Gulliver's Travels: Summary
Many of the critics who have critiqued Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's
Travels have used the word extraneous more then once. Swift was viewed as an
insane person who was a failure in life. But this is far from the truth. Swift
wrote Gulliver's Travels, a book that has been assigned to students for years,
and it is written from experience. Swift's experience with the Tories and their
conflicts with the Whigs caused him to write books that mock religious beliefs,
government, or people with views differing from his own. In one of these books,
Gulliver's Travels, Swift criticizes the corruption of the English government,
society, science, religion, and man in general.
In Gulliver's first ...
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Instead of making his way across town, to the ocean, squashing the
people of Lilliput as he goes, Gulliver makes use of his urine to save the
palace. While this vulgar episode was a display of bravery, it infuriated the
emperor, causing revenge to be vowed on Gulliver. Rather then be happy that
both the emperor and the palace are not in ruin, the littleness of the
government and the people in general is displayed in this act. Another display
of this is the fact that Gulliver is used as the Emperor's absolute weapon, but
the emperor only uses him to conquer his world of two islands. This makes the
emperor's ambition seem extremely low (Bloom, Interpretations 84-5).
Swift also criticizes the religious beliefs of the Lilliputians and
England in the first story. In Lilliput, Ministers were chosen strictly on
agility, or their ability to walk a tightrope or stick jumping. They were able
to maintain their rank of minister as long as they could keep these ...
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age Struldbuggs, which
look utterly hideous resulting from old age, and the deterioration of their
bodies. The Yahoos from the land of Houyhnhnms are filthy, uncivilized
creatures, who use their own dung as a weapon. In these descriptions, Swift
criticizes both the moral and physical corruption of man (Bloom, Critical Views
87).
Gulliver's first owner in Brobdingnag represents the selfishness of man.
Gulliver is constantly displayed in public, abused for the profit of the owner.
When his owner finds out that Gulliver is weakening, he sells him immediately,
at a high price in order to milk every last penny out of Gulliver.
Gulliver's third voyage, to the floating island of Laputa is one ...
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"Gulliver's Travels: Summary." Essayworld.com. September 19, 2006. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Gullivers-Travels-Summary/52620.
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