Resumo de Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver?s Travels

As the title suggests the novel is about Gulliver and his travels. At first read, the novel seems like a story for children but instead it?s a brilliant piece of satire by Jonathan swift. Swift believed in making the follies of humankind visible to them so that they can change. Swift, for his satirical purpose creates a gullible character/narrator Gulliver. The first voyage of Gulliver leaves him shipwrecked at the island of Lilliputians who are merely six inches tall. Gulliver is shown to be extremely class conscious, he sees the six inches tall king as the mightiest man. Through the description of the political system of lilliput, Swift wants to show the corrupt practices of England. When the novel was written England was at war with France, swift satirizes the ongoing war by trivializing the reason of the war between Lilliput and Blefuscu. He also criticizes the ambition of princes. Gulliver, on learning about a plot to label him a traitor and eventually blind him, leaves lilliput. The second voyage takes Gulliver to the island of giants, Brobdingnag. Here, the readers view a change in the character of Gulliver who is no longer naïve but quite manipulative. He hates his master who saved his life because he showed Gulliver to common masses but has no objection on being the show toy of the queen. Gulliver tries to impress the king by praising the political-socio-economic system of England, but the king can see through the hypocrisies. Through the king, swift is satirizing the practices of European society. Gulliver?s stay in brobdingnag ends when an eagle carries him off. In his third voyage, Gulliver finds himself in a flying island. In this section, Swift is commenting on the ongoing debate of ancient versus modern learning. Gulliver goes to the Academy of Lagado where modern experiments like creating sunlight out of cucumber is taking place. Gulliver also visits the island of Luggnagg where he learns about the immortals Struldbrugs. He leaves Luggnagg to go to England via Japan and Amsterdam. In the last voyage Gulliver is shown as the captain whose own crew rebels against him and sets him adrift. This section has been seen by many as written by a misanthrope or lunatic. In this section we can see the most scathing satire of mankind. Here Gulliver comes face to face with Yahoos, degenerate creatures having close resemblance with human beings. Yahoos are the slaves and their masters are the horse like houynhnhnms, the overtly rational creatures. After living with the houyhnhnms, Gulliver also starts to hate the yahoos, and by extension humans. It is in this section that the distance between Gulliver and the author is blurred. Gulliver critiques the human society, their political, social, cultural, economic system. His master houyhnhnm also makes implicit connection between the yahoos (who are irrational, debased and debauched) and the humans. This comparison is the source of unease for many readers. Gulliver is so happy in the company of the rational but cold hearted houyhnhnms that he doesn?t want to leave. But he is asked to depart because of the danger that he maybe able to unite the yahoos against the houyhnhnms. On returning home, Gulliver can?t stand the society of human beings, not even of his wife and children. In the concluding chapter, Gulliver stresses that all the places that he has described really exist. The novel in addition to being a fun filled fantasy story also raises serious questions about the nature of human race. The novel is not as innocent as it seems at first glance.

Resumos Relacionados