"Gulliver's Travels" is an adventurous novel by Jonathan Swift. He used the story to state his opinion about England and her politics.
The stories about the seaman Gulliver and his adventures were a critic of the English lifestyle. The English, social life, human flaws such as selfishness are laughed out in this novel.
The double meaning of the novel gave it a never ending worth and made Jonathan Swift one of the most famous English authors.
Book Summary
Trip to Lilliput
Samuel Gulliver is an English seaman who lived through a shipwreck on November 5th, 1699. The sea threw him on an unknown land where he fell asleep.
When he woke up, he was shocked because he was tied down to the ground. Then he saw 15 centimeters tall man climbing his body. There were about 40 others just like him. All of them had a bow and arrow. Gulliver explained to them that he was hungry and thirsty, and the little creatures brought him something to drink and eat. They were amazed by a fact that such a huge man existed.
They’ve put some drugs into his drink, and he fell asleep again.
They built him a wooden construction in which they carried him from the city to a big, abandoned temple. Gulliver could get inside by crawling, but he was still tied up.
Soon Gulliver adjusted to the new lifestyle. He adapted to their culture, politics, language and customs. The land was called Lilliput, and everything was small in it. The capital was Mildendo, and it was inhabited by, at least, half a million people. The Emperor ruled the country with his parliament and military. There was one ruling political party named ‘’Big-Endians’’ but many of its members ran to Blefuscu, the enemy country, because of confrontations between the parties. The other party was named ‘’Little-Endians’’.
Wars and fights were often in Lilliput. The biggest reason for the confrontation was whether the egg is supposed to be cracked at the top or bottom. They even wrote laws and books about this problem. The books about the bottom part of the egg were forbidden, and everyone who supported that opinion was fired from public service and his rights were taken away from them. Some of them became refugees and tried to talk the enemy country Blefuscu into attacking Lilliput. That was the main reason why those two nations were at war.
There are many games in Lilliput, such as hoping games, walking gamed and rolling around the rope games. The one that is the best at these games gets the higher position in the country.
Gulliver treated the Emperor and the Empress with great respect, so he gained their trust. The ministry and the generals didn’t like that, so they were all jealous of him.
In spite of that Gulliver became famous when he defended the city from Blefuscu’s attack. The Emperor realized that Gulliver was a great advantage, so he decided to defeat Blefuscu with his help.
Gulliver was the one who was supposed to sign a treaty with the enemy country, and the Blefuscu Emperor wanted to get him to their side because he knew Gulliver would come in handy.
Gulliver then found out that Lilliput wanted to kill him and blind him, so he decided to run away with the help of a stranded boat. Blefuscu gave him some food and water so he won’t die. He was saved by an English boat. Then it was 1702 in England, and nobody believed his stories about small people. They believed him when he took small animals out of his pocket.
Voyage to Brodbingang
Gulliver went to his next journey two months after coming home from Lilliput. He went with his sailors towards the south. Their water supplies were slowly disappearing, so they decided to go to a shore that was nearby in search of water.
When they landed the sailors went to search for water while Gulliver explored the land. After some time, he couldn’t find them, so he decided to go back. He found his sailors sailing fast because they were running away from some creature. They managed to get away because the land was bumpy, so the humanlike creature had some trouble running after them. They were saved, but Gulliver was all alone in a land he know nothing about.
Gulliver decided to explore the land some more. He was walking next to a field when he encountered a huge man. He barely managed to hide. Soon seven more huge men appeared, and they were all ready to harvest the wheat.
One of them approached Gulliver, and he screamed in terror, so they discovered him. One of the men raised him and showed him to others. He decided to take Gulliver home.
His daughter, Glumdalclitch, took care of him. Everyone found Gulliver interesting because he was small but he encountered many problems in the house such as huge baby, dog, and a rat.
Gulliver got a job offer. One of the peasants suggested him to go together on a journey where the peasants will show Gulliver to other people and make money like that. Gulliver barely survived such lifestyle, so the peasant had mercy upon him and gave him to the king and the queen.
Gulliver accepted to be with them ig Glumdaclitch still made him company. The girl’s parents felt honored by that request, so they allowed it.
It was a new life for Gulliver. Soon he became the queen’s favorite, and he told them stories about England and his former life. Soon Gulliver had his room, dining room and he adapted to the life in the castle but was still afraid of the big things and people. His greatest enemy was the castle’s dwarf who hated him for taking his place as the queen’s favorite.
Gulliver went on a field trip, and he barely survived. The servant in charge of him placed him on a rock and then an eagle grabbed him. He fell into a river from which an English boat saved him and took him home.
Nobody in the country believed there is a giant’s land out there. Everything seemed small to him now. His wife forbids him from traveling ever again, but he couldn’t resist his desires.
Jonathan Swift Biography
Jonathan Swift was Irish writer born in Dublin, Ireland, on November 30th, 1667.
After graduating from Trinity College and the death of his uncle who supported him financially he left Ireland. He worked as a secretary for Eilliam Temple, a politician, and he was a little girl Esther’s instructor. She will play a significant role in his writing life. He was passionate about the everyday events and participated in the political life with his harsh articles.
Around 1710, he wrote for the Examiner, and he became one of the most prominent figures of the English journalism.
He was banished out of the country in 1714 and went to Dublin. He wasn't participating in the public life, had no friends, and was ill. He developed a brain tumor that killed him on September 19th, 1745. He died blind, deaf and almost mute.
In his books, he always tried to reveal the human nature that rolls in the sea of stupidity. His most famous works are "A Tale of a Tub", "Gulliver’s Travels", "Battle of the Books"…
Book reports from Jonathan Swift
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