Gulliver’s Travels seems very similar to the Odyssey. In the beginning, Gulliver finds himself on an island inhabited by thousands of people small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. The civilization is extrememly frightened of a man Gulliver’s size intruded on their land, and they have no idea what to do with him. During the time which Jonathan Swift wrote Gulliver’s Travels, England was the world’s greatest power and trying to control many countries around the world (including Ireland where Swift resided). So i can infer that perhaps Swift used the concept of a giant man invading a country of small people as a way to represent Great Britain having power over weaker countries
I think that your connection to The Odyssey is interesting. Both tales are certainly about “extreme” voyages. How do Odysseus/Ulysses and Gulliver compare to each other?
Keep pushing that thinking about Great Britain having power over weaker countries!
I think my favorite part of this book was probably the Houyhnhnms (if that’s spelled right I will be extremely surprised…why, Jonathan Swift, why). In the previous travels, Gulliver always portrayed the system of his own country, England, as being superior to the other places he visited in the end. Every time he visited a different country, the natives could not comprehend the English government and politics, mostly, according to Gulliver, because they had never seen it and could not possibly understand how good the government and the technology were. However, the Houyhnhnms were disturbed by Gulliver’s description of the corruption in the government and the strange machines that humans (AKA Yahoos) used to kill each other with small balls of lead. When Gulliver’s master in the Houyhnhnm country told Gulliver how simply disturbing these things were to him, Gulliver was already somewhat assimilated into the honest, kind, and non-violent society of the Houyhnhnms. As such, Gulliver had begun to hate his own kind and everything they stood for. I think that it is somewhat ironic that it took a completely different species of animal to convince Gulliver that perhaps his society was not so superior and good as he thought it was.
During Gulliver’s Travels I found his journey in Laputa to be very interesting. The part I found unusual was their almost obsessive behavior towards geometrical shapes, lines, and so fourth. As it was said, “their ideas are perpetually conversant in lines and figures. If they would … praise the beauty of a woman … they describe it by rhombs, circles, parallelograms, etc. (179). However, I found it very contradictory because despite their excessive knowledge of such shapes, it was said that “their houses are very ill built … without one right angle in any apartment” (179). This proves that they don’t know how to apply their knowledge and that they lack common sense, which is what I think Jonathan Swift may have been trying to prove by obsessing the Laputians with mathematical ideas.
Like EW, I also found the journey to Laputa interesting. One thing that grabbed my attention was the immediate lack of importance in size. In the first two voyages, the size of a character determined how powerful he or she was. When travelling to Laputa, size was not a factor. I found that interesting becasue it was an immediate difference I noticed, although it may be irrelevant. Instead of focusing on size, the Laputians focused on concepts such as math, music and science. The power is exerted through technology related to these subjects, rather than size. “The knowledge I had in mathematics, gave me great assistance in acquiring their phraseology, which depended much upon that science, and music; and in the latter I was not unskilled” (Swift 179). This quote reminded me of The Enlightenment period, where new ideas involving science particularly, came to rise. That is similar to the Laputians because their culture is based on scientific and mathematical concepts.
Good observations! It is interesting how Swift uses size in the first two voyages. If size determines a person’s value in Lilliput and Brobdingnag, how is an individual’s worth measured in Laputa? What do you suppose this reveals about each society?
Great text-to-world connection to the Enlightenment, too!
In Laputa, I beleive the individulas worth is measured upon their knowledge of mathematical and scientific concepts. Also technology was a large factor in this society because it was more advanced. If a person is educated in these topics then they are respected in that society. Each society portrays its different values, revealing what is important and what determines who is high in power.
One of the things that I found remarkable about Gulliver’s Travels was the modern language Jonathon Swift used. I’ve read pieces from this time period before, but they were always biblical and religion based, and very hard to understand. I found Jonathon Swift’s novel to only be about as complicated to understand as a 19th century novel. I was very surprised when I saw the date that he wrote Gulliver’s Travels and impressed by his modern language. But, of course, it would have to be modern to match the satirical banter in this novel, which conflicts with the Great-Awakening-sort of pieces of the time. To be able to deduce the problems of his society and address them in a modern view is impressive, and this is matched in the way he wrote the book.
I agree with PC in that Swift did use very modern language for his time period. Many of the novels that we have read in school are of similar time periods and are harder to follow. As PC said, Gulliver’s Travels was very easy to follow because of the language that Swift used. When reading, is almost seems that Swift was well ahead of his time because of the language he used. Before I started to read I expected the language to be almost Shakespearian, but it was far from it. Other than a few “thee”’s now and then, I did not realize that Gulliver’s Travels was written in 1726.
I agree with LP. Gulliver’s journey to Houyhnhnm-land was my favorite part of the novel because through Gulliver’s reexamination of human nature, I also re-evaluated humanity. Through his journeys, Gulliver finds close similarities between the lands he visits and his home country. However, when he enters into the country of the Houyhnhnms, the only similarity he can find his the resemblance between himself and the wild Yahoos. As he learns more about their species, Gulliver grows to despise the human race and their natural brutality. Only knowing the dominance of his country and mankind, Gulliver receives the ultimate reality check in Houyhnhnm-land when his master observes that he is nothing but a Yahoo with a false sense of reason.
I found it interesting how Gulliver’s view on humans and society changed throughout the book. At first Gulliver seemed very proud of England and the people in the beginning of the story, but once he started travelling to different lands he sort of became disillusioned (especially when he was with the Houyhnhnms). When Gulliver was telling the King of Brobdingnag about the use of guns and canons, instead of being impressed and wanting the weapons (what Gulliver was expecting) the King was repulsed by the thought of people viciously killing each other in that manner. I feel at this time Gulliver really started to think about the not-so-nice part of human nature and society, where people would go to war and not really think twice about killing a person. Once Gulliver was with the Houyhnhnms I feel he realized how self-centered and violent humans are, by seeing the similarities between people and Yahoos.
While reading Gulliver’s Travels I noticed that in several of the nations Swift created different extremes. While in Lilliput, Gulliver encountered a world of people that were very small and after that he came to Brobdingnag, where everything was excessively large. Swift showed both extremes in size first, but then moved to life. When Gulliver arrived in Maldonada he was told that he could bring back anyone from the dead, no matter what time period and ask them anything that he wanted. In this world they could do what is considered impossible in our world, bring back the dead, even if it is only for a short time. Then, once Gulliver entered Luggnagg, they also had the impossible, some of their people could not die. Through his travels Gulliver got to see many extremes and was questioned on the way of his world and on how they are governed. Because of these several different extremes, I can’t help but wonder if Swift wanted the reader to see that there needs to be a happy medium? The people of our world are not tiny or large and we cannot bring back the dead or keep people from dying. Gulliver went on many expeditions to find something different than his own world, but was Swift saying that his life is perfect the way it is?
After Gulliver’s first and second voyages, I think that it is very interesting to have heard the different perspectives that the natives had about humans. In this book, probably done on purpose so that the reader can reflect on his/her own life, the populace from various lands seems to have a negative outlook upon the human race. To the tiny Lilliputian people, humans were seen as these giants who were very scary and cruel to the creatures that were littler than they were. During Gulliver’s voyage to Brobdingnag, the reader would expect the comparison of humans to the native giants to be a more positive one, but in the eyes of their King it was far from that.
“…I cannot but conclude 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” (Swift 148).
I am inclined to believe that Jonathan Swift chose these perspectives of the human race in a more negative light to push or encourage self-reflection and self-improvement within the reader. Satires are a type of writing that is created to use humor as a tool to promote change within something or someone. In this case, Swift is using the ridiculously fictitious idea of giants and tiny people to get across the message to people that there is still quite a bit of room for improvement as both individuals and as whole communities.
I agree with LP, I find it extremely ironic that Gulliver must use the insite of an entirely different species (the Houyhnhnms) to come to the realization that perhaps England is not the most dominant culture afte all. His travels are very interesting, it seems like each time he reaches a new culture they are in some way superior to the previous one. It seems that each society of men seems to be competing for dominance. Gulliver always seems to find his way back home willingly…until he meets the Houyhnhmnms, that is. Perhaps, Swift was trying to portray that men are too eager for power, and there really is no superior society, that each has its own strengths and faults? He shows that men have great weaknesses and can be truly corrupt when he introduces the “Yahoos,” which are a deranged, reckless and inferior form of men living amongst a society of equestrian species.
While reading Gulliver’s Travels, I noticed that Gulliver himself served as a catalyst for change in almost all of the countries he visited. Some of which he had a much larger effect, like when he was in Lilliput. He became a force of nature and deciding factor in their war against the Blefuscudian army. Without Gulliver’s efforts, the Lilliputian people may have been taken over by Blefuscu. Even If Gulliver ended up on the other side by the end of his stay there, he had changed both societies, even if that meant relieving himself on the royal bedchamber to do it. In Brobdingnag, he showed the giant people the ways of his own people. The king was intrigued by how his stories of a miniature bustling society similar to his own. In the Houyhnhnm country, he showed his equestrian master that even not all Yahoo’s are as barbaric as the ones found in their land. Gulliver may have taken the most away from the adventures, but he surely left a significant mark on each and every society that he traveled to. I think Swift may have used this to prove to the reader the kind of effect one person can have. Gulliver, being that single factor, had some sort of lasting effect on the society. Whether it be one person or the entire populous.
After reading Gulliver’s Travels, I couldn’t help relating the story to the essay “Of Cannibals” by Michel de Montaigne. Montaigne infers that we must not look down on others in comparison to ourselves, for what may be barbaric to us, could be an acceptable and everyday task for another. As Gulliver traveled throughout these different cultures he consistently taught them of his own culture. The Lilliputians, Brogdingnags, Laputas, and Houyhnhnms all came to the similar conclusion that Gulliver’s people are nothing more than vile, spiteful, self-absorbed, evil creatures. Gulliver visits countries in which he is too big, too tiny, and too simple, but then meets the Houyhnhnms and in no way can meet their standards. Gulliver finally finds a place where everything is just right, and he is expelled from it. After living with them he realized how vain and shallow his society truly is. When Gulliver is forced back into his own society he becomes a loner, remaining in his house avoiding his family, and spending his remaining days speaking with the horses in his stables. Out of context, Gulliver’s actions after finally arriving home make it seem as if he is mentally ill. This of course had become normal for him, conversing with domestic animals, which with the Houyhnhnms was not all that bad, but what’s the use? He’s just crazy.
I agree with NL in saying that Gulliver changed each and every society he visited for the better. In Lilliput he was able to show much of the society that they are not the epitome of greatness, as Gulliver in some ways is greater than they philosophically, morally, and physically. He then went on to show the Brobdingnags not to be so narrow-minded, that there is more than one answer for everything. In direct contrast the Houyhnhnms learned to narrow their vision in order to see that the Yahoo’s are most likely the way they are due to the Houyhnhnms. NL is absolutely right in saying that Gulliver did not only take away from his experiences, he significantly changed each society for the greater good.
When Gulliver lands at Brobdingnag and encounters the giant population for the first time, he thinks, “Undoubtedly philosophers are in the right when they tell us, that nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison.” (Swift 95) At the time he thinks this, it is meant literally. He flashes back to his experience in Lilliput, where, though he considers himself of normal height and stature, he is considered “the greatest prodigy that ever appeared in the world.” (Swift 94) He feels as a Lilliputian may have felt around him, when he sees the giants and he is suddenly thrown into a world where he is the smallest and weakest. Thus, he sees two different perspectives in the two different places he goes; he is the same person in each situation, but it is just the comparison that makes for different experiences.
However, this is a recurring theme that is less literal in the rest of the novel; this quote doesn’t always apply to size comparison. Gulliver encounters four different cultures in his four different journeys, in which he learns about previously un-encountered parts of the world. In each, he is asked about Europe’s customs and culture, and he learns about where he is. For instance, he learns that Lilliputians don’t simply offer penalties for breaking laws, but they also offer reward to those found innocent. Or in Laputa, the people have to have their faces hit with flaps in order to have coherent thoughts or to speak. Gulliver spends a great deal of time elaborating on the cultural differences, but in each new place, he is not treated badly. Despite language barriers and small differences, he is treated as a human being. However, each time he desires to leave. In his last adventure, with the Houyhnhnms, he encounters a population the most “different” from his own; but instead of using the differences as a way of measuring up the cultures to one another, he identifies with them. He views his own country as inferior, and even says, “I had not been in this country a year before I contracted such a love and veneration for the inhabitants, that I entered on a firm resolution never to return to human kind among these Houyhnhnms…” (Swift 272) Without experiencing this culture he considers to be ideal, Gulliver would have never made this comparison. England would never, to him as his home, seem little, except by comparison.
I agree with IK and $-Money, as what they were saying went together really well. I think that the novel uses exaggerations of human nature and these fantastical cultures to prove a point about our society. For example, I thought one of the funniest things in the novel was the war between Lilliput and Blefuscu over the way one is supposed to break eggs. It seems silly, but aren’t there wars fought over insignificant things in our world? It seems ridiculous when we consider the fictional war but the satire in the novel is supposed to channel this ridiculousness into a lesson about how we are. And along with what IK says, Gulliver does become more disillusioned as the novel goes on, as if he is living this satire and seeing the flaws within his own culture because of what he experienced–to the extent that he decides he never wants to return to his world. I thought these two instances of satire were pretty interesting.
During the course of reading Gulliver’s Travels, I came upon a quote which I marked for its importance. This quote is in regards to the world’s history and how it is passed through the generations.
“I was chiefly disgusted with modern history. For having strictly examined all the persons of greatest name in the courts of princes for an hundred years past, I found how the world had been misled by prostitute writers, to ascribe the greatest exploits in war to cowards, the wisest counsel to fools, sincerity to flatterers, Roman virtue to betrayers of their country, piety to atheists, chastity to sodomites, truth to informers” (Swift 216).
Gulliver brings up a very valid point about how some of history was written wrongly by historians. Although not to the great extent as in the book, this made me wonder how much of the history we read and learn about in Today’s history books is actually true, and what falsities are now taken in by Today’s youth. History is a subject that probably always has a bias to some extent, whether on purpose or unintentionally. We should be careful when we go to engorge ourselves with stories of the past and make sure the sources are creditable to some degree. It is very interesting to think of all the history learnt over the course of my schooling and wonder what portions are absolutely true and what portions are far from the actual happenings of the past.
As said in previous posts, I believe that on all the islands, an exaggerated trait that all humans share is displayed. For instance, on the first island the people were immediately afraid of Gulliver and jumped to restraining him before he could do them any harm simply because of his size. He proved to them, a short time later, that he had no wish to hurt them by releasing the soldiers that shot at him, after being ordered not to do so. It is sad to imagine that as humans, we automatically jump to the worst possible outcome or situation that could arise. Even in our society today, people are constantly accusing others of having cruel intentions or only looking to benefit themselves. It is on the last island that Gulliver can see the good that we all posses. In his first hours on the island, Gulliver finds himself under attack from a heard of the goat-like animals and a horse that he has no relation to whatsoever comes to his rescue. This is much unlike the inhabitants of the first island. Here, they didn’t wait to determine if someone wasn’t bad, but instead assumed they were of good heart unless proven otherwise. Overall, I thought the comparison of humans to their lesser attributes was discussed well through the novel.
I agree with AK. The war between Lilliput and Blefuscu was preposterous, but what was more preposterous, and in my mind profound, was the fact that the warring nations were once one. Essentially families fighting their own, this satires the relationship between such constantly warring European nations as France and England.
Gulliver’s Travels seems very similar to the Odyssey. In the beginning, Gulliver finds himself on an island inhabited by thousands of people small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. The civilization is extrememly frightened of a man Gulliver’s size intruded on their land, and they have no idea what to do with him. During the time which Jonathan Swift wrote Gulliver’s Travels, England was the world’s greatest power and trying to control many countries around the world (including Ireland where Swift resided). So i can infer that perhaps Swift used the concept of a giant man invading a country of small people as a way to represent Great Britain having power over weaker countries
Dear EM,
I think that your connection to The Odyssey is interesting. Both tales are certainly about “extreme” voyages. How do Odysseus/Ulysses and Gulliver compare to each other?
Keep pushing that thinking about Great Britain having power over weaker countries!
I think my favorite part of this book was probably the Houyhnhnms (if that’s spelled right I will be extremely surprised…why, Jonathan Swift, why). In the previous travels, Gulliver always portrayed the system of his own country, England, as being superior to the other places he visited in the end. Every time he visited a different country, the natives could not comprehend the English government and politics, mostly, according to Gulliver, because they had never seen it and could not possibly understand how good the government and the technology were. However, the Houyhnhnms were disturbed by Gulliver’s description of the corruption in the government and the strange machines that humans (AKA Yahoos) used to kill each other with small balls of lead. When Gulliver’s master in the Houyhnhnm country told Gulliver how simply disturbing these things were to him, Gulliver was already somewhat assimilated into the honest, kind, and non-violent society of the Houyhnhnms. As such, Gulliver had begun to hate his own kind and everything they stood for. I think that it is somewhat ironic that it took a completely different species of animal to convince Gulliver that perhaps his society was not so superior and good as he thought it was.
Dear LP,
I like your note about the irony at the ending of the novel!
p.s. You did spell Houyhnhnms correctly!
p.p.s. The name is supposed to mimic the sounds that horses make!
During Gulliver’s Travels I found his journey in Laputa to be very interesting. The part I found unusual was their almost obsessive behavior towards geometrical shapes, lines, and so fourth. As it was said, “their ideas are perpetually conversant in lines and figures. If they would … praise the beauty of a woman … they describe it by rhombs, circles, parallelograms, etc. (179). However, I found it very contradictory because despite their excessive knowledge of such shapes, it was said that “their houses are very ill built … without one right angle in any apartment” (179). This proves that they don’t know how to apply their knowledge and that they lack common sense, which is what I think Jonathan Swift may have been trying to prove by obsessing the Laputians with mathematical ideas.
Like EW, I also found the journey to Laputa interesting. One thing that grabbed my attention was the immediate lack of importance in size. In the first two voyages, the size of a character determined how powerful he or she was. When travelling to Laputa, size was not a factor. I found that interesting becasue it was an immediate difference I noticed, although it may be irrelevant. Instead of focusing on size, the Laputians focused on concepts such as math, music and science. The power is exerted through technology related to these subjects, rather than size. “The knowledge I had in mathematics, gave me great assistance in acquiring their phraseology, which depended much upon that science, and music; and in the latter I was not unskilled” (Swift 179). This quote reminded me of The Enlightenment period, where new ideas involving science particularly, came to rise. That is similar to the Laputians because their culture is based on scientific and mathematical concepts.
Dear MP,
Good observations! It is interesting how Swift uses size in the first two voyages. If size determines a person’s value in Lilliput and Brobdingnag, how is an individual’s worth measured in Laputa? What do you suppose this reveals about each society?
Great text-to-world connection to the Enlightenment, too!
In Laputa, I beleive the individulas worth is measured upon their knowledge of mathematical and scientific concepts. Also technology was a large factor in this society because it was more advanced. If a person is educated in these topics then they are respected in that society. Each society portrays its different values, revealing what is important and what determines who is high in power.
One of the things that I found remarkable about Gulliver’s Travels was the modern language Jonathon Swift used. I’ve read pieces from this time period before, but they were always biblical and religion based, and very hard to understand. I found Jonathon Swift’s novel to only be about as complicated to understand as a 19th century novel. I was very surprised when I saw the date that he wrote Gulliver’s Travels and impressed by his modern language. But, of course, it would have to be modern to match the satirical banter in this novel, which conflicts with the Great-Awakening-sort of pieces of the time. To be able to deduce the problems of his society and address them in a modern view is impressive, and this is matched in the way he wrote the book.
I agree with PC in that Swift did use very modern language for his time period. Many of the novels that we have read in school are of similar time periods and are harder to follow. As PC said, Gulliver’s Travels was very easy to follow because of the language that Swift used. When reading, is almost seems that Swift was well ahead of his time because of the language he used. Before I started to read I expected the language to be almost Shakespearian, but it was far from it. Other than a few “thee”’s now and then, I did not realize that Gulliver’s Travels was written in 1726.
I agree with LP. Gulliver’s journey to Houyhnhnm-land was my favorite part of the novel because through Gulliver’s reexamination of human nature, I also re-evaluated humanity. Through his journeys, Gulliver finds close similarities between the lands he visits and his home country. However, when he enters into the country of the Houyhnhnms, the only similarity he can find his the resemblance between himself and the wild Yahoos. As he learns more about their species, Gulliver grows to despise the human race and their natural brutality. Only knowing the dominance of his country and mankind, Gulliver receives the ultimate reality check in Houyhnhnm-land when his master observes that he is nothing but a Yahoo with a false sense of reason.
I found it interesting how Gulliver’s view on humans and society changed throughout the book. At first Gulliver seemed very proud of England and the people in the beginning of the story, but once he started travelling to different lands he sort of became disillusioned (especially when he was with the Houyhnhnms). When Gulliver was telling the King of Brobdingnag about the use of guns and canons, instead of being impressed and wanting the weapons (what Gulliver was expecting) the King was repulsed by the thought of people viciously killing each other in that manner. I feel at this time Gulliver really started to think about the not-so-nice part of human nature and society, where people would go to war and not really think twice about killing a person. Once Gulliver was with the Houyhnhnms I feel he realized how self-centered and violent humans are, by seeing the similarities between people and Yahoos.
While reading Gulliver’s Travels I noticed that in several of the nations Swift created different extremes. While in Lilliput, Gulliver encountered a world of people that were very small and after that he came to Brobdingnag, where everything was excessively large. Swift showed both extremes in size first, but then moved to life. When Gulliver arrived in Maldonada he was told that he could bring back anyone from the dead, no matter what time period and ask them anything that he wanted. In this world they could do what is considered impossible in our world, bring back the dead, even if it is only for a short time. Then, once Gulliver entered Luggnagg, they also had the impossible, some of their people could not die. Through his travels Gulliver got to see many extremes and was questioned on the way of his world and on how they are governed. Because of these several different extremes, I can’t help but wonder if Swift wanted the reader to see that there needs to be a happy medium? The people of our world are not tiny or large and we cannot bring back the dead or keep people from dying. Gulliver went on many expeditions to find something different than his own world, but was Swift saying that his life is perfect the way it is?
After Gulliver’s first and second voyages, I think that it is very interesting to have heard the different perspectives that the natives had about humans. In this book, probably done on purpose so that the reader can reflect on his/her own life, the populace from various lands seems to have a negative outlook upon the human race. To the tiny Lilliputian people, humans were seen as these giants who were very scary and cruel to the creatures that were littler than they were. During Gulliver’s voyage to Brobdingnag, the reader would expect the comparison of humans to the native giants to be a more positive one, but in the eyes of their King it was far from that.
“…I cannot but conclude 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” (Swift 148).
I am inclined to believe that Jonathan Swift chose these perspectives of the human race in a more negative light to push or encourage self-reflection and self-improvement within the reader. Satires are a type of writing that is created to use humor as a tool to promote change within something or someone. In this case, Swift is using the ridiculously fictitious idea of giants and tiny people to get across the message to people that there is still quite a bit of room for improvement as both individuals and as whole communities.
I agree with LP, I find it extremely ironic that Gulliver must use the insite of an entirely different species (the Houyhnhnms) to come to the realization that perhaps England is not the most dominant culture afte all. His travels are very interesting, it seems like each time he reaches a new culture they are in some way superior to the previous one. It seems that each society of men seems to be competing for dominance. Gulliver always seems to find his way back home willingly…until he meets the Houyhnhmnms, that is. Perhaps, Swift was trying to portray that men are too eager for power, and there really is no superior society, that each has its own strengths and faults? He shows that men have great weaknesses and can be truly corrupt when he introduces the “Yahoos,” which are a deranged, reckless and inferior form of men living amongst a society of equestrian species.
While reading Gulliver’s Travels, I noticed that Gulliver himself served as a catalyst for change in almost all of the countries he visited. Some of which he had a much larger effect, like when he was in Lilliput. He became a force of nature and deciding factor in their war against the Blefuscudian army. Without Gulliver’s efforts, the Lilliputian people may have been taken over by Blefuscu. Even If Gulliver ended up on the other side by the end of his stay there, he had changed both societies, even if that meant relieving himself on the royal bedchamber to do it. In Brobdingnag, he showed the giant people the ways of his own people. The king was intrigued by how his stories of a miniature bustling society similar to his own. In the Houyhnhnm country, he showed his equestrian master that even not all Yahoo’s are as barbaric as the ones found in their land. Gulliver may have taken the most away from the adventures, but he surely left a significant mark on each and every society that he traveled to. I think Swift may have used this to prove to the reader the kind of effect one person can have. Gulliver, being that single factor, had some sort of lasting effect on the society. Whether it be one person or the entire populous.
After reading Gulliver’s Travels, I couldn’t help relating the story to the essay “Of Cannibals” by Michel de Montaigne. Montaigne infers that we must not look down on others in comparison to ourselves, for what may be barbaric to us, could be an acceptable and everyday task for another. As Gulliver traveled throughout these different cultures he consistently taught them of his own culture. The Lilliputians, Brogdingnags, Laputas, and Houyhnhnms all came to the similar conclusion that Gulliver’s people are nothing more than vile, spiteful, self-absorbed, evil creatures. Gulliver visits countries in which he is too big, too tiny, and too simple, but then meets the Houyhnhnms and in no way can meet their standards. Gulliver finally finds a place where everything is just right, and he is expelled from it. After living with them he realized how vain and shallow his society truly is. When Gulliver is forced back into his own society he becomes a loner, remaining in his house avoiding his family, and spending his remaining days speaking with the horses in his stables. Out of context, Gulliver’s actions after finally arriving home make it seem as if he is mentally ill. This of course had become normal for him, conversing with domestic animals, which with the Houyhnhnms was not all that bad, but what’s the use? He’s just crazy.
I agree with NL in saying that Gulliver changed each and every society he visited for the better. In Lilliput he was able to show much of the society that they are not the epitome of greatness, as Gulliver in some ways is greater than they philosophically, morally, and physically. He then went on to show the Brobdingnags not to be so narrow-minded, that there is more than one answer for everything. In direct contrast the Houyhnhnms learned to narrow their vision in order to see that the Yahoo’s are most likely the way they are due to the Houyhnhnms. NL is absolutely right in saying that Gulliver did not only take away from his experiences, he significantly changed each society for the greater good.
When Gulliver lands at Brobdingnag and encounters the giant population for the first time, he thinks, “Undoubtedly philosophers are in the right when they tell us, that nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison.” (Swift 95) At the time he thinks this, it is meant literally. He flashes back to his experience in Lilliput, where, though he considers himself of normal height and stature, he is considered “the greatest prodigy that ever appeared in the world.” (Swift 94) He feels as a Lilliputian may have felt around him, when he sees the giants and he is suddenly thrown into a world where he is the smallest and weakest. Thus, he sees two different perspectives in the two different places he goes; he is the same person in each situation, but it is just the comparison that makes for different experiences.
However, this is a recurring theme that is less literal in the rest of the novel; this quote doesn’t always apply to size comparison. Gulliver encounters four different cultures in his four different journeys, in which he learns about previously un-encountered parts of the world. In each, he is asked about Europe’s customs and culture, and he learns about where he is. For instance, he learns that Lilliputians don’t simply offer penalties for breaking laws, but they also offer reward to those found innocent. Or in Laputa, the people have to have their faces hit with flaps in order to have coherent thoughts or to speak. Gulliver spends a great deal of time elaborating on the cultural differences, but in each new place, he is not treated badly. Despite language barriers and small differences, he is treated as a human being. However, each time he desires to leave. In his last adventure, with the Houyhnhnms, he encounters a population the most “different” from his own; but instead of using the differences as a way of measuring up the cultures to one another, he identifies with them. He views his own country as inferior, and even says, “I had not been in this country a year before I contracted such a love and veneration for the inhabitants, that I entered on a firm resolution never to return to human kind among these Houyhnhnms…” (Swift 272) Without experiencing this culture he considers to be ideal, Gulliver would have never made this comparison. England would never, to him as his home, seem little, except by comparison.
I agree with IK and $-Money, as what they were saying went together really well. I think that the novel uses exaggerations of human nature and these fantastical cultures to prove a point about our society. For example, I thought one of the funniest things in the novel was the war between Lilliput and Blefuscu over the way one is supposed to break eggs. It seems silly, but aren’t there wars fought over insignificant things in our world? It seems ridiculous when we consider the fictional war but the satire in the novel is supposed to channel this ridiculousness into a lesson about how we are. And along with what IK says, Gulliver does become more disillusioned as the novel goes on, as if he is living this satire and seeing the flaws within his own culture because of what he experienced–to the extent that he decides he never wants to return to his world. I thought these two instances of satire were pretty interesting.
During the course of reading Gulliver’s Travels, I came upon a quote which I marked for its importance. This quote is in regards to the world’s history and how it is passed through the generations.
“I was chiefly disgusted with modern history. For having strictly examined all the persons of greatest name in the courts of princes for an hundred years past, I found how the world had been misled by prostitute writers, to ascribe the greatest exploits in war to cowards, the wisest counsel to fools, sincerity to flatterers, Roman virtue to betrayers of their country, piety to atheists, chastity to sodomites, truth to informers” (Swift 216).
Gulliver brings up a very valid point about how some of history was written wrongly by historians. Although not to the great extent as in the book, this made me wonder how much of the history we read and learn about in Today’s history books is actually true, and what falsities are now taken in by Today’s youth. History is a subject that probably always has a bias to some extent, whether on purpose or unintentionally. We should be careful when we go to engorge ourselves with stories of the past and make sure the sources are creditable to some degree. It is very interesting to think of all the history learnt over the course of my schooling and wonder what portions are absolutely true and what portions are far from the actual happenings of the past.
As said in previous posts, I believe that on all the islands, an exaggerated trait that all humans share is displayed. For instance, on the first island the people were immediately afraid of Gulliver and jumped to restraining him before he could do them any harm simply because of his size. He proved to them, a short time later, that he had no wish to hurt them by releasing the soldiers that shot at him, after being ordered not to do so. It is sad to imagine that as humans, we automatically jump to the worst possible outcome or situation that could arise. Even in our society today, people are constantly accusing others of having cruel intentions or only looking to benefit themselves. It is on the last island that Gulliver can see the good that we all posses. In his first hours on the island, Gulliver finds himself under attack from a heard of the goat-like animals and a horse that he has no relation to whatsoever comes to his rescue. This is much unlike the inhabitants of the first island. Here, they didn’t wait to determine if someone wasn’t bad, but instead assumed they were of good heart unless proven otherwise. Overall, I thought the comparison of humans to their lesser attributes was discussed well through the novel.
I agree with AK. The war between Lilliput and Blefuscu was preposterous, but what was more preposterous, and in my mind profound, was the fact that the warring nations were once one. Essentially families fighting their own, this satires the relationship between such constantly warring European nations as France and England.