Gulliver’s Travels (Part I) – Jonathan Swift

 

Gulliver’s Travels – Jonathan Swift

 Gulliver’s Travels is a four-part satirical work by Anglo-Irish writer Jonathan Swift (1667 – 1745). The full title of the work is ‘Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in four Parts’. Gulliver’s Travels combines adventure with savage satire, mocking English customs and the politics of the day. Gulliver’s Travels is a first-person narrative that is told from the point of view of Lemuel Gulliver.

Gulliver is purely an imaginary character. He a surgeon and sea captain who visits remote regions of the world, and it describes four adventures. The places that he visits, as described in the following four parts of the book are also imaginary.

Part I –Lilliput

Part II – Brobdingnag

Part III – Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdrib, Luggnagg and Japan.

Part IV – The country of the Yahoos and the Houyhhnhmms

 In the first part, Gulliver boards the Antelope (a Ship) on 4^th May 1699.  He is the only survivor of a shipwreck, and he swims to Lilliput, where he is tied up by people who are less than 6 inches  tall. He is then taken to the capital city and eventually released. The Lilliputians’ small size mirrors their small-mindedness. Initially, the Lilliputians view Gulliver with fear, but they quickly realize that he is not a threat and decide to use his immense size to their advantage. Gulliver is restrained by thousands of tiny ropes and taken to the capital city. Despite his size, he remains courteous and tries to respect the Lilliputians’ laws and ways.

The Lilliputians are a highly organized society, with complex politics and customs. For example, they are divided between men who wear high-heeled shoes  and those who wear low ones.  These groups represent the Whigs and the Tories respectively. At the Lilliputian court only those who prove their skill in rope-dancing can get appointed as ministers. Gulliver's enormous size becomes both a blessing and a curse.

Gulliver is asked to help defend Lilliput against the empire of Blefuscu, with which Lilliput is at war over which end of an egg should be broken, this being a matter of religious doctrine. Gulliver captures Blefuscu’s naval fleet, thus preventing an invasion, but declines to assist the emperor of Lilliput in conquering Blefuscu. Later Gulliver extinguishes a fire in the royal palace by urinating on it. Eventually he falls out of favour and is sentenced to be blinded and starved. He flees to Blefuscu, where he finds a normal-size boat and is thus able to return to England.

The story serves as a satirical commentary on human nature, politics, and the absurdity of societal norms, highlighting the pettiness of conflicts and the arrogance of power.