702 to 1714. Anne became an enemy of Swift after he published his irreverent A Tale of the Tub in 1704. Years later, she slighted him by appointing him to a clergy position in Ireland instead of England. Skyresh Bolgolam: Lord High admiral of Lilliput. After Gulliver helps the Lilliputians in their war with the Blefuscudians, Bolgolam--envious of Gulliver's success--becomes his enemy. Flimnap: Lord High Treasurer of Lilliput, who is highly skilled at dancing on a rope (actually a piece of white thread) stretched above the ground. Flimnap becomes Gulliver's enemy. First, he says the cost of providing Gulliver's needs is a drain on the state's resources. Second, he accuses Gulliver of hanky-panky with his wife after hearing a rumor that the woman visited Gulliver in private. Flimnap represents one of Swift's political rivals, Robert Walpole (1676-1745), who became Britain's first prime minister. Walpole was a Whig; Swift was a Tory. Reldresal: Lilliput's secretary for private affairs. Although he pretends to be a supporter of Gulliver, he plots against him. Reldresal symbolizes double-dealing politicians. Blefuscudians: Inhabitants of the country of Blefescu. In size, they resemble the Lilliputians. They favor opening eggs on the big end, in opposition to the position of the Lilliputians, and declare war on Lilliput. Betty: Gulliver's daughter. By the time he returns home from his first adventure in the land of the Lilliputians, she is married and has children of her own. Johnny: Gulliver's son. He is in grammar school at the time that Gulliver returns to England from Lilliput. John: Gulliver's uncle. He leaves Gulliver an estate that yields 30 pounds a year, a sum that helps Gulliver support his family while he goes off on another adventure after returning home from Lilliput. John Nicholas: Captain of the Adventure, a ship bound for western India on which Gulliver is a passenger. Brobdingnagians: Inhabitants of the country of Brobdingnag in the Arctic region. They are as tall as church steeples. Because they are so big, Gulliver can see all the imperfections on their skin, which repel him. However, unlike many rulers of Europe, they operate an effective government and live upright lives. Their size symbolizes their government achievements. Brobdingnagian Farmer: Man who finds Gulliver in a field and hosts him at his supper table. King of Brobdingnag: Capable ruler who contrasts sharply with corrupt officials in Britain. Queen of Brobdingnag: Wife of Brobdingnag's king. She treats Gulliver kindly. Glumdalclitch: Nine-year-old daughter of the Brobdingnagian farmer. She is small for her age—no more than forty feet tall. She is a kindly child who cares for Gulliver during his stay in Brobdingnag. William Robinson: Captain of the Hopewell, a ship that takes Gulliver to the East Indies. Laputans: Inhabitants of the flying island of Laputa. They are a race of absent-minded scientists and philosophers. Although they are knowledgeable in astronomy, mathematics, and other subjects, they are woefully lacking in practical knowledge and even attempt to build a house from the roof down. The Laputans represent dreamy idealists who cannot apply the theories they propound. King of Laputa Balnibarbians: Inhabitants of the land of Balnibarbi. Balnibarbi's Academy of Projectors develop theories to improve society and apply them without testing them. The results are disastrous. Lord Munodi: Governor of Lagado, a town in Balnibarbi. Unlike the projectors, he applies tested methods only. The result is that he and the people he governs thrive. Governor of Glubbdubdrib: Ruler of a tiny island of sorcerers and magicians. He has the power to call anyone from the dead to serve him as he pleases for twenty-four hours. He allows Gulliver to select dead persons to be called forth and to question them. Gulliver chooses Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Caesar, Brutus, and others. Struldbrugs: Immortal humans who continue to age, suffering endless illness and infirmity. Robert Purefoy: Surgeon on the Adventurer, a ship on which Gulliver is the captain. Mutineers: Unsavory men who seize control of the Adventurer, the ship that Gulliver captains. James Welch: Adventurer crewman who informs Gulliver that the mutineers are setting Gulliver ashore. *hnhmns: Intelligent horses who establish an exemplary society in which all members respect one another equally. They are so morally advanced that they never lie or hate. In fact, they do not even understand what lying and hatred are. Yahoos: Ugly, repulsive creatures in the land of the houyhnhmns. They live like animals but resemble humans. They serve the Houyhnhmns as draft animals. A Houyhnhmns tells Gulliver that "there was nothing that rendered the Yahoos more odious, than their undistinguishing appetite to devour every thing that came in their way, whether herbs, roots, berries, the corrupted flesh of animals, or all mingled together: and it was peculiar in their temper, that they were fonder of what they could get by rapine or stealth, at a greater distance, than much better food provided for them at home. If their prey held out, they would eat till they were ready to burst; after which, nature had pointed out to them a certain root that gave them a general evacuation." Don Pedro de Mendez: Portuguese ship captain who rescues Gulliver and treats him well while helping him to return to England.
Plot Summary By Michael J. Cummings...© 2005.. .......After serving three-and-a-half years as surgeon aboard the Swallow, physician Lemuel Gulliver returns to London. There, he marries and takes on patients. However, because his practice cannot sustain himself and his wife, he goes to sea again to make his living, this time for six years on two different ships. When he returns home again, he opens a practice at a new location, then another. Still his business fails to thrive. He could overcharge his patients, like most other physicians, and enjoy a comfortable living. But because he is honest, he refuses to do so. Instead, he signs on as surgeon on another ship, the Antelope, and leaves Bristol, England, on May 4, 1699, on a journey to the South Seas. .......While heading into the East Indies, the ship encounters a violent storm and sinks. All are lost except Gulliver, who swims to an island. While he sleeps, inhabitants of the island—creatures six inches high at most—bind him. After he awakens, they give him food and convey him to the court of their emperor. .......Calling him Man-Mountain, the little people keep Gulliver a prisoner for a considerable time. However, when they realize he poses no threat, they free him and teach him their strange language. He learns that the island is a nation called Lilliput. The Lilliputians have two political parties—one for those who wear high heels and one for those who wear low heels. Once the little people accept Gulliver, the king issues a decree on the 12th day of the 91st moon of his reign. It binds Gulliver to duties and services. For example, to speed the arrival of dispatches during emergencies, he must convey in his pocket the message, the messenger, and his horse to the destination. He must also assist workmen in construction projects, measure the boundaries of the kingdom by pacing off the distance along the coast, and serve as an ally in Lilliput’s war with Blefescu. .......Lilliput and Blefescu, a neighboring country of little people, are mortal enemies because they cannot agree on where to break an egg, on the small end or the large end. Gulliver reports that 11,000 persons have died during the egg wars. .......In return for his services, the king declares that the “man-mountain shall have a daily allowance of meat and drink sufficient for the support of 1724 of our subjects, with free access to our royal person, and other marks of our favour.” The emperor assigns 300 cooks to prepare his food and 300 tailors to make new clothes for him. In addition, the emperor later grants Gulliver’s request to walk through their capital city, Mildendo. .......Blefescu, meanwhile, mobilizes 50 ships for an invasion of Lilliput. In response, Gulliver wades to Blefescu and beaches all their ships, forcing Blefescu to surrender. The mighty hero of the Lilliputians then performs another good deed: When the palace apartment of the empress catches fire, raging out of control and defying efforts by the Lilliputians to extinguish it with their thimble-size buckets of water, Gulliver urinates on the blaze. In three minutes, it dies. .......But Gulliver the hero becomes Gulliver the villain when the admiral of the Lilliputian navy, Skyresh Bolgolam, schemes against Gulliver. The admiral is jealous of Gulliver because of his success against Blefescu. The high treasurer, Flimnap, joins the scheme. He despises Gulliver because of rumors that his wife had had an affair with Gulliver. Even though Gulliver proves the rumors false. Flimnap and Bogolam, as well as several of their cronies, bring charges of treason and other crimes against the Man-Mountain. His crime is that he "made water" in the palace precincts. He also refused to destroy Blefescu and annihilate its inhabitants. For these offenses, the Lilliputians sentence Gulliver to blindness and starvation. But rather than harming the Lilliputians to save himself, Gulliver simply leaves the island. After obtaining a ship and provisions at Blefescu, Gulliver sets sail and meets a merchant ship that takes him back to England. His experience in Lilliput has a strange effect on him:
When I came to my own house . . . I bent down to go in, like a goose under a gate, for fear of striking my head. My wife ran out to embrace me, but I stooped lower than her knees, thinking she could otherwise never be able to reach my mouth. My daughter kneeled to ask my blessing, but I could not see her till she arose, having been so long used to stand with my head and eyes erect to above sixty feet; and then I went to take her up with one hand by the waist. I looked down upon the servants, and one or two friends who were in the house, as if they had been pigmies and I a giant. .......After remaining home two months, Gulliver yearns to travel again and signs on with the Adventure, a ship bound for Surat, a city in western India on the Arabian Sea. Before departing, he leaves 1,500 pounds with his wife and two children (Betty, a married daughter, and, John, a boy in grammar school). That sum, coupled with an estate he inherited from his Uncle John, assures that his family will be well cared for. .......The ship sets sail in June 1702 under the command of Captain John Nicholas. After it rounds the Cape of Good Hope and passes the Straits of Madagascar and then the Moluccas, a storm blows it to unfamiliar waters. At an island, when crewmen go ashore for a new supply of fresh water, Gulliver accompanies them. They go in one direction and he in another. After a short time, he sees the other men rowing back to the ship, chased by a gigantic creature. After they scramble aboard, the ship sails—without Gulliver. .......When he explores the island, he discovers extraordinary sights: corn 40 feet tall, a hedge 120 feet high, trees reaching to the sky. He arrives at a farm worked by giants as tall as church steeples. When a worker finds him, he takes Gulliver to the house of the farmer, who has a wife, three children, and a grandmother. They treat him kindly and feed him in a dish measuring 24 feet in diameter. .......One of the farmer’s children, a nine-year-old girl, looks after Gulliver during his stay at the farm. She is small for her age, not more than 40 feet tall, but proves a loving companion for him. She and her mother provide a cradle for Gulliver to sleep in, placing it on a high shelf so Gulliver will be safe from rats. Over time, the little girl teaches Gulliver the rudiments of her language and makes him new clothes of fine cloth. She calls him Grildrig (a word which means doll or toy in her language), and he calls her Glumdalclitch (which means little nurse). .......Putting Gulliver in a box with windows and a hammock, the farmer takes Gulliver to a nearby town to show him off. Soon, he is the talk of the land, and everybody wants a glimpse of the strange little man. When people come to the farmhouse to look upon Gulliver, the farmer charges them a viewing fee—and he realizes what a treasure he has. Eventually, he takes him on a tour and ends up in the court of the rulers of the land, Brobdingnag, and the queen buys him for a thousand gold pieces as a present for the king. At Gulliver’s request, she agrees to take Glumdalclitch into her service so she can continue to look after Gulliver. .......At times, Gulliver perceives the Brobdingnagians as a repulsive people, but this perception appears to result from his point of view. Because they are so big and he is so small, he can see inside their pores and the folds of their flesh.
There was a fellow with a wen in his neck, larger than five wool-packs; and another, with a couple of wooden legs, each about twenty feet high. But the most hateful sight of all, was the lice crawling on their clothes. I could see distinctly the limbs of these vermin with my naked eye, much better than those of a European louse through a microscope, and their snouts with which they rooted like swine........At the king’s request, Gulliver tells the history of his native land, England. The recitation stupefies the king, for he did not realize that a country could engage in so many abominations—murder, hypocrisy, greed, political conspiracies, etc. The king is especially shocked to hear Gulliver discuss the advantages of a powerful weapon, gunpowder, which can be used to lay waste enemies. .......After two years in Brobdingnag, the king and queen take Gulliver and Glumdalclitch with them to the southern coast of their realm, where they all stay in a royal palace at the city of Flanfasnic, near the sea. The long journey takes its toll on Gulliver and Glumdalclitch, the former catching a cold and the latter a nasty infection that confines her to her room. Longing to see the ocean once again, Gulliver persuades a page whom he trusts to take him to the ocean so that he may breathe fresh air and thereby alleviate the symptoms of his illness. When they leave, Glumdalclitch bursts into tears, so attached has she become to Gulliver. .......At the beach, the page sets the box down, and Gulliver opens one of the windows on his box and looks out with “wistful melancholy.” Feeling a bit weak from his illness, he tells the page that he will take a nap in his hammock, and the boy closes the window against the cold air. While Gulliver is sleeping, a giant Eagle swoops down, picks up the box, and carries it off. Gulliver, awakened by the movement of the box, surmises that the eagle plans to drop the box on rocks, as it would a turtle, to smash it and eat the contents. But the eagle instead drops the box on the sea—apparently, Gulliver thinks, because he had to defend his catch against other eagles closing in to share in it. Luckily, an English ship happens by and rescues him. Once more, he returns to England. .......Ten days after his arrival, the captain of a ship called the Hopewell invites Gulliver to serve as surgeon on a voyage to the East Indies in two months. The captain, William Robinson—under whom Gulliver had served on a previous voyage on another ship—promises him double the usual pay and a share in command of the Hopewell. Gulliver accepts the offer. The ship sets sail on Aug. 5, 1707, and arrives at Fort St. George in April, 1707, then moves on to Tonquin three weeks later. There, while the captain conducts business, he puts Gulliver in charge of a sloop and 14 men to sail to neighboring islands to do additional business. But after a storm blows Gulliver far off course, pirates capture his sloop. A Dutchman wants to kill him. But a Japanese—showing him more mercy than Gulliver’s “brother Christian,” the Dutchman—allows him to paddle off in a canoe with a sail and provisions. .......During his journey, Gulliver encounters an airborne island from which people are fishing. When he cries out for help, inhabitants of the island lower a chain and draw him up. His saviors are singularly odd in their appearance:
Their heads were all reclined, either to the right, or the left; one of their eyes turned inward, and the other directly up to the zenith. Their outward garments were adorned with the figures of suns, moons, and stars; interwoven with those of fiddles, flutes, harps, trumpets, guitars, harpsichords, and many other instruments of music, unknown to us in Europe.Several of them escort him to the king’s palace at the top of the island. Inside, where the king sits enthroned, are all kinds of calculating devices. The king addresses him in a strange language. Gulliver replies in all the language he knows—and cannot be understood. He is then taken to an apartment for dinner with four distinguished persons.
We had two courses, of three dishes each. In the first course, there was a shoulder of mutton cut into an equilateral triangle, a piece of beef into a rhomboides, and a pudding into a cycloid. The second course was two ducks trussed up in the form of fiddles; sausages and puddings resembling flutes and hautboys, and a breast of veal in the shape of a harp. The servants cut our bread into cones, cylinders, parallelograms, and several other mathematical figures........Gulliver learns that the island—which is 4½ miles wide, 300 yards thick, and 7,737 yards in circumference—is called Laputa. The Laputians navigate their island by means of a lodestone, a magnetic rock with the ability to attract and repel. By manipulating the stone, they can raise and lower the island or make it move horizontally in any direction. .......The residents of Laputa spend their time doing theoretical mathematics and playing music. Their language is based entirely on these two disciplines. "If they would, for example, praise the beauty of a woman, or any other animal, they describe it by rhombs, circles, parallelograms, ellipses, and other geometrical terms, or by words of art drawn from music," Gulliver says. However, they despise practical geometry. Consequently, their homes are poorly built, having not a single right angle. They are quick to put forth their opinions about politics and public affairs even though, as in Europe, mathematicians have little knowledge of such matters. All of the residents of Laputa live in constant fear that the earth and their island will one day crash into the sun—or that the sun will burn out, resulting in destruction of everything that depends on its light. .......After requesting to leave the island, Gulliver is lowered to the continent of Balnibari and enters its metropolis, Lagado, where the crops are poorly managed, people wear ragged clothing, and the houses are in bad condition—except for the house of the governor of Lagado. He tells Gulliver that 40 years before, some Lagado residents visited Laputa and came away with a smattering of mathematics that caused them to undertake bold scientific projects and other heady enterprises. They even built an academy in which to carry out their projects. Now every town in Balnibari has an academy, and the people spend most of their time conducting experiments. For example, at the Academy of Lagado, scientists are attempting to extract sunbeams from cucumbers, turn human feces back into food, erect buildings from the roof down, plow farmland with pigs, make marbles soft enough to stuff pillows and pincushions, breed sheep whose entire bodies are bald, and have students learn mathematics by swallowing wafers on which formulas are written. .......So absorbed in these enterprises are the inhabitants that they avoid taking part in almost all other activities. .......After leaving Lagado, Gulliver visits the nearby islands of Glubbdubdrib and Luggnagg. .......In Glubbdubdrib, he meets magicians who conjure up figures from history, such as Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Brutus, with whom Gulliver converses. The magicians even fulfill Gulliver’s request to conjure up the whole Senate of ancient Rome. But it is not illustrious generals or statesmen who impress Gulliver the most, as he explains: "I chiefly fed mine eyes with beholding the destroyers of tyrants and usurpers, and the restorers of liberty to oppressed and injured nations." .......In Luggnag, he encounters a rare sort of person called a Struldbrug, who is blessed with immortality. However, Struldbrugs, who have a red mark on their foreheads above the left eyebrow, do not stay eternally young. Instead, they grow old and develop infirmities. "Whenever they see a funeral, they lament and repine that others have gone to a harbour of rest to which they themselves never can hope to arrive." .......Gulliver eventually ends up in Japan. From there, he sails on a Dutch ship to the Netherlands and then returns to England on a small vessel sailing out of Amsterdam. .......After five months, Gulliver again answers the call of the ocean, this time accepting an offer to become captain of a merchant ship called The Adventurer. A young man named Robert Purefoy serves as the surgeon. The ship sets sail from Portsmouth in September of 1710 on a mission to trade with Indians in the South Seas. Many months into the voyage, the crew mutinies and sets Gulliver adrift in a longboat in unfamiliar climes. After reaching the shore of an unknown land, he sees in the soil imprints of the hoofs of horses, cows, and human feet. He discovers later that he is the land of the Houyhnhmns, a race of intelligent horses. In the wilds are repulsive creatures called Yahoos that walk on all fours. Gulliver encounters the Yahoos first.
Their heads and breasts were covered with a thick hair, some frizzled, and others lank; they had beards like goats, and a long ridge of hair down their backs, and the fore parts of their legs and feet; but the rest of their bodies was bare, so that I might see their skins, which were of a brown buff colour........When a herd of these ugly beasts swarm around Gulliver, some of them climb a tree and begin defecating on him. However, they flee when two horses appear, one a dappled gray and the other a brown bay. They observe him cautiously, then feel his clothes and touch him gently. All the while, they seem to communicate with each other. Their behavior is so rational that Gulliver wonders whether they are magicians who changed themselves into horses. When he hears them converse, he repeats some of their words. Before long, he begins to pick up their language. One of them takes him to his house. Inside, in a large room, sat three nags and two mares. Several cows were performing domestic chores. Gulliver concludes that these horses must be wondrously intelligent, for they have trained brute beasts. .......Gulliver's host then leads him into a courtyard in which several Yahoos—tied to a beam at their necks—are feeding on the the flesh of dead dogs, asses, and cows. When Gulliver observes one of the Yahoos close up, he discovers to his horror that it has the face and figure of a human. .......One of the horses offers Gulliver a root, which he politely refuses; then he offers him some smelly flesh of an ass, which he also refuses. He likewise declines to partake of hay and oats. However, when Gulliver points to a cow passing by and conveys the idea that he wants to milk it, they take him into the house and a mare gives him a bowlful of milk. .......During his stay with the Houyhnhmns, Gulliver learns to make pastes and cakes from oats, as well as butter and whey from milk. He also hunts rabbit and makes salads from herbs. In time, he learns to converse with the Houyhnhmns, telling them to their astonishment that in his land people like himself, whom they believe to be a Yahoo, are the rulers; horses are used to carry them on their backs, pull wagons, and race for sport. .......The day comes, however, when the Houyhnhmns forbid Gulliver from remaining with them, fearing that he might attempt to become a Yahoo leader. He then builds a canoe with a sail made of Yahoo skins and travels to a rocky island, where he finds fresh water and shellfish. While there, he spies a Portuguese ship in the distance. After crewmen go ashore to replenish their water supply, they take Gulliver back to the ship. The captain, Don Pedro de Mendez, treat Gulliver kindly agrees to take him to Lisbon. From there, Gulliver finds his way back to England. But this time, he is not happy to see his native land, for its inhabitants are too much like the Yahoos. During the first year after his return, he says, "I could not endure my wife or children in my presence; the very smell of them was intolerable; much less could I suffer them to eat in the same room." However, after five years, he begins to adjust to them.
I began last week to permit my wife to sit at dinner with me, at the farthest end of a long table; and to answer (but with the utmost brevity) the few questions I asked her. Yet, the smell of a Yahoo continuing very offensive, I always keep my nose well stopped with rue, lavender, or tobacco leaves. And, although it be hard for a man late in life to remove old habits, I am not altogether out of hopes, in some time, to suffer a neighbour Yahoo in my company, without the apprehensions I am yet under of his teeth or his claws.
General Themes
.......One may read Gulliver's Travels as a satire and as an adventure story. .......The general theme of the satire is that serious defects afflict society. Politicians, religious leaders, social planners, military tacticians, educators—indeed, all of society’s elite—often hamper progress through political machination, aggression, misguided science and art, and out-and-out stupidity. .......The general theme of the adventure story is that strange and wondrous exploits await people willing to take risks. Gulliver goes to sea again and again—risking the perils of angry weather, pirates, and unfriendly cultures—to escape the familiar and experience the exotic.
Specific Themes
Petty Bickering
The argument between Lilliput and Blefescu over how to break an egg satirizes the often-petty bickering between people and nations that leads to religious intolerance, war, and other types of conflict.
Foolish Experimentation
The Academy of Lagado's ridiculous experiments, such as extracting sunbeams from cucumbers and turning human feces into food, represents (1) time- and money-wasting scientific projects and (2) prideful attempts to take on godlike powers. An example of the former was the allocation of several million dollars by the U.S. Congress in 2009 to study the odor of pig urine. An example of the latter is the attempt by scientists in some societies to clone human beings.
Degrading Behavior
The Yahoos’ behavior represents corrupt and repulsive human behavior, such as deviant sexuality, gluttony, college hazing rituals, habitual drunkenness, staging of dog fights, and other shameful activity.
Scatology
The novel frequently centers on scatological acts, such as defecation and urination, to satirize Enlightenment thinkers who took undue pride in their intellectual and rational powers. (The Enlightenment, which began in the middle 1600s and ended in the late 1700s, stressed the pre-eminence of human reason and science in efforts to advance civilization and discover new frontiers of knowledge.) In effect, Swift was telling the elite thinkers that they are no better than the common man. Like a carpenter or a shoemaker, a philosopher farts, sweats, and burps.
Coping With Alienation
On his visits to various lands, Gulliver is an alien among strange and sometimes fearful creatures. Fortunately, he manages to cope. For example, in Brobdingnag-- where every person, animal, and thing are gigantic--he uses his wits to keep himself safe in the presence of domesticated animals.
I have been always told, and found true by experience in my travels, that flying or discovering fear before a fierce animal, is a certain way to make it pursue or attack you, so I resolved, in this dangerous juncture, to show no manner of concern. I walked with intrepidity five or six times before the very head of the cat, and came within half a yard of her; whereupon she drew herself back, as if she were more afraid of me: I had less apprehension concerning the dogs, whereof three or four came into the room, as it is usual in farmers’ houses; one of which was a mastiff, equal in bulk to four elephants, and another a greyhound, somewhat taller than the mastiff, but not so large. (Part II, Chapter 1)Relativity
Gulliver is gigantic in Lilliput but minuscule in Brobdingnag. After arriving in the latter country, Gulliver observes,
Undoubtedly philosophers are in the right, when they tell us that nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison. It might have pleased fortune, to have let the Lilliputians find some nation, where the people were as diminutive with respect to them, as they were to me. And who knows but that even this prodigious race of mortals [Brobdingnagians] might be equally overmatched in some distant part of the world, whereof we have yet no discovery. Oddly, Gulliver's observation calls to mind the principles behind the relativity theories of science. For example, suppose a passenger is walking in the aisle of a train traveling at fifty miles an hour. Suppose further that a seated passenger in the train measures the walker's speed at three miles an hour and that a stationary observer outside the train measures the walker's speed at fifty-three miles an hour. (The walker passes the outside observer at the speed of his walk plus the speed of the train). So how fast is the walker moving? The answer depends on whether the speed is measured relative to what is inside the train or measured relative to what is outside the train. Gulliver's observation also implies that the value of such things as a government system, a gem, a human behavior, a musical technique, and so on can be assessed only in relation to something else. A king or an emperor may claim he is generous to his people, but a comparison of his generosity to that of other kings or emperors could reveal him as miser.
Exploration and Discovery
Like the real explorers from Columbus onward, the fictional Gulliver discovers new worlds. Though his adventures are perilous, they are also exciting, providing him glimpses of different customs, cultures, and peoples. His experiences expand his knowledge and help to enlighten, by way of comparisons, about his own world. By learning the languages of the people he encounters, he also realizes the importance of communicating with foreigners in their native tongue.
Love and Kindness: Their Absence and Presence
Love and kindness are conspicuously absent in many of the lands that Gulliver visits. However, Glumdalclitch, the nine-year-old daughter of the Brobdingnagian farmer, is a major exception. She cares for Gulliver all the while he stays in Brobdingnag and sees to his every need. For example, when Gulliver goes to town with the farmer's family, "She carried me on her lap, in a box tied about her waist," Gulliver says. "The girl had lined it on all sides with the softest cloth she could get, well quilted underneath, furnished it with [a] bed, provided me with linen and other necessaries, and made everything as convenient as she could." Her treatment of Gulliver is untainted by the kind of selfish ulterior motives harbored by adults in both Gulliver's fictional world and the real world in England and other European countries.
Point of View
Gulliver narrates his story in first-person point of view.
Irony and Satire
Swift's major writing tools are irony and satire. As to the former, he relies mainly on situational irony rather than verbal or dramatic irony. In situational irony, a development, a result or an ending is the opposite of what one expects. For example, one would expect scientists and philosophers to be wise. But on the flying island of Laputa, they are woefully lacking in practical knowledge and even attempt to build a house from the roof down. Satire attacks or pokes fun at vices and imperfections. Throughout the novel, Swift satirizes kings, queens, politicians, military leaders, scientists, and thinks of the real world by implying or directly stating that they are like their counterparts in his fictional world.
Direct Criticism
Sometimes Swift directly attacks humankind, without the subtlety of satire or allusion, as he does in the following passage when Gulliver answers a question posed by a Houyhnhmns leader.
He asked me, “what were the usual causes or motives that made one country go to war with another?” I answered “they were innumerable; but I should only mention a few of the chief. Sometimes the ambition of princes, who never think they have land or people enough to govern; sometimes the corruption of ministers, who engage their master in a war, in order to stifle or divert the clamour of the subjects against their evil administration. Difference in opinions has cost many millions of lives: for instance, whether . . . whistling be a vice or a virtue; whether it be better to kiss a post, or throw it into the fire; what is the best colour for a coat, whether black, white, red, or gray; and whether it should be long or short, narrow or wide, dirty or clean; with many more. Neither are any wars so furious and bloody, or of so long a continuance, as those occasioned by difference in opinion, especially if it be in things indifferent.The Great Egg Controversy: How It Began
In Chapter 3 of Part 1, "A Voyage to Lilliput," Reldresal, the principal secretary for private affairs in Lilliput, explains to Gulliver how the the great egg controversy began. Here is what Reldresal says:
It began upon the following occasion. It is allowed on all hands, that the primitive way of breaking eggs, before we eat them, was upon the larger end; but his present majesty’s grandfather, while he was a boy, going to eat an egg, and breaking it according to the ancient practice, happened to cut one of his fingers. Whereupon the emperor his father published an edict, commanding all his subjects, upon great penalties, to break the smaller end of their eggs. The people so highly resented this law, that our histories tell us, there have been six rebellions raised on that account; wherein one emperor lost his life, and another his crown. These civil commotions were constantly fomented by the monarchs of Blefuscu; and when they were quelled, the exiles always fled for refuge to that empire. It is computed that eleven thousand persons have at several times suffered death, rather than submit to break their eggs at the smaller end. Many hundred large volumes have been published upon this controversy: but the books of the Big-endians have been long forbidden, and the whole party rendered incapable by law of holding employments. During the course of these troubles, the emperors of Blefusca did frequently expostulate by their ambassadors, accusing us of making a schism in religion, by offending against a fundamental doctrine of our great prophet Lustrog, in the fifty-fourth chapter of the Blundecral (which is their Alcoran). This, however, is thought to be a mere strain upon the text; for the words are these: ‘that all true believers break their eggs at the convenient end.’ And which is the convenient end, seems, in my humble opinion to be left to every man’s conscience, or at least in the power of the chief magistrate to determine. Now, the Big-endian exiles have found so much credit in the emperor of Blefuscu’s court, and so much private assistance and encouragement from their party here at home, that a bloody war has been carried on between the two empires for six-and-thirty moons, with various success; during which time we have lost forty capital ships, and a much a greater number of smaller vessels, together with thirty thousand of our best seamen and soldiers; and the damage received by the enemy is reckoned to be somewhat greater than ours. However, they have now equipped a numerous fleet, and are just preparing to make a descent upon us; and his imperial majesty, placing great confidence in your valour and strength, has commanded me to lay this account of his affairs before you.Tone .. Swift writes the first part of his novel with playful satire that casts the half-inch-tall Lilliputians as tolerable bumblers. After all, they are almost endearing in the way that they maintain petty rivalries. For example, some Lilliputians wear high-heeled shoes to make them appear more formidable to their political, low-heeled rivals. However, as Swift proceeds further into his story, his satire darkens until finally—when he describes the repulsive Yahoos, who represent the worst of humanity—he becomes a bit of a pessimist and misanthrope. However, Swift always seems to keep in mind the goal of reforming society. Even at the end, when Gulliver loses all hope in humankind, Swift seems to be saying, “This is what will happen to you if you do not change your ways.” Therefore, it seems reasonable to conclude that Swift was not a cynic who gave up on society and humankind but instead a gadfly who bit the carcass of the complacent in order to force it to rise and act. .
The Importance of Measurements
Swift uses measurements to unify and support the plot of Gulliver's Travels. For example, Books 1 and 2 focus on physical measurements: The Lilliputians are tiny compared to Gulliver, and the Brobdingnagians are gigantic. Books 3 and 4 focus on intellectual measurements: The Laputians are tiny in intellectual achievement compared to Gulliver, and the Houyhnhmns are gigantic. Thus, the story becomes an adventure is size. Swift also imparts chronological flow to the novel by informing the reader at the beginning and end of each book of the exact date that Gulliver leaves England and the exact date that he returns. In addition, Swift provides detailed statistics on such diverse topics as how many crewmen serve a ship, how many cooks prepare Gulliver's meals, how many citizens inhabit a certain city, how tall or small a person is, and so on.
Swift’s Verisimilitude
In a work of fantasy, a writer creates impossible characters, places, and situations and asks the reader to pretend that they are real. To help the reader in this task, the writer tells his tale in such a way that he makes it seem credible—that is, he gives it “verisimilitude.” Verisimilitude is derived from the Latin words veritas (truth) and similis (similar). Thus, a literary work with verisimilitude is similar to the truth or has the appearance of truth. In Gulliver’s Travel’s, Swift achieves verisimilitude in several ways:
(1) He tells the story in first-person point of view, assuming the persona of Lemuel Gulliver, to present the tale as though it were an eyewitness account. (2) He gives Gulliver a real-world background. (3) He gives imaginary characters, places, and things at least some real-world characteristics. (4) He infuses many passages with statistics, which—like encyclopedias and almanacs—suggest objectivity and truth. (5) He frequently addresses the reader directly, as if the latter is sitting across the table from him. (In fact, Swift speaks to the reader 48 times during his novel.) This trick helps to make the reader an intimate friend, or confidant, of the author. As we all know, a good friend accepts the word of his comrade. (6) He follows each voyage to an unreal world with a voyage back to the real world. In the opening paragraph of Chapter 1, Book 1, Swift works hard to establish the fictional Gulliver as a flesh-and-blood Englishman and thus invest him with verisimilitude. Here is that paragraph, with references to real places underlined and statistical or numerical information boldfaced:
My father had a small estate in Nottinghamshire: I was the third of five sons. He sent me to Emanuel College in Cambridge at fourteen years old, where I resided three years, and applied myself close to my studies; but the charge of maintaining me, although I had a very scanty allowance, being too great for a narrow fortune, I was bound apprentice to Mr. James Bates, an eminent surgeon in London, with whom I continued four years. My father now and then sending me small sums of money, I laid them out in learning navigation, and other parts of the mathematics, useful to those who intend to travel, as I always believed it would be, some time or other, my fortune to do. When I left Mr. Bates, I went down to my father: where, by the assistance of him and my uncle John, and some other relations, I got forty pounds, and a promise of thirty pounds a year to maintain me at Leyden: there I studied physic two years and seven months, knowing it would be useful in long voyages.And here is a paragraph that appeals to the reader and uses statistics to suggest verisimilitude:
The reader may please to observe, that, in the last article of the recovery of my liberty, the emperor stipulates to allow me a quantity of meat and drink sufficient for the support of 1724 Lilliputians. Some time after, asking a friend at court how they came to fix on that determinate number, he told me that his majesty's mathematicians, having taken the height of my body by the help of a quadrant, and finding it to exceed theirs in the proportion of twelve to one, they concluded from the similarity of their bodies, that mine must contain at least 1724 of theirs, and consequently would require as much food as was necessary to support that number of Lilliputians. By which the reader may conceive an idea of the ingenuity of that people, as well as the prudent and exact economy of so great a prince.Here is still another passage that addresses the reader:
But at the same time the reader can hardly conceive my astonishment, to behold an island in the air, inhabited by men, who were able (as it should seem) to raise or sink, or put it into progressive motion, as they pleased.
Swift’s Ridicule of Travel Writers
Gulliver frequently says he will not “trouble the reader” with detailed descriptions of a particular episode in his travels. Such statements are jibes at travel writers of Swift's day, who tended to inflate their descriptions with a prolixity of insignificant details. The words "I will not trouble the reader" (or similar locutions) occur nine times in the novel to convey the idea that Swift will not trouble the reader with wordiness as travel writers do.
Gulliver’s Two Personas
Gulliver appears to have two personas, or identities. On the one hand, he is a bystander observing the follies and vices of cultures that symbolize England, sometimes intervening to correct those vices and follies. In Lilliput, for example, he reports on the follies and vices of the Lilliputians and then intervenes to stop a war. In other lands, however, he sometimes becomes England itself, advocating questionable practices. For example, in Brobdingnag, he becomes the observed, rather than the observer, and seemingly promotes the use of gunpowder as a way to destroy enemies.
Author Information
Jonathan Swift was born on November 30, 1667, in Dublin, Ireland. His father—an Englishman who had moved to Ireland—died earlier that year. Receiving financial assistance from relatives, Swift attended a good school for his basic education and graduated from Trinity College in Dublin in 1686. He lived off and on in England, became an Anglican clergyman, and eventually was appointed dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, although he had lobbied for a position in England. His writing—especially his satires—made him one of the most prominent citizens in Great Britain, and he worked for a time on behalf of Tory causes. His most famous work is Gulliver's Travels, a book of satire on politics and society in general. Swift died in Dublin on October 19, 1745
Study Questions and Essay Topics
Identify modern government leaders whom you believe to be Lilliputian in their thinking. Write an essay informing the reader of foolhardy scientific experiments (boondoggles) that the U.S. government (or any other government) is considering or has approved. Can Gulliver's Travels be compared in any way with the TV series Star Trek? In your opinion, which episode in Gulliver's Travels was the most entertaining? Explain your answer. In your opinion, which episode in Gulliver's Travels was the most effective in enlightening you about the flaws and follies of governments and their leaders? Explain your answer. Write a satirical essay or short story on a subject of your choice. Gulliver's facility for learning new languages serves him well on his voyages. Write an essay that explains how important linguistic skill is in today's world. In your essay, you may wish to consider how knowledge of foreign languages promotes success in business and commerce, military endeavors, and diplomacy. You may also wish to consider how it helps people to understand other cultures (ancient as well as modern), learn the meaning of legal and scientific terms, and act in plays or sing in operas,
Author's Abstracts of Each Chapter
.......Before each chapter in Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift provides a capsule summary, or abstract, of the events in the chapter. Following are his summaries, quoted directly from the novel.
Part I. A Voyage to Lilliiput.
Chapter 1 The author gives some account of himself and family. His first inducements to travel. He is shipwrecked, and swims for his life. Gets safe on shore in the country of Lilliput; is made a prisoner, and carried up the country.
Chapter 2 The emperor of Lilliput, attended by several of the nobility, comes to see the author in his confinement. The emperor’s person and habit described. Learned men appointed to teach the author their language. He gains favour by his mild disposition. His pockets are searched, and his sword and pistols taken from him.
Chapter 3 The author diverts the emperor, and his nobility of both sexes, in a very uncommon manner. The diversions of the court of Lilliput described. The author has his liberty granted him upon certain conditions.
Chapter 4 Mildendo, the metropolis of Lilliput, described, together with the emperor’s palace. A conversation between the author and a principal secretary, concerning the affairs of that empire. The author’s offers to serve the emperor in his wars.
Chapter 5 The author, by an extraordinary stratagem, prevents an invasion. A high title of honour is conferred upon him. Ambassadors arrive from the emperor of Blefuscu, and sue for peace. The empress’s apartment on fire by an accident; the author instrumental in saving the rest of the palace.
Chapter 6 Of the inhabitants of Lilliput; their learning, laws, and customs; the manner of educating their children. The author’s way of living in that country. His vindication of a great lady.
Chapter 7 The author, being informed of a design to accuse him of high-treason, makes his escape to Blefuscu. His reception there.
Chapter 8 The author, by a lucky accident, finds means to leave Blefuscu; and, after some difficulties, returns safe to his native country.
Part II. A Voyage to Brobdingnag.
Chapter 1 A great storm described; the long boat sent to fetch water; the author goes with it to discover the country. He is left on shore, is seized by one of the natives, and carried to a farmer’s house. His reception, with several accidents that happened there. A description of the inhabitants.
Chapter 2 A description of the farmer’s daughter. The author carried to a market-town, and then to the metropolis. The particulars of his journey
Chapter 3 The author sent for to court. The queen buys him of his master the farmer, and presents him to the king. He disputes with his majesty’s great scholars. An apartment at court provided for the author. He is in high favour with the queen. He stands up for the honour of his own country. His quarrels with the queen’s dwarf.
Chapter 4 The country described. A proposal for correcting modern maps. The king’s palace; and some account of the metropolis. The author’s way of travelling. The chief temple described.
Chapter 5 Several adventures that happened to the author. The execution of a criminal. The author shows his skill in navigation.
Chapter 6 Several contrivances of the author to please the king and queen. He shows his skill in music. The king inquires into the state of England, which the author relates to him. The king’s observations thereon.
Chapter 7 The author’s love of his country. He makes a proposal of much advantage to the king, which is rejected. The king’s great ignorance in politics. The learning of that country very imperfect and confined. The laws, and military affairs, and parties in the state.
Chapter 8 The king and queen make a progress to the frontiers. The author attends them. The manner in which he leaves the country very particularly related. He returns to England.
Part III. A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan
Chapter 1 The author sets out on his third voyage. Is taken by pirates. The malice of a Dutchman. His arrival at an island. He is received into Laputa.
Chapter 2 The humours and dispositions of the Laputians described. An account of their learning. Of the king and his court. The author’s reception there. The inhabitants subject to fear and disquietudes. An account of the women.
Chapter 3 A phenomenon solved by modern philosophy and astronomy. The Laputians’ great improvements in the latter. The king’s method of suppressing insurrections.
Chapter 4 The author leaves Laputa; is conveyed to Balnibarbi; arrives at the metropolis. A description of the metropolis, and the country adjoining. The author hospitably received by a great lord. His conversation with that lord.
Chapter 5 The author permitted to see the grand academy of Lagado. The academy largely described. The arts wherein the professors employ themselves.
Chapter 6 A further account of the academy. The author proposes some improvements, which are honourably received.
Chapter 7 The author leaves Lagado: arrives at Maldonada. No ship ready. He takes a short voyage to Glubbdubdrib. His reception by the governor.
Chapter 8 A further account of Glubbdubdrib. Ancient and modern history corrected.
Chapter 9 The author returns to Maldonada. Sails to the kingdom of Luggnagg. The author confined. He is sent for to court. The manner of his admittance. The king’s great lenity to his subjects.
Chapter 10 The Luggnaggians commended. A particular description of the Struldbrugs, with many conversations between the author and some eminent persons upon that subject.
Chapter 11 The author leaves Luggnagg, and sails to Japan. From thence he returns in a Dutch ship to Amsterdam, and from Amsterdam to England.
Part IV. A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms.
Chapter 1 The author sets out as captain of a ship. His men conspire against him, confine him a long time to his cabin, and set him on shore in an unknown land. He travels up into the country. The Yahoos, a strange sort of animal, described. The author meets two Houyhnhnms.
Chapter 2 The author conducted by a Houyhnhnm to his house. The house described. The author’s reception. The food of the Houyhnhnms. The author in distress for want of meat. Is at last relieved. His manner of feeding in this country.
Chapter 3 The author studies to learn the language. The Houyhnhnm, his master, assists in teaching him. The language described. Several Houyhnhnms of quality come out of curiosity to see the author. He gives his master a short account of his voyage.
Chapter 4 The Houyhnhnms' notion of truth and falsehood. The author’s discourse disapproved by his master. The author gives a more particular account of himself, and the accidents of his voyage.
Chapter 5 The author at his master’s command, informs him of the state of England. The causes of war among the princes of Europe. The author begins to explain the English constitution.
Chapter 6 A continuation of the state of England under Queen Anne. The character of a first minister of state in European courts.
Chapter 7 The author’s great love of his native country. His master’s observations upon the constitution and administration of England, as described by the author, with parallel cases and comparisons. His master’s observations upon human nature.
Chapter 8 The author relates several particulars of the Yahoos. The great virtues of the Houyhnhnms. The education and exercise of their youth. Their general assembly.
Chapter 9 A grand debate at the general assembly of the Houyhnhnms, and how it was determined. The learning of the Houyhnhnms. Their buildings. Their manner of burials. The defectiveness of their language.
Chapter 10 The author’s economy, and happy life, among the Houyhnhnms. His great improvement in virtue by conversing with them. Their conversations. The author has notice given him by his master, that he must depart from the country. He falls into a swoon for grief; but submits. He contrives and finishes a canoe by the help of a fellow-servant, and puts to sea at a venture.
Chapter 11 The author’s dangerous voyage. He arrives at New Holland, hoping to settle there. Is wounded with an arrow by one of the natives. Is seized and carried by force into a Portuguese ship. The great civilities of the captain. The author arrives at England.
Chapter 12 The author’s veracity. His design in publishing this work. His censure of those travellers who swerve from the truth. The author clears himself from any sinister ends in writing. An objection answered. The method of planting colonies. His native country commended. The right of the crown to those countries described by the author is justified. The difficulty of conquering them. The author takes his last leave of the reader; proposes his manner of living for the future; gives good advice, and concludes.
Jonathan Swift: Gulliver's Travels
English novel.
The following entry presents criticism of Swift's Gulliver's Travels. See also, A Modest Proposal Criticism.
INTRODUCTION
Swift's greatest satire, Gulliver's Travels, is considered one of the most important works in the history of world literature. Published as Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts; by Lemuel Gulliver in 1726, Gulliver's Travels depicts one man's journeys to several strange and unusual lands. The general theme of Gulliver's Travels is a satirical examination of human nature, man's potential for depravity, and the dangers of the misuse of reason. Throughout the volume Swift attacked the baseness of humankind even as he suggested the greatest virtues of the human race; he also attacked the folly of human learning and political systems even as he implied the proper functions of art, science, and government. Gulliver's Travels, some scholars believe, had its origins during Swift's years as a Tory polemicist, when he was part of a group of prominent Tory writers known as the Scriblerus Club. The group, which also included Alexander Pope, John Gay, and John Arbuthnot, among others, collaborated on several satires, including The Scriblerus Papers. They also planned a satire called The Memoirs of a Martinus Scriblerus, which was to include several imaginary voyages. An immediate success, Gulliver's Travels was inspired by this work. Swift finished Gulliver's Travels was published anonymously, but Swift's authorship was widely suspected. Alternately considered an attack on humanity or a clear-eyed assessment of human strengths and weaknesses, the novel is a complex study of human nature and of the moral, philosophical, and scientific thought of Swift's time which has resisted any single definition of meaning for nearly three centuries.
Plot and Major Characters
Written in the form of a travel journal, Gulliver's Travels is the fictional account of four extraordinary voyages made by Lemuel Gulliver, a physician who signs on to serve as a ship's surgeon when he is unable to provide his family with a sufficient income
in London. After being shipwrecked Gulliver first arrives at Lilliput, an island whose inhabitants are just six inches tall and where the pettiness of the political system is mirrored in the diminutive size of its citizens.
Gulliver is referred to as the "Man-Mountain" by the Lilliputians and is eventually pressed into service by the King in a nonsensical war with the neighboring island of Blefuscu. Gulliver finally escapes Lilliput and returns briefly to England before a second voyage takes him to Brobdingnag. There he finds himself dwarfed by inhabitants who are sixty feet tall. Gulliver's comparatively tiny size now makes him wholly dependent on the protection and solicitude of others, and he is imperiled by dangerous encounters with huge rats and a curious toddler. Gulliver, however, incurs the disdain of the kindly and virtuous Brobdingnagian rulers when his gunpowder display, intended to impress his hosts as an exemplary product of European civilization, proves disastrous. An address Gulliver delivers to the Brobdingnagians describing English political practices of the day is also met with much scorn. Housed in a miniature box, Gulliver abruptly departs Brobdingnag when a giant eagle flies off with him and drops him in the ocean. He soon embarks on his third voyage to the flying island of Laputa, a mysterious land inhabited by scientists, magicians, and sorcerers who engage in abstract theorizing and conduct ill-advised experiments based on flawed calculations. Here Gulliver also visits Glubbdubdrib where it is possible to summon the dead and to converse with such figures as Aristotle and Julius Caesar. He also travels to Luggnagg, where he encounters the Struldbrugs, a group of people who are given immortality, yet are condemned to live out their eternal existence trapped in feeble and decrepit bodies. Once again Gulliver returns to England before a final journey, to the land of the Houyhnhnms, who are a superior race of intelligent horses. But the region is also home to the Yahoos, a vile and depraved race of ape-like creatures. Gulliver is eventually exiled from Houyhnhnm society when the horses gently insist that Gulliver must return to live among his own kind. After this fourth and final voyage, he returns to England, where he has great difficulty adjusting to everyday life. All people everywhere remind him of the Yahoos.
Major Themes
Each of the four voyages in Gulliver's Travels serves as a vehicle for Swift to expose and excoriate some aspect of human folly. The first voyage has been interpreted as an allegorical satire of the political events of the early eighteenth century, a commentary on the moral state of England, a general satire on the pettiness of human desires for wealth and power, and a depiction of the effects of unwarranted pride and self-promotion. The war with the tiny neighboring island of Blefuscu represents England's rivalry with France. In Brobdingnag, Gulliver's diminutive status serves as a reminder of how perspective and viewpoint alter one's condition and claims to power in society. The imperfect, yet highly moral Brobdingnagians represent, according to many critics, Swift's conception of ethical rulers. The voyage to Laputa, the flying island, is a scathing attack upon science in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and reveals Swift's thorough acquaintance with the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, the leading publication of the scientific community of his day. The third voyage unequivocally manifests Swift's contempt and disdain for abstract theory and ideology that is not of practical service to humans. But it is the voyage to the land of the Houyhnhnms that reveals Swift's ultimate satiric object—man's inability to come to terms with his true nature. In particular, the Houyhnhnms are interpreted as symbols and examples of a human order that, although unattainable, deserves to remain an ideal, while the Yahoos are found to be the representatives of the depths of humanity's potential fall if that ideal is abandoned.
Critical Reception
Gulliver's Travels has always been Swift's most discussed work. Critics have provided a wide variety of interpretations of each of the four voyages, of Swift's satiric targets, and of the narrative voice. But scholars agree that most crucial to an understanding of Gulliver's Travels is an understanding of the fourth voyage, to the land of the Houyhnhnms. Merrel D. Clubb has noted that "the longer that one studies Swift, the more obvious it becomes that the interpretations and verdict to be placed on the 'Voyage to the Houyhnhnms' is, after all, the central problem of Swift criticism." Much of the controversy surrounds three possible interpretations of the Houyhnhnms and the Yahoos. One school of thought has traditionally viewed the Yahoos as a satiric representation of debased humanity, while taking the Houyhnhnms as representatives of Swift's ideals of rationality and order. The two races are thus interpreted as symbols of the dual nature of humanity, with Gulliver's misanthropy based on his perception of the flaws of human nature and the failure of humanity to develop its potential for reason, harmony, and order. Another critical position considers both the Houyhnhnms and Yahoos to be the subject of satire, with the Yahoos representing the physical baseness of humans and the Houyhnhnms representing the fatuousness of the idea that humans will ever achieve a rationally-ordered existence. The ultimate satiric intent of the work to critics who accept this interpretation is that the only truly rational or enlightened beings in existence are not humans, but another species altogether. Since the 1950s, however, a variety of critics have tempered these readings by illuminating the complexity of purpose in the fourth voyage. The Houyhnhnms and Yahoos are now most often discussed as both satiric objects and representatives of the duality of human nature. The nature of Gulliver is another much-debated element of the Travels. Early critics generally viewed him as the mouthpiece of Swift. Modern critics, who recognize the subtlety of Swift's creation of Gulliver, have discredited that position. The most significant contemporary debate is concerned with Swift's intentions regarding the creation of Gulliver—whether he is meant to be a consistently realized character, a reliable narrator, or a satiric object whose opinions are the object of Swift's ridicule. This debate over the nature of Gulliver is important because critics seek to determine whether Gulliver is intended to be a man with definite character traits who undergoes a transformation, or an allegorical representative of humanity. In general, Gulliver is now considered a flexible persona manipulated by Swift to present a diversity of views or satirical situations and to indicate the complexity, the ultimate indefinability, of human nature. Many scholars have suggested that Gulliver's Travels has no ultimate meaning but to demand that readers regard humanity without the prejudices of pessimism or optimism, and accept human beings as a mixture of good and evil. Eighteenth- and nineteenth-century critics of Swift were primarily interested in aspects of his character, although a few did actually discuss the meaning and merits of his work at length. The eighteenth-century critics were most concerned with depicting Swift's perceived immorality and misanthropy, and they often argued their case with the help of misrepresentations, or deliberate fabrications of facts. Swift's defenders, in attacking these critics, provided the first real criticism of Swift, in particular pointing out the misrepresentations of his life. Twentieth-century critics have been confronted with the task of sifting through the misconceptions to reevaluate Swift's total achievement. There are many psychological examinations of Swift's character; the psychoanalysts, however, have often been criticized for neglecting the literary or intellectual traditions of Swift's age when associating his works with supposed neurotic tendencies. Some commentators believed that psychoanalytic critics also make an obvious mistake when they identify Swift with his characters, assuming, for example, that Gulliver's comments reflect the opinions of his creator. Close textual analysis has demonstrated the complicated elements of Swift's works and proven that they do not always reflect his personal opinions, but are carefully written to reflect the opinions of Swift's created narrators. A master of simple yet vividly descriptive prose and of a style so direct that if often masks the complexity of his irony, Swift is praised for his ability to craft his satires entirely through the eyes of a created persona. He is now regarded as a complex though not mysterious man who created works of art which will permit no single interpretation. The massive amount of criticism devoted to Swift each year reflects his continued literary importance: his work is valuable not for any statement of ultimate meaning, but for its potential for raising questions in the mind of the reader.
Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift
Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift : Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift gives an account of the protagonist's journey in various islands. The protagonist sets out on a voyage after incurring heavy financial losses. The novel explores the socio-political and cultural scenario of various races in the islands. The Lilliput or the diminutives reflect a specific psychological make-up and attitude towards life. The dwarfs even fight a battle by using Gulliver, the protagonist. The dispute among the dwarfs are reflected through the battle.
Brobdingnagian, the race with colossal physical structures,exude their philosophy of life. Laputans believe in the traditional knowledge and pays scant respect to the modernism. They believe in the time- tested methodology of knowledge. Houyhnhnm believe in the ideology of living life while conforming to logic. The protagonist of the novel, however, lacks the insight and the passion to analyze his personality. The protagonist of the novel is enriched due to the multitude of experiences in various islands. The protagonist in Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift explores the ideologies and the mental make-up of various races. The author wrote the novel in such a way that it glues the readers to the book. The author by his power of imagination has interwoven various incidents in the novel. The traits of the various races are similar to the characteristics of human beings. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift has the elements of humor and wit. The thrill of adventure is also palpable in the novel .The novel has a taut structure and kindles an element of interest in the minds of the readers. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift is a novel that caters to people of all age groups. The children like it because of the element of adventure and fantasy. The adults like it because of the latent connotations of the symbolic races in various islands. The importance of humanitarian spirit is reinforced in Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
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For other uses, see Gulliver's Travels (disambiguation).
Gulliver's Travels (1726, amended 1735), officially Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of several Ships, is a novel by Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift that is both a satire on human nature and a parody of the "travellers' tales" literary sub-genre. It is Swift's best known full-length work, and a classic of English literature.
The book became tremendously popular as soon as it was published (John Gay said in a 1726 letter to Swift that "it is universally read, from the cabinet council to the nursery" [1] ); since then, it has never been out of print.
Contents:1. Plot summary2. Composition and history3. Major themes4. Cultural influences5. Allusions and references from other works6. Adaptations7. See also8. References9. External links
Gulliver's Travels
First Edition of Gulliver's Travels
Author
Jonathan Swift
Original title
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of several Ships
Country
England
Language
English
Genre(s)
Satire and sometimes Science Fiction
Publisher
Benjamin Motte
Publication date
1726
Media type
Print
1. Plot summary
The book presents itself as a simple traveller's narrative with the disingenuous title Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, its authorship assigned only to "Lemuel Gulliver, first a surgeon, then a captain of several ships". Different editions contain different versions of the prefatory material which are basically the same as forewords in modern books. The book proper then is divided into four parts, which are as follows.
1. 1. Part I: A Voyage to Lilliput
Mural depicting Gulliver surrounded by citizens of Lilliput.
May 4, 1699 — April 13, 1702
The book begins with a short preamble in which Gulliver, in the style of books of the time, gives a brief outline of his life and history prior to his voyages. He enjoys traveling, although it is that love of travel that is his downfall.
On his first voyage, Gulliver is washed ashore after a shipwreck and awakes to find himself a prisoner of a race of people one-twelfth the size of normal human beings (6 inches/15 cm tall), who are inhabitants of the neighbouring and rival countries of Lilliput and Blefuscu. After giving assurances of his good behaviour, he is given a residence in Lilliput and becomes a favourite of the court. From there, the book follows Gulliver's observations on the Court of Lilliput, which is intended to satirise the court of George I (King of England at the time of the writing of the Travels). Gulliver assists the Lilliputians to subdue their neighbors the Blefuscudians (by stealing their fleet). However, he refuses to reduce the country to a province of Lilliput, displeasing the King and the court. Gulliver is charged with treason and sentenced to be blinded. With the assistance of a kind friend, Gulliver escapes to Blefuscu, where he spots and retrieves an abandoned boat and sails out to be rescued by a passing ship which safely takes him back home.
1. 2. Part II: A Voyage to Brobdingnag
Gulliver Exhibited to the Brobdingnag Farmer by Richard Redgrave
June 20, 1702 — June 3, 1706
When the sailing ship Adventure is steered off course by storms and forced to go in to land for want of fresh water, Gulliver is abandoned by his companions and found by a farmer who is 72 feet (22 m) tall (the scale of Lilliput is approximately 1:12; of Brobdingnag 12:1, judging from Gulliver estimating a man's step being 10 yards (9.1 m)). He brings Gulliver home and his daughter cares for Gulliver. The farmer treats him as a curiosity and exhibits him for money. The word gets out and the Queen of Brobdingnag wants to see the show. She loves Gulliver and he is then bought by her and kept as a favourite at court.
Since Gulliver is too small to use their huge chairs, beds, knives and forks, the queen commissions a small house to be built for Gulliver so that he can be carried around in it. This box is referred to as his travelling box. In between small adventures such as fighting giant wasps and being carried to the roof by a monkey, he discusses the state of Europe with the King. The King is not impressed with Gulliver's accounts of Europe, especially upon learning of the usage of guns and cannons. On a trip to the seaside, his "travelling box" is seized by a giant eagle which drops Gulliver and his box right into the sea where he is picked up by some sailors, who return him to England.
1. 3. Part III: A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan
August 5, 1706 — April 16, 1710
After Gulliver's ship is attacked by pirates, he is marooned near a desolate rocky island, near India. Fortunately he is rescued by the flying island of Laputa, a kingdom devoted to the arts of music and mathematics but utterly unable to use these for practical ends.
Laputa's method of throwing rocks at rebellious surface cities also seems the first time that aerial bombardment was conceived as a method of warfare. While there, he tours the country as the guest of a low-ranking courtier and sees the ruin brought about by blind pursuit of science without practical results in a satire on the Royal Society and its experiments.
While waiting for passage Gulliver takes a short side-trip to the island of Glubbdubdrib, where he visits a magician's dwelling and discusses history with the ghosts of historical figures, the most obvious restatement of the "ancients versus moderns" theme in the book. He also encounters the struldbrugs, unfortunates who are immortal, but not forever young, but rather forever old, complete with the infirmities of old age. Gulliver is then taken to Balnibarbi to await a Dutch trader who can take him on to Japan. While there, Gulliver asks the Emperor "to excuse my performing the ceremony imposed upon my countrymen of trampling upon the crucifix", which the Emperor grants. Gulliver returns home, determined to stay there for the rest of his days.
1. 4. Part IV: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms
September 7, 1710 - July 2, 1715
Despite his earlier intention of remaining at home, Gulliver returns to sea as the captain of a 35ton merchant man as he is bored of his employment as a surgeon. On this voyage he is forced to find new additions to his crew who he believes to have turned the rest of the crew against him. His pirates then mutiny and after keeping him contained for some time resolve to leave him on the first piece of land they come across and continue on as pirates. He is abandoned in a landing boat and comes first upon a race of (apparently) hideous deformed creatures to which he conceives a violent antipathy. Shortly thereafter he meets a horse and comes to understand that the horses (in their language Houyhnhnm or "the perfection of nature") are the rulers and the deformed creatures ("Yahoos") are human beings in their base form. Gulliver becomes a member of the horse's household, and comes to both admire and emulate the Houyhnhnms and their lifestyle, rejecting humans as merely Yahoos endowed with some semblance of reason which they only use to exacerbate and add to the vices Nature gave them. However, an Assembly of the Houyhnhnms rules that Gulliver, a Yahoo with some semblance of reason, is a danger to their civilization and he is expelled. He is then rescued, against his will, by a Portuguese ship, and is surprised to see that Captain Pedro de Mendez, a Yahoo, is a wise, courteous and generous person. He returns to his home in England. However, he is unable to reconcile himself to living among Yahoos; he becomes a recluse, remaining in his house, largely avoiding his family and his wife, and spending several hours a day speaking with the horses in his stables.
2. Composition and history
It is uncertain exactly when Swift started writing Gulliver's Travels, but some sources suggest as early as 1713 when Swift, Gay, Pope, Arbuthnot and others formed the Scriblerus Club, with the aim of satirising then-popular literary genres. Swift, runs the theory, was charged with writing the memoirs of the club's imaginary author, Martinus Scriblerus. It is known from Swift's correspondence that the composition proper began in 1720 with the mirror-themed parts I and II written first, Part IV next in 1723 and Part III written in 1724, but amendments were made even while Swift was writing Drapier's Letters. By August 1725 the book was completed, and as Gulliver's Travels was a transparently anti-Whig satire it is likely that Swift had the manuscript copied so his handwriting could not be used as evidence if a prosecution should arise (as had happened in the case of some of his Irish pamphlets). In March 1726 Swift travelled to London to have his work published; the manuscript was secretly delivered to the publisher Benjamin Motte, who used five printing houses to speed production and avoid piracy. [2] Motte, recognising a bestseller but fearing prosecution, simply cut or altered the worst offending passages (such as the descriptions of the court contests in Lilliput or the rebellion of Lindalino), added some material in defence of Queen Anne to book II, and published it anyway. The first edition was released in two volumes on October 26, 1726, priced 8s. 6d. The book was an instant sensation and sold out its first run in less than a week.
Motte published Gulliver's Travels anonymously and, as was often the way with fashionable works, several follow-ups (Memoirs of the Court of Lilliput), parodies (Two Lilliputian Odes, The first on the Famous Engine With Which Captain Gulliver extinguish'd the Palace Fire...) and "keys" (Gulliver Decipher'd and Lemuel Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Regions of the World Compendiously Methodiz'd, the second by Edmund Curll who had similarly written a "key" to Swift's Tale of a Tub in 1705) were produced over the next few years. These were mostly printed anonymously (or occasionally pseudonymously) and were quickly forgotten. Swift had nothing to do with any of these and specifically disavowed them in Faulkner's edition of 1735. However, Swift's friend Alexander Pope wrote a set of five Verses on Gulliver's Travels which Swift liked so much that he added them to the second edition of the book, though they are not nowadays generally included.
2. 1. Faulkner's 1735 edition
In 1735 an Irish publisher, George Faulkner, printed a complete set of Swift's works to date, Volume III of which was Gulliver's Travels. As revealed in Faulkner's "Advertisement to the Reader", Faulkner had access to an annotated copy of Motte's work by "a friend of the author" (generally believed to be Swift's friend Charles Ford) which reproduced most of the manuscript free of Motte's amendments, the original manuscript having been destroyed. It is also believed that Swift at least reviewed proofs of Faulkner's edition before printing but this cannot be proven. Generally, this is regarded as the editio princeps of Gulliver's Travels with one small exception, discussed below.
This edition had an added piece by Swift, A letter from Capt. Gulliver to his Cousin Sympson which complained of Motte's alterations to the original text, saying he had so much altered it that "I do hardly know mine own work" and repudiating all of Motte's changes as well as all the keys, libels, parodies, second parts and continuations that had appeared in the intervening years. This letter now forms part of many standard texts.
2. 2. Lindalino
The short (five paragraph) episode in Part III, telling of the rebellion of the surface city of Lindalino against the flying island of Laputa, was an obvious allegory to the affair of Drapier's Letters of which Swift was proud. Lindalino represented Dublin and the impositions of Laputa represented the British imposition of William Wood's poor-quality copper currency. Faulkner had omitted this passage, either because of political sensitivities raised by being an Irish publisher printing an anti-British satire or possibly because the text he worked from didn't include the passage. It wasn't until 1899 that the passage was finally included in a new edition of the Collected Works. Modern editions thus derive from the Faulkner edition with the inclusion of this 1899 addendum.
Isaac Asimov notes in The Annotated Gulliver that Lindalino is composed of double lins; hence, Dublin.
3. Major themes
Gulliver's Travels has been the recipient of several designations: from Menippean satire to a children's story, from proto-Science Fiction to a forerunner of the modern novel.
Published seven years after Daniel Defoe's wildly successful Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels may be read as a systematic rebuttal of Defoe's optimistic account of human capability. In The Unthinkable Swift: The Spontaneous Philosophy of a Church of England Man Warren Montag argues that Swift was concerned to refute the notion that the individual precedes society, as Defoe's novel seems to suggest. Swift regarded such thought as a dangerous endorsement of Thomas Hobbes' radical political philosophy and for this reason Gulliver repeatedly encounters established societies rather than desolate islands. The captain who invites Gulliver to serve as a surgeon aboard his ship on the disastrous third voyage is named Robinson.
Possibly one of the reasons for the book's classic status is that it can be seen as many things to many different people. Broadly, the book has three themes:
a satirical view of the state of European government, and of petty differences between religions.
an inquiry into whether men are inherently corrupt or whether they become corrupted.
a restatement of the older "ancients versus moderns" controversy previously addressed by Swift in The Battle of the Books.
In terms of storytelling and construction the parts follow a pattern:
The causes of Gulliver's misadventures become more malignant as time goes on - he is first shipwrecked, then abandoned, then attacked by strangers, then attacked by his own crew.
Gulliver's attitude hardens as the book progresses — he is genuinely surprised by the viciousness and politicking of the Lilliputians but finds the behaviour of the Yahoos in the fourth part reflective of the behaviour of people.
Each part is the reverse of the preceding part — Gulliver is big/small/sensible/ignorant, the countries are complex/simple/scientific/natural, forms of Government are worse/better/worse/better than England's.
Gulliver's view between parts contrasts with its other coinciding part — Gulliver sees the tiny Lilliputians as being vicious and unscrupulous, and then the king of Brobdingnag sees Europe in exactly the same light. Gulliver sees the Laputians as unreasonable, and Gulliver's Houyhnhnm master sees humanity as equally so.
No form of government is ideal — the simplistic Brobdingnagians enjoy public executions and have streets infested with beggars, the honest and upright Houyhnhnms who have no word for lying are happy to suppress the true nature of Gulliver as a Yahoo and are equally unconcerned about his reaction to being expelled.
Specific individuals may be good even where the race is bad — Gulliver finds a friend in each of his travels and, despite Gulliver's rejection and horror toward all Yahoos, is treated very well by the Portuguese captain, Don Pedro, who returns him to England at the novel's end.
Of equal interest is the character of Gulliver himself — he progresses from a cheery optimist at the start of the first part to the pompous misanthrope of the book's conclusion and we may well have to filter our understanding of the work if we are to believe the final misanthrope wrote the whole work. In this sense Gulliver's Travels is a very modern and complex novel. There are subtle shifts throughout the book, such as when Gulliver begins to see all humans, not just those in Houyhnhnm-land, as Yahoos.
Despite the depth and subtlety of the book, it is often classified as a children's story because of the popularity of the Lilliput section (frequently bowdlerised) as a book for children. It is still possible to buy books entitled Gulliver's Travels which contain only parts of the Lilliput voyage.
Whether teaching or studying Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, use this brief chapter summarization of the fourth part of the novel to enhance understanding.
A summary of a novel provides a strong background for teachers and students alike. By paying attention to the highlights of each chapter, it will be easier for students to analyze the novel and for teachers to provide instruction.
Understanding the Purpose of Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Travels [Penguin Books, 1985] was written by Jonathan Swift and published in 1726. It was written in four distinct parts, or travels. When it was written, European explorers were traveling across the Atlantic Ocean and around the African continent, looking for new lands to colonize and new sea routes for trade. The geography of the world was expanding.
People fantasized about finding an undiscovered continent or some other amazing new land to discover. The hero of the story, Lemuel Gulliver is presented as the sort of traveler who returned from excursions to the Far East, telling incredible tales of mythological creatures and bizarre cultures.
Gulliver's Travels is a classic example of satire, commenting on the foolish behavior of people. Swift tries to point out humanity's flaws, so people can become aware of their failing and improve themselves.
Summary of Chapters One Through Twelve in the Fourth Part of Gulliver's Travels
Chapter 1: Gulliver goes back to sea after five months, leaving behind his pregnant wife. Gulliver is the captain, but his crew mutiny and abandon him on the shore of an unknown island. Gulliver encounters some hideous beasts and two horses arrive, scaring the beasts away.
Chapter 2: Gulliver is led by his horse guide, expecting to meet the humans who own the wonderful horses. Soon, Gulliver realizes that the horses govern their own civilization. He learns that the beasts are called Yahoos, and the horses consider Gulliver to be a Yahoo also.
Chapter 3: Gulliver learns the Houyhnhnm language. Gulliver shows the secret of clothing to the master horse. He begs the master to not call him a Yahoo and to tell no one of the truth regarding his clothing. The master horse agrees.
Chapter 4: Gulliver tells the master horse about his world, but the master doesn't believe him. Since the Houyhnhnms don't have a word for lying, he can't understand the things Gulliver says. The harder Gulliver tries to explain the way humans are in his world, the harder it is for the master to understand or envision the human world.
Chapter 5: Gulliver discusses war and law with the master Houyhnhnm. Gulliver begins to call his fellow humans by the Houyhnhnm term, Yahoo. The master is horrified that the men would go to war and engage in such wholesale destruction, for incomprehensible reasons, such as over religious doctrine. When Gulliver describes law to the master, he shows with cynicism, that the person who has the most to lose in a lawful society is a law-abiding citizen.
Chapter 6: Gulliver continues to describe European life to the Houynhnm. He criticizes much of the lifestyle of the English and believes that the physical weakness of the people is caused by their moral weaknesses. Illness is unknown to the Houynhnm, who only suffer occasional accidents, although when they grow old, they begin to feel lethargic just before they die.
Chapter 7: During the two years which Gulliver stays with the Houynhnm, he becomes ever more disgusted with all humans. Once the master's curiosity has been satisfied, he sends for Gulliver and passes his judgment on Gulliver and all Yahoos. He compares the Yahoos of his land in great detail to the men Gulliver has described from his own society.
Chapter 8: Gulliver believes he can learn about human nature by observing the Yahoos. One day, Gulliver takes off his clothes to go swimming and is embraced by a lustful young female Yahoo, which mortifies Gulliver with embarrassment. The Houynhnm are ruled by reason and benevolence, doing nothing based on emotion or passion.
Chapter 9: Although the Houynhnhnms do not have a government, they do have a representative council which meets in the spring of every fourth year. They argue each meeting as to whether the Yahoos should be exterminated or not.
Chapter 10: Gulliver is happy until the master tells him the Council has decreed that Gulliver must leave the island. Gulliver is given two months to build a ship with the help of the sorrel horse. Gulliver bids goodbye to the master and leaves the island.
Chapter 11: Gulliver arrives at the southeast coast of New Holland. Sailors arrive on the island to get water and discover Gulliver. They treat him kindly, even though they think he is insane. They bring him on board and help Gulliver return to England where his wife and family greet him with surprise and joy. However, Gulliver can't stand to be close to his family and won't let them touch him or touch his food. He prefers to spend his time in the stable.
Chapter 12: Gulliver ends his story, hoping that his tales were useful for instructing the reader to learn the lessons from the lands he visited. He also apologizes for not claiming any of the lands he had visited for England to claim as colonies.
Using the Summary for Teaching the Fourth Part of Gulliver's Travels
While the summary is very rudimentary, it provides a basic structure to build upon when teaching the novel. It can be a worthwhile writing project for students to elaborate on the summary to include pertinent or interesting details. For example, if a student was researching the theme of man versus the environment, he could add to his chapter summaries all occurrences of questions of physical power versus moral righteousness.
The summarization covers the third part of the novel, while the first part is summarized in the article, "Gulliver's Travels Summary," and the second part is covered in the article, "Gulliver's Travels Summarization," and the third part is covered in "Gulliver's Travels Chapter Summary."
Read more at Suite101: Gulliver's Travels Chapter Summarization: A Breakdown by Chapter of Jonathan Swift's Famous Satirical Novel http://high-school-lesson-plans.suite101.com/article.cfm/gullivers-travels-chapter-summarization#ixzz0pVG0EfsH
Whether teaching or studying Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, use this brief chapter summarization of the second part of the novel to enhance understanding.
A summary of a novel provides a strong background for teachers and students alike. By paying attention to the highlights of each chapter, it will be easier for students to analyze the novel and for teachers to provide instruction. This brief summary can be used as it is, or extrapolated upon by either teachers or students as they read the novel.
The summarization will cover the second part of the novel, while the first part is summarized in the article, "Gulliver's Travels Summary."
Understanding the Purpose of Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Travels [Penguin Books, 1985] was written by Jonathan Swift and published in 1726. It was written in four distinct parts, or travels, which Gulliver underwent. When it was written, almost 300 years ago, European explorers were traveling across the Atlantic Ocean and around the African continent, looking for new lands to colonize and new sea routes for trade. The geography of the world was expanding. New maps of the world were being made.
Much of the novel takes place in the unknown regions of the Pacific Ocean, where Europeans had little geographical understanding. People fantasized about finding an undiscovered continent or some other amazing new land to discover. When travelers returned from excursions to the Far East, they told incredible tales of mythological creatures and bizarre cultures. The hero of the story, Lemuel Gulliver, is presented as this sort of traveler.
Of course, Gulliver's Travels is not just an exciting travel adventure. As a classic example of satire, it comments on society and the foolish behavior of people. Swift tries to point out humanity's flaws, so people can become aware of their failing and improve themselves.
Summary of Chapters One Through Eight in the Second Part of Gulliver's Travels
Chapter 1: Gulliver is restless and longs to travel again. His boat encounters a monsoon and he is stranded in the land of giants, Brobdingnag. The giants take him into their home and are charmed by him, because he is so tiny.
Chapter 2: The giant's daughter cares for Gulliver and teaches him their language. The father, a farmer, decides he could make a great deal of money by charging people to see Gulliver. The father, the daughter and Gulliver travel around the countryside to display Gulliver and have him do tricks for the community of giants.
Chapter 3: Gulliver begins to get very thin. The farmer sells him to the queen. Gulliver makes sure the farmer's daughter stays with him and gets an education provided by the royalty. The queen's dwarf is jealous of Gulliver and tries to kill him by drowning him in cream and sticking him inside a marrowbone.
Chapter 4: Gulliver describes the land, which he says is six thousand miles long and therefore puts English maps into error. He is carried around in a special box so people can see him. He is taken to the largest temple in the land, which doesn't seem impressive to him.
Chapter 5: Gulliver doesn't mind life in Brobdingnag, but he faces many dangers because he is so small. The dwarf continues to be cruel to Gulliver, who is knocked by an apple, hurt in a hailstorm and attacked by a monkey.
Chapter 6: Gulliver creates a comb using shaved whiskers from the king. Brobdingnag's king thinks Englishmen are tiny and unimportant. Gulliver tries to convince him otherwise, and the king decides that Englishmen are horrible and violent, odious vermin.
Chapter 7: To impress the king, Gulliver shares the invention of gunpowder. The king refuses to use gunpowder. Gulliver finds the people of the land to be ignorant and their laws to be over-simplified. They have few books.
Chapter 8: Gulliver tires of being in the land of Brobdingnag and longs to return home. Instead, the king has decided that if they can find a tiny woman who is Gulliver's size, he will mate them and have their tiny offspring under his control. Gulliver realizes that if this happened he and his mate and their children would be kept as pets forever. Gulliver becomes ill and goes to the seashore. While resting in a box, an eagle comes and carries Gulliver away. Gulliver falls into the water and is rescued. He is surprised that his rescuers are men who are his own size. Gulliver returns home and his wife asks him to never travel the seas again.
Using the Summary for Analysis of the Second Part of Gulliver's Travels
Use the summary as a starting point for analysis of the novel. When researching themes and quotes, it can be handy to have a summary to help pinpoint where in the book an event or dialogue occurred. For example if a student wished to write on the theme of the individual versus society, knowing which chapters contained appropriate examples would make the analysis easier.
While the summary is very rudimentary, it provides a basic structure to build upon when teaching the novel. It can be a worthwhile writing project for students to elaborate on the summary to include pertinent or interesting details. For example, if a student was researching the theme of man versus the environment, he could add to his chapter summaries all occurrences of questions of physical power versus moral righteousness.
This summary only covers the second part of Gulliver's Travels. Subsequent articles will summarize the other parts of the book.
Read more at Suite101: Gulliver's Travels Summarization: A Breakdown by Chapter of Jonathan Swift's Famous Satirical Novel http://high-school-lesson-plans.suite101.com/article.cfm/gullivers-travels-summarization#ixzz0pVGDFdyT
Gulliver's Travels is seen as many things, from biting satirical commentary to mild-mannered children's fiction.
Gulliver’s Travels was first published in 1726 and received great acclaim. At the time, Jonathan Swift was already known as a satirist.
Background of Gulliver's Travels
He had written several controversial works, which mocked the British government. Swift was also known for writing about religious and artistic debates. However, Gulliver’s Travels became his best selling work by far.
Gulliver’s Travels is often viewed as an amusing and frivolous children’s novel. However, it has not escaped Swift’s acerbic wit. In Gulliver’s Travels, Swift satirises monarchs, wars and political quarrels, which were all based on actual events of the early eighteenth century.
Eventually, Gulliver comes to observe all of human nature as deplorable. Throughout his travels Gulliver represents the common man, which enables the reader to relate to him. He is often bemused by the strange customs and petty grievances which may be familiar to a contemporary reader.
Therefore, perhaps unsurprisingly, Swift earned a reputation as a misanthrope and a cynic. However, this did not effect the success of the book and it became incredibly popular.
Given the immense success of the story, there were many other authors who wished to ride the crest of Swift’s wave. Subsequently, there was an influx of sequels and travel guides written by various authors wishing to cash in on the popularity of Gulliver.
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was born, in 1667, in Dublin, Ireland. He studied at Trinity College and, in 1688, moved to England. He spent his adult life moving between England and Ireland, where he eventually became Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral. It was during his time in London that he began his political writings.
The Battle of the Books and Tale of a Tub, were among Swifts first published works. They were satirical in nature and mocked philosophical and religious debates of the period. Subsequently, Swift became an increasingly important political figure.
In Ireland he was seen as a patriotic hero after writing scathing articles concerning the British treatment of Ireland.
Despite several close relationships, Swift remained unmarried. It is known that he suffered with mental health problems and during the last years of his life spent extended periods in a lunatic asylum. He died in 1745 and was buried in Dublin.
Analysis of Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver’s Travels is arguably a prototype for the modern novel, it is sometimes viewed as a work of science fiction and, as stated above, as a children’s story. The story’s ability to appeal on many levels may well account for its popularity.
Swift certainly appears to be dealing with themes of a very adult nature. For example, he is questioning the inherent corruptibility of human beings. He is also examining the religious leadership and governments of European states.
With this in mind, there are parallels to be drawn between Gulliver’s Travels and Voltaire’s Candide, which was written some thirty years later. Both Voltaire and Swift have the same gritty satire and cynicism of human nature.
Gulliver’s Travels has been adapted for theatrical, radio and television broadcasts on several occasions and in countries worldwide. There have also been several musical interpretations of the work, including Telemann’s “Gulliver Suite” and No More Kings’ “Leaving Lilliput”.
Whether teaching or studying Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, use this brief chapter summarization of the third part of the novel to enhance understanding.
A summary of a novel provides a strong background for teachers and students alike. By paying attention to the highlights of each chapter, it will be easier for students to analyze the novel and for teachers to provide instruction. This brief summary can be used as it is, or extrapolated upon by either teachers or students as they read the novel.
Understanding the Purpose of Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Travels [Penguin Books, 1985] was written by Jonathan Swift and published in 1726. It was written in four distinct parts, or travels, which Gulliver underwent. When it was written, almost 300 years ago, European explorers were traveling across the Atlantic Ocean and around the African continent, looking for new lands to colonize and new sea routes for trade. The geography of the world was expanding. New maps of the world were being made.
Much of the novel takes place in the unknown regions of the Pacific Ocean, where Europeans had little geographical understanding. People fantasized about finding an undiscovered continent or some other amazing new land to discover. When travelers returned from excursions to the Far East, they told incredible tales of mythological creatures and bizarre cultures. The hero of the story, Lemuel Gulliver, is presented as this sort of traveler.
Of course, Gulliver's Travels is not just an exciting travel adventure. As a classic example of satire, it comments on society and the foolish behavior of people. Swift tries to point out humanity's flaws, so people can become aware of their failing and improve themselves.
Summary of Chapters One Through Eight in the Third Part of Gulliver's Travels
Chapter 1: After two months since returning from the land of the Brobdingnag, Gulliver sets out to sea again. Pirates attack his ship and Gulliver is set adrift on his own. After several days alone, he sees a floating land mass. Gulliver is drawn up into the hovering island.
Chapter 2: Gulliver meets the people of Laputa, the floating island. They are easily distracted and somewhat odd-looking. They are very advanced in music, mathematics and astrology but abhor practical geometry. Gulliver begins to learn their language so he can communicate with them.
Chapter 3: Gulliver learns many things about Laputa, including that it is a perfect circle of 10,000 acres of land. The king and his family many never leave the island, but must govern by traveling around the underlying countryside using a complex system using a 6 foot long lodestone and magnetic force.
Chapter 4: Gulliver is bored with Laputa and wants to visit other lands. He is allowed to do so and heads to Lagado, where he begins travelling the countryside with a lord named Munadi. Munadi faces social criticism because he doesn't follow the theories created by the academy of agriculture. His lands are fertile and productive whereas the other lands in the country are barren and poor.
Chapter 5: Gulliver attends the academy which covers more than just agricultural theory. The scientists and doctors are involved in all sorts of odd and impractical experiments. An architect tries to design houses in which the roofs are built first, then the walls, then the foundation. One scientist tries to get sunbeams out of cucumbers. Gulliver witnesses a doctor, who believes he can cure sick people by blowing air through them, kill a dog with his methods.
Chapter 6: Gulliver visits the section of the academy which focuses on government and governing theory. He grows bored with the academy and wants to go back home to England.
Chapter 7: Gulliver goes to the island of magicians, Glubbdubdrib. The governor of the island has the power to bring forth the dead as ghosts to serve him. Gulliver asks him to conjure several figures from history, including Hannibal, Alexander the great, and Julius Caesar.
Chapter 8: Gulliver wants to speak with some of the most honored people from history and spends the day doing so. The ghosts are able to speak to each other, so Gulliver instigates a conversation about philosophy between Aristotle and Descartes.
Chapter 9: Gulliver goes to Luggnagg and is not allowed to return to England. He is commanded to appear before the king in his court. Gulliver is told that everyone must lick the floor in front of the king when they approach him and that sometimes the floor is poisoned to remove enemies.
Chapter 10: Gulliver hears of people called Struldbrugs, who are immortal. They have a red spot on their foreheads from birth. Gulliver thinks it would be wonderful to live forever and starts fantasizing about how he would enjoy it. However, when he meets the Struldbrugs, he finds them to be sad, depressed, and difficult.
Chapter 11: Gulliver is allowed to leave Luggnagg and heads to Japan. He travels from Japan to Amsterdam and then is once again reunited with his family.
Using the Summary for Analysis of the Third Part of Gulliver's Travels
Use the summary as a starting point for analysis of the novel. When researching themes and quotes, it can be handy to have a summary to help pinpoint where in the book an event or dialogue occurred. For example if a student wished to write on the theme of the individual versus society, knowing which chapters contained appropriate examples would make the analysis easier.
While the summary is very rudimentary, it provides a basic structure to build upon when teaching the novel. It can be a worthwhile writing project for students to elaborate on the summary to include pertinent or interesting details. For example, if a student was researching the theme of man versus the environment, he could add to his chapter summaries all occurrences of questions of physical power versus moral righteousness.
The summarization covers the third part of the novel, while the first part is summarized in the article, "Gulliver's Travels Summary," and the second part is covered in the article, "Gulliver's Travels Summarization."
Read more at Suite101: Gulliver's Travels Chapter Summary: A Breakdown by Chapter of Jonathan Swift's Famous Satirical Novel http://high-school-lesson-plans.suite101.com/article.cfm/gullivers-travels-chapter-summary#ixzz0pVHP6nqG
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Travel writer Lemuel Gulliver takes an assignment in Bermuda, but ends up on the island of Liliput, where he towers over its tiny citizens.This is very nice blog to Download Gullivers Travels Movie.................
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