Travel Sugestions

"GULLIVER"

Consider Gulliver's stated intentions in writing about his travels. What do the letters at the beginning of the work reveal about his character? What kind of a person is Gulliver? Why is he driven to the sea repeatedly even as his wife and children wait at home?

Answer: Gulliver repeatedly heeds the call to go off to sea. He claims that it is for commercial reasons, but Gulliver easily adapts to foreign cultures and usually does not mind seeing how another culture might be superior to his own. He is a reader and a traveler, not the kind of person who feels bound to traditional society.

Perspective and relativity are very important aspects of Gulliver's Travels. Compare Gulliver's experiences in the first and second parts of the novel. How does Gulliver act differently? How is he treated differently?

Answer: In the first part, Gulliver is the giant; in the second, everyone else is a giant. In both, he is the outsider and is treated as such. Consider the power relationships in each part and the ability of prudence and reason to overcome differences in perspective.

Bodily functions are described often and in great detail in the novel. Why is Swift so graphic?

Answer: Humanity's base functions comprise an important aspect of the novel? Swift pays great attention to the real world, the material world where people actually have to live their lives. In addition to the slapstick value of associating different things in the text with excrement, Swift reminds us that we are embodied mortals.

Is Gulliver a hero?

Answer: One may choose to compare Gulliver's actions and characteristics with other great characters such as Odysseus, who also has great sea adventures, or Jason and the Argonauts. Odysseus is crafty and strong, but Gulliver does not endure great hardships or overcome great enemies. This is a satire, not an epic, so we neither expect nor need a hero. Instead, Swift gives us a narrator who tells his own story as an everyman. The point is that he is not greatly different from an average human being, though he becomes much wiser and more thoughtful.

Is Gulliver a reliable narrator?

Answer: We generally trust his statements even though they are about fantastic beings and places. We do not need to believe that such things actually happened. Instead we should recall that Swift has important lessons to teach though the satire and the imaginary narrator of these fictional travels. Beyond that, we might trust Gulliver because of his thoughtfulness and prudence in some ways and because he is willing to relate good news and bad news, good and bad things about various kinds of people, in the same even tone.

Discuss Swift's connection to Gulliver.

Answer: The author need not share the narrator's opinions, but we always should keep in mind that it is Swift who has presented a narrator with certain opinions. Sometimes, Swift's joke is at Gulliver's expense. Also consider Gulliver's attack on humanity in Part IV.

What makes the Houyhnhnms' society ideal or a model for humans?

Answer: From Gulliver's perspective, the Houyhnhnms have established the ideal society. In fact, when he returns home to England, he cannot stand the sight or smell of humans and prefers to spend his time in the barn with his horses. The Houyhnhnms are more rational than the Yahoos and the other peoples in the novel. Note other ways that the Yahoos are unlike the Houyhnhnms.

How does Gulliver change as the novel progresses? For instance, at the end of the novel, when Gulliver is spending time in the barn with his horses, do we as readers identify with him, or are we repulsed?

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