GULLIVER’S TRAVELS REVISITED
Written By: Jonathan Swift
Revisited by: Chris Pak
Today we are taking a look at Gulliver’s Travels. We did take a look at a couple classics already including Charles Dickens, but today is a little different. We are writing A LOT. Anyway
s, before we talk about the book itself, let us introduce the author of this book, Jonathan Swift.
We’ve heard of Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Jane Austin, George Orwell, Daniel Defoe and so on, but Jonathan Swift is rarely talked about. Mainly, his books weren’t AS BIG of a hit then other authors mentioned, and his books are a little too, well, kiddy. Not to mention the fact that Gulliver’s Travels is the only book that he wrote that is famous to this day. Born on November 30, 1667, Irish author, clergyman and satirist Jonathan Swift grew up fatherless. Under the care of his uncle, he received a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College and then worked as a statesman’s assistant. Eventually, he became dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. Most of his writings were published under pseudonyms. He best remembered for his 1726 book Gulliver’s Travels. Want to more about this guy? Read these two links:
http://www.biography.com/people/jonathan-swift-9500342#synopsis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Swift
Now, on to the book:
I chose this book mainly for its creativity as well as it
s plot and the descriptive writing style. Yes, tiny midgets and giants are not so creative today, when these characters have existed for such a long time. But Jonathon Swift mana
ged to think about this in the 17′ hundreds! That’s incredible! So many books and movies are based on his books! Also, the plot is very interesting. He has four volumes in the whole “trav
el” and is composed of the Voyage to Lilliput (tiny dwarves), A Voyage to Brobdingnag (giants), A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib and Japan (weird people) and fina
lly A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms (a country where horses are the dominating species). It’s pack-fulled with events that are intense and moral.
Based on my prediction, I think Gulliver is going to find a way out of Lilliput. Although he is very well treated and has fun with the little people, Gulliver expresses multiple times he misses his homeland and English people. And my guess was right. One day, he finds an enormous canoe log and he convinces the Emporer of the country to leave. He packs food and drinks and leaves and is found by a British exploring ship.
The three major events that had happened so far is when he becomes stranded, is accepted as one of Lilliput’s citizen and when he leaves Lilliput. When he becomes stranded, he washes on the shores of Lilliput. This is the most important event in the story since the rest of the story is triggered based on this event. The second major event is when he gets accepted as a citizen. The Lilliputians wanted to kill him or pull his eyes out. However, the Emporer knows that he can use Gulliver for multiple tasks. Last but not least, Gulliver leaves Lilliput. If he never left, the next three volumes in the Novel wouldn’t have existed.
Gulliver’s Travels implicitly poses the question of whether physical power or moral righteousness should be the governing factor in social life. Gulliver experiences the advantages of physical might both as one who has it, as a giant in Lilliput where he can defeat the Blefuscu
dian navy (enemy of Lilliputians) because of his immense size, and as one who does not have it, as a midget in Brobdingnag where he is harassed by the gargantuaness of everything from insects to household pets. His first encounter with another society is one of entrapment when he is physically tied down by the Lilliputians; later, in Brobdingnag, he is enslaved by a farmer. He also observes physical force used against others, as with the Houyhnhnms’ chaining up of the Yahoos (Humans in their land).
The action that I wished he hasn’t done, is leaving home couple months after coming back from Lilliput. Why would you? If you missed your family, at least stay for a couple years! He gets stranded another time, and this time with giants. The fact that he leaves home after 3 months every time he comes back demonstrates the foolishness of humans.
Symbols:
- Lilliputians: The Lilliputians symbolize humankind’s wildly ex
cessive pride in its own tiny existence. Swift fully intends the irony of representing the tiniest race visited by Gulliver as by far the most vainglorious and conceited, both collectively and individually. - Laputians: The Laputans represent the folly of theoretical knowledge that has no relation to human life and no use in the actual world.
- Brobdingnagians: The Brobdingnagians represent the private, personal, and physical traits of humans when really zoomed in great detail.
- Houyhnhnms: The Houyhnhnms represent ideal rational existence, governing of the morally more superior. The Houyhnhnms define themselves of the more superior race, and they justify this because they are-in their opinion at least, that they’re are cleaner, better behaved and a more rational race then the Yahoos (Humans in their countries)
There never really was a moment in this classic where it was emotional, but there were many parts where there was an “impact”, or shocking I can say. First of all, in volume no.1, when gulliver urinates to turn off the fire in the castle was quiet impressive. It was a reason why Gulliver’s eyes were almost pulled out, thanks to vacuous laws in Lilliput. The next moment which was quite impactful was when in the third volume, he visited the Laputians and figured out that they eat cookies with math questions written on them and then starve for the next couple days. Lastly, in the second volume; A Voyage to Brobdingnag, when he is played around with a monkey and is almost killed by a rat. I realized that the strength that we humans portray are nothing really. Once Gulliver enters Brobdingnag, he finds himself a midget, where a fly is as big as a dog.
He realizes the irony and the problems of our government, and the limit of human understanding. First of all, Gulliver’s Travels implicitly poses the question of whether physical power or moral righteousness should be the governing factor in social life. Gulliver experiences the advantages of physical might both as one who has it, as a giant in Lilliput where he can defeat the Blefuscudian navy by his immense size, and as one who does not have it, as a miniature visitor to Brobdingnag where he is harassed by the prodigiousness of everything from insects to household pets. His first encounter with another society of entrapment when he is physically tied down by the Lilliputians; later, in Brobdingnag, he is enslaved by a farmer. He also observes physical force used against others, as with the Houyhnhnms’ chaining up of the Yahoos. Alongside the use of physical force, there are also many claims to power based on moral righteousness. The whole point of the “egg controversy (the way eggs are cracked)” that has set Lilliput against Blefuscu is not purely a cultural difference but, instead, a religious and moral issue related to the proper interpretation of a passage in their holy book. This difference of opinion seems to justify, in their eyes at least, the warfare between them. Similarly, the use of physical force against the Yahoos is justified for the Houyhnhnms by their sense of moral “superiority”: they are cleaner, better behaved, and more rational. But overall, the novel tends to show that claims to rule on the basis of moral righteousness are often just as arbitrary as, physical domination. The Laputans keep the lower land of Balnibarbi in check through force because they believe themselves to be more rational, even though we might see them as preposterous and unpleasant. Similarly, the ruling elite of Balnibarbi believes itself to be on the right in banning Lord Munodi from power, although we discern that Munodi is the rational party.
I felt like the third volume; A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib and Japan was not thoroughly explained since 5 countries had to be explained. There are only around 30 pages explaining each of the countries, making it harder to get into the story as well as the character. Once you understand what’s going on, Gulliver vacates and goes on to the next country. I think he should have split the different countries, and further explained the stories.
Swift surprised me in the fourth volume when he explained how horses were the dominant species and Yahoos (humans) were slaves and prisoned. Humans were described as savage, filthy creatures, and I came to realize that, if fact, we quite are. The horses question humanity to Gulliver: Why do we kill our own race? Why do we steal from others? Why is there social statuses? And Gulliver cannot reply. However, there is a twist, because horses abuse the Yahoos for being less rational. Is this morally correct? How should we decide who’s in control? Swift questions the basics of humanity.
I’ll 
never forget the moment when Gulliver is played with a monkey in Brobdingnag. The window was open in the palace, and a monkey came in and grabbed puny Gulliver with his hand and ran out, and on to a tree. The whole palace, the king, and Queen had to bribe the monkey to give Gulliver back. It was absolutely hilarious, to say the least. Not only that, it demonstrated the weakness of human beings when compared giant monkeys.
There were no secrets in this novel, thanks to its 4 volume style, Gulliver never uncovers a secret. Swift never has enough time to develop a story enough that there are secrets waiting to be discovered. This does make the story a little laggy, but event do happen faster, especially if you have to fit 4 volumes in 400 pages.
I felt like the book was about to end in volume one, Voyage to Lilliput as Swift hinted that he missed his wife, children, and his hometown. After convincing the Emperor for a while, Gulliver receives permission to leave Lilliput. In the second volume, Voyage to Brobdingnag, I couldn’t predict when he was going to leave. After all, it is PRETTY hard to predict that an eagle would swoop down and fly away with Gulliver’s tiny house! The eagle drops Gulliver in the middle of the ocean, and then he is found by British men. The third volume, A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib and Japan, I personally felt like the story was going to end when Gulliver reaches Japan because it was the last country mentioned. No joke. Swift makes it hard for us to predict when the story is going to end without visual reference (looking at how far you are in the book). Finally, in the fourth volume, A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms, I felt like the venturesome journey was coming to an end as Gulliver’s owner Houyhnhnm started mentioning him going back to his country. And indeed, Gulliver is sent back to sea to find his own race.
A minor character that was important in Gulliver’s Travels is the master of Gulliver in A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms. He implicitly poses a typical question about humans. This makes us as readers to reflect upon ourselves. Is this how the world should run along? Are we really more rational than other living beings? How can we justify our actions? How should our government work, and how should we decide who is in control? All these questions are varied for each individual. Gulliver encounters troubles finding answers to these questions, however, when he comes back from the Houyhnhnms to England, he finds out that his life is changed forever. He finds humans, including his kids revolting, sadistic creatures. He buys 3 horses and is mentioned to still talk to them at least 4 hours a day.
To be honest, I am a big fan of Charles Dickens, for both his writing style and the vividness of his stories. Although some incessantly complain that his stories are slow and are boring; personally, I think that he makes even the most ordinary thing come to life with exhilarating details. Johnathan Swift, I think missed many chances to make the event more evocative and amusing. For example, the part when Gulliver fights the enemies in Lilliput was very short and was written in a “tell” voice instead of a “show” voice. (For ex. “Gulliver was shot at with arrows and had to pull out his glasses” is really boring, considering what’s happening here) This made the story very slow and seemed like he was living there for 40 years. Definitely not recommended for people with low patience levels.
Unless you are looking for certain genres or writing styles of books, Gulliver’s Travels is a definite go. It is a solid choice, with a bunch of original stories packed in this novel, this book is quite entertaining. Consider the fact that there are 4 volumes in this, so you aren’t going to get so much detail from each story. I wouldn’t recommend if you prefer action-packed stories. Ages will be anyone, because you can read this book philisophically and basically. Overall, Swift’s most famous novel, Gulliver’s travels is a real classic.
Done reading? Now take a quiz:
http://www.gradesaver.com/gullivers-travels/study-guide/quiz1
Total No. of words: 2222 words (well, 2241 words including this)
gorgeous planes! But do u have any idea of what this means? Check my equation out:
!!!!!: The Boeing 737-400! Yass! I’m really 
sorry, but the Airbus
The Airbus a320 is powered by two CFM56-5B engines, which p.jpg)
roduces 33 000 lbs. of thrust for the airbus a321. I know, these engines are stronger than the ones on the 737, but the plane is bigger and heavier. For those who don’t know much about planes, these engines are pretty old, but it was enough to power my flight. I don’t know exactly if it’s because of the bigger fuselage, as well as the bigger wing surface area, the plane dampened out turbulence quite effectively, and made the cabin quiet enough to talk. I learned that smaller planes like the a320 and 737 are throne around by turbulence more than larger aircraft, like the Boeing 777 that I will mention later. Finally, I was less tired, even though an a320 cruises at around 34 000 feet, thanks to the “well” pressurized cabin. This bird gets a 70/100. And again, I really enjoyed this video, and if you’re a lazy bum, skip to 2:25 to see the takeoff:
really scary. It was an Air Canada flight, so I won’t mention the poor service-let’s skip right to the important stuff. The a340-500 is powered by four Rolls-Royce Trent 500. They deliver a max. thrust of 60 000 lbs. of thrust, and they can power the massive plane for over 18 hours. Thanks to the powerful engines, I experienced no turbulence, and all was well. My ears didn’t pop, and I was very shocked to find my self not tired after a 14 hour flight. This bad-boy deserves a 77/100! (Extra: If you like the a340, then you must LOVE airbus, cause let’s face it, the a340 is garbage! So, check this bad-boy out! 
I gotta admit, it was just beautiful. The climb was very rapid after takeoff; it was only around 2-3 minutes. The 747 is a master of dampening turbulence, thanks to the four Rolls-Royce RB211-524G/H & -T engines that produce 60 600 lbs. of thrust that deliver excellent stabilization to the 747. The flight was 10 hours, and to be honest, it really did feel like a 10 hour flight. The plane was very quiet considering the fact that the 747-400 is a four engine airliner. I absolutely love the 747-400! A true 89/100!
and are actually succeeding! I don’t think anybody expected that! Four not very impressive girls decided to band together and make the most of their oh so awesome lives. (If you couldn’t tell we’re kind of enemies right now because we are both in the reviewing business so we’ll be badmouthing them a bit) BUT some of their posts are a bit biased considering they make quizzes not accessible to everyone! For example somewhere in their blog history they made a quiz about a really popular book probably assuming that everyone has read it and just put it out there! That definitely drops down their star ratings by one! So based off of that information and some other info we’re gonna rate this semi-decent website a total of… Drumroll please……
http://watchofyokai.com/yo-kai-watch-3-news-leak-corocoro-may-2016/
The reviews of all reviews 