Gulliver’s Travels (presentation)

On 22nd August, I, along with my friend Unnati Baroliya, presented the life of Jonathan Swift and Gulliver’s Travels to my class. It was a task given to us by Vaidehi ma’am. It was a very fun experience and we learnt a lot. I dealt with Gulliver’s Travels. I enjoyed reading about this work so much and it’s truly a literary masterpiece. I shall try to explain it here. 

Gulliver’s travels were published in 1726. As the name suggests it is the story of Lumeul Gulliver who has various adventures. There are 4 adventures published as 4 parts. It is a satire on many things but most prominent are Human Nature, British Government and Travel writings (which were very popular in that time).

There are three satires used in the work. They are:- 

1. Verbal Irony 

Verbal irony is where you say something and mean the exact opposite. For example:- when your friend is late you say, “you’re so early”. You don’t mean this literally but say it to criticise your friend’s behaviour. Learn more about Verbal Irony :-

2. Situational Irony 

Situational Irony is when readers and characters expect something to happen but the end result is something entirely different. Learn more about Situational Irony :-

3. Dramatic Irony 

Dramatic irony is when the irony of a particular situation is apparent to readers but not realised by the characters. Learn more about Dramatic Irony :-

Now let us examine the adventures of Gulliver:- 

A Voyage to Lilliput

This is perhaps the most famous part of the Gulliver’s Travels. It is here that Gulliver encounters Little people called Lilliputians. They are approximately 6 inches tall. These people, although small, have a complex political and social structure that mirrors great nations. Lilliputians put great emphasis on trivial matters. They are always busy in some kind of petty conflicts or absurd wars.

When Gulliver arrives there, they are at war with their neighbours because they disagreed on which side of an egg to crack. Through these unnecessary wars, Swift also displays the relation between England and France. There are also different groups in their land. For example- Big Endians and Little Endians. They have a disagreement over how to interpret a passage (which is cryptic in nature and can be interpreted in two ways). These groups signify the religious groups like Catholic and Protestants, who disagree on the message of their holy scriptures.

People of Lilliput island fail to recognise their own insignificance. They try to make Gulliver a pawn in their politics but they fail to realise that he can destroy their entire civilisation with ease. This is also seen in humans as we fail to recognise the certainty of death and always keep our mind busy with insignificant matters.

At the end of this part, Gulliver is charged for treason and he escapes through sea and returns to England.

A Voyage to Brobdingnag

In this adventure, Gulliver arrives at a place which is exactly the opposite of Lilliput Island. Brobdingnag is a land of Giants. At first Gulliver is captured by a farmer. He is treated as an entertainment and kept in a cage. Farmer takes him to the market and makes him do tricks. Then he is sold off to the Queen.

Living with the Queen, Gulliver got to observe their political structure. Their Government was praise-worthy. When Gulliver talks to the Brobdingnagian King, he is forced to face the follies of British Government. Through the fresh perspective of the King, Swift openly criticises the English Government.

The people of Brobdingnag are extremely vain, proud and superficial. Their outer look is also discussed in the book. Because of his small size, Gulliver notices ugliness in the peoples appearance. Even minor flaws seem magnified to him. Through this, Swift portrays the triviality of physical appearance. He tries to show that no matter how you look, you could be ugly from a different perspective.

Gulliver also had many dangers in this land. Because of his small size, he became an easy prey for many creatures. He is attacked by Wasps and Rats. At the end an Eagle captures him and drops him in the sea, from where he escapes.

A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib and Japan

Laputa is a flying island inhabited by super intelligent people. Balnibarbi is the land beneath them. Common people live on land while Government officials and other important people live on the flying Island. This signifies the disconnect of government and the people.

Gulliver soon notices the impracticality of their knowledge. They are talented but they work on utterly useless experiments like trying to get sunbeams from cucumbers or making marble soft so it could be used as a pillows. The people of this land are unable to engage in meaningful conversation or build emotional connections. In this part, we see the ruin brought by blind pursuit of science.

Then Gulliver is supposed to return to England through Japan. However, they took a detour and visit the Islands of Glubbdubdrib and Luggnagg. In Glubbdubdrib, he meets people who can summon ghosts. Gulliver calls for Julius Caesar, Brutus, Homer, Aristotle, Rene Descartes, etc. He admires these people as legends of our past but upon meeting them, he is disillusioned by them.

The Luggnagg citizens are immortals. They have eternal life. However, they do not have eternal youth. This means that they get old, suffer from diseases and their body starts to decay but they cannot die. They are legally considered dead at the age of 80. They envy Gulliver’s ability to die. For them death is a sweet relief. Through them, Swift shows the importance of endings. We like something because we know it is finite. It might not be the same way forever.

After this, Gulliver goes to Japan and returned back to England.

A Voyage to The Land of Houyhnhnms

In his last voyage, Gulliver ends up on the land of intelligent horses. They are devoid of greed, deceit, and selfishness. They live in peace and harmony in an almost utopian society.

Another species residing with them are human-like Yahoos. They are savage and brutal. Gulliver finds Yahoos to be repulsive. In this land, Horses, the dominant species are pure vegetarian, while Yahoos prefer meat. This is shown to signify their savagery. We can also connect it to the modern trend of Veganism.

The contrasting nature of both species raise philosophical and moral questions. Gulliver reflects on humanity as whole. This is the first place which Gulliver does not wish to quit. However, the horses reject him because of his similarities to Yahoos. They think Gulliver is a Yahoo with understanding but bad for their civilisation so they send him away.

He is rescued by a Portuguese ship captain. He goes back to England, and spends the rest of his days talking to his horses, and ignoring humans, considering them Yahoos. That is the end of Gulliver’s Travels.

You can check out my presentation down below:-

Jonathan_Swift_and_Gullivers_Travels.pptx from BhumiGohil1