Resumo de Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver? Travels may on the surface just
seem like a children?s adventure story, but if one looks deeper one can
see that the entire novel is a satire of English society during the
1800?s. The novel records the story of an Englishman named Lemuel
Gulliver who goes out so sea after the failure of his business. He
becomes shipwrecked in Lilliput where he notices that everyone there is
of miniature height. At this time the English had great military and
economic power as they colonized much of the known world. The
Lilliputians represent the groups of people suppressed by the dominant
English, which are represented by Gulliver?s size. The Lilliputians at
first try to fight of Gulliver despite his immense size. Overall, they
are kind to Gulliver and take him to meet the emperor. He is used by
them to fight off the people of Blefuscu. The Lilliputians hate them
because they have an argument about the proper way to crack an egg.
This way seem ridiculous, but it is taken seriously in the novel. There
are parallels between this ridiculous conflict and ones that occurred
during Europe. This includes the conflicts between the Whigs and Tories
in England and the centuries of warfare between Catholics and
Protestants for no apparent reason. Swift views these conflicts as
pointless as arguing how to crack an egg.After helping the Lilliputians
Gulliver is condemned for treason because he put out a fire with his
urine. Although Gulliver did this to prevent a disaster, it shows his
ability to control the Lilliputians just like the English controlled
the rest of the world.After Gulliver leave he sails to the land of
giants known as Brobdingnag. They are a lot larger than him and he is a
midget compared him, which is the opposite of his condition in
Lilliput. He is treated like an animal by a farmer and sold to the king
who makes him a circus performer to make a profit. Gulliver is enslaved
by the Brobdingnag?s just like the English enslaved colonists to make a
profit. Gulliver offers the king gunpowder, but he refuses it because
it might cause violent and destruction. This is the opposite of English
society, which did everything possible to acquire new technology for
warfare. This is unlike the Lilliputians who try to cause warfare and
show their military might. Eventually an eagle carries the cage where
Gulliver lives and he is dropped into the ocean. He sets sail again and
is attacked by a group of pirates before finding himself on the
floating cloud of Laputa. Scientists and mathematicians living on the
cloud rule the people below them with their superior scientific
knowledge. The science carried on at Laputa does not seem to have any
purpose. They spend all their money on their useless projects like
trying to extract sunlight from a cucumber while the people they rule
do not have any food. Swift?s description of Laputa is a satire
of the English Royal Society. Members of society found many scientific
principles, but did little to create technology that would help the
people.Lastly, Gulliver sets out to see with a crew who rebels against
him and locks him in a cabin. He finds himself in a land inhabited by
Houyhnhyms, a group of horse-like creatures. They rule a group of
beastly human-like creatures known as Yahoos. Gulliver grows found of
the Houyhnhyms because of their peaceful existence. At the same time
they live a dull existence and lack human emotions. Gulliver is
banished to live with the Yahoos and he later returns to England. The
Houyhnyms are devoid of all human characters, which to a certain extent
is a composite of the three groups that Gulliver encountered.
Overall, Gulliver's Travels is a wonderful epic adventure
that depicts of all the faults of English society during its colonial
age.

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