Skip to main content

Gulliver's Travels

               Obviously every English literature lover would have heard this name. The great satirical novel, perhaps the greatest satirical novel by Jonathan Swift, 'Gulliver's Travels.'   

             Gulliver a surgeon and owner of severel ships decides to go on voyage but encountered with storm his ship wrecks.  When he wakes up Gulliver found himself bound by ropes on the island of Lilliput. This is satire. Even smaller people can make victory over great people. Means, upper class people should not be so proud. Remember Karl Marx. As he has said that lower class people will make victory over superior people and will change rule. Second journey also connected with this idea when Gulliver was powerless. Rule has changed.

                 Here also satire can be found. the king asked Gulliver to fight against Blefuscu. Gulliver accepts and they won. Here we can find satire that how nations are fight with each other for no reason, the thirst of power. After living several days in Blefuscu Gulliver succeed in making boat and finally goes home.

           Again he decided to go on sea journey and again his ship wrecks. When he awakes he found himself on land of gianys. On the island of Brobdingnag one farmer found him. He asked Gulliver for dancing, and Gulliver did. Because he has no power. Satire is that how powerful peoples using powerless people for their entertainment. And poor people has to do whatever rich people says.

              The farmer uses him for making money and also sales him to the queen. Means, powerful people uses poor peoples for their profit. Work are done by poor peoples and profit takes by rich peoples. Unequal distribution of money. This problem can also be found in present time.  

                Here Gulliver talks with the king about England's ministers, courts, lawyers and other things. And after hearing this, queen was very angry and said that your country is nothing except conspiracies, murder, hypocrisy, wars, vices, ignorance, malice, etc. Ironically queen and other peoples were black. And in their country, there were no wars, murders, hypocrisy and other vices. Means, it suggests that even black peoples are civilized than whites. They are not aware of vices. But white peoples are full of vices.

               Another great satire also can be found in this journey. Before leaving Brobdingnag, Gulliver teaches scientists the formula of gun powder. That means wherever white peoples goes, they brings calamity. They have produced the things which can only bring destruction. For example Britishers brought gun and gun powder in India and what it can do? Only murder.

One day one giant eagle takes away Gulliver's cage and drops into the sea. He rescued by Laputians.

               The people of Laputa were not practical, they were just thinking useless things. Only one person was practical, son of king and so he was considered an idiot. Here Swift satires that who believes themselves intelligent, because they have knowledge, it is absurdity. When Laputians attacks on below island satires that who are superior attack on powerless peoples. England has ruled over many countries. So, Swift satires on English peoples mentality of become ruler.

               Here he also visits nearby islands. On the island of Balnibarbi, there were room of language, room of politics, room of answers and others. Gulliver want to know his way to home but nobody answered him, all were doing useless things. Satire is that who are in authority do not work, they have no concerns about people, they do not care of anybody.

                When Gulliver reached on the land of Glubbdubdrib, there is satire on history. History can not be trusted because, they have not wrote their own history.

                And in the last, the greatest satire. Satire on all human kind. Yahoos and Houyhnhnms. On the island of Houyhnhnms, there were ugly men called Yahoos and horses called Houyhnhnms. Yahoos were full of vices So, Swift want to show human races that, see, see yourself. This is you. peoples are yahoos, full of vices. Even animals are better than man. There Gulliver finds diamonds but throws. This tells that if you have virtues like Houyhnhnms, no need for anything. You can live peacefully without it. Gulliver lives peacefully with Houyhnhnms but Houyhnhnms decided that Gulliver must leave for his Yahoo appearance. He leaves the island with tears in eyes.

                After experiencing vices of human kind, he don't want to live with humans. He bought some horses and begins to live with them.

              So, this novel is full of satire. Swift has included all vices of human kind. Proud, lust for power, selfishness, envy, impracticality, class system, and many other things.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Old Woman - Joseph Campbell

'The Old Woman' is simple and short poem by Joseph Campbell where he compares old woman with different things and describes her. The poem has three stanzas. .In  the first stanza , the poet compares the old lady with the white candle. White colour is symbol of peace and candle is symbol of light. The old woman is like white candle. She is in peace and she gives other people light by his experiences. She is able to show right path who need that. In the second  stanza, the poet compares the old lady with the spent radiance of the winter's sun. It refers old woman's long life. But now she is old like winter's sun, but she has gathered a wide experience of life. Poet writes, "A woman with her travail done" In last stanza, the poet compares the old woman with the water under the ruined mill. The water is still under the ruined mill and by comparing this poet writes about the old lady that her all sons has gone, they do not live with her. But she has all the...
20 comments
Read more

To the Indians who died in South Africa - T.S. Eliot

A man's destination is his own village,  His own fire, and his wife's cooking;  To sit in front of his own door at sunset  And see his grandson, and his neighbour's grandson  Playing in the dust together.  Scarred but secure, he has many memories  Which return at the hour of conversation,  (The warm or the cool hour, according to the climate)  Of foreign men, who fought in foreign places,  Foreign to each other.  A man's destination is not his destiny,  Every country is home to one man  And exile to another. Where a man dies bravely  At one with his destiny, that soil is his.  Let his village remember.  This was not your land, or ours: but a village in the Midlands,  And one in the Five Rivers, may have the same graveyard.  Let those who go home tell the same story of you:  Of action with a common purpose, action  None the less fruitful if neither you nor we  Know, unt...
6 comments
Read more

Joy and woe woven are fine - William Blake

In this short poem William Blake wants to give message that joy and grief, both are part of life and both are good. He says joy and woe are woven fine. Woven means things which are attached to each other. Both happiness and grief are fine. They are cloths of our soul. In every grief, there are also joy we need to find it. We are not here for only happiness or for only pain. But we are made for both. And when we know that joy and woe both are part of our life, we can live happily in grief also. So, in this poem poet wants to tell that accept both joy and pain. Do not become unhappy when sad moments come, there are always happy moments also. Know that both are part of everyone's life and live happily. That is all poet wants to say in the poem.
2 comments
Read more