A Critique on Gulliver’s Travels

Topic: A Critique on Gulliver’s Travels

Paper 2: The Neo-Classical Literature

Name: Yashpalsinh Baldevsinh Gohil

Class: M.A. Sem-1

Roll no.: 24

                      Submitted To: Ms. Heenaba Zala

                                             (English Department,

                                    Maharaja Krushnakumarsinhji

                                           Bhavnagar University)

Gulliver’s Travels a Satire, a Parody and a Comic Masterpiece:-

The book called Gulliver’s Travels is a satire on four aspects of man the physical, the political the intellectual, and the moral. The book is also a brilliant parody of travel literature and it is at once science fiction and a witty parody of science fiction. It expresses savage indignation at the follies vices and stupidities of men and it shows and unawareness of man’s tragic insufficiency. At the same time it is a great comic masterpiece a fact which of solemn temperaments often fails to recognize.

Such Occasions which make us laugh when we read Gulliver’s Travels:-

There are many such incidents in the book which make us laugh frequently when we read it. All of them are very humorous. We laugh and were meant to laugh at the toy kingdom of the Lilliputians at the acrobatic skill of the politicians and the courtiers; at the absurd jealousy of the diminutive minister who suspects and adulterer relationship between his wife and the giant Gulliver. We laugh at the plight of Gulliver in Brodbingnag one of the lords of creation, frightened by puppy, rendered ludicrous by the tricks of a mischievous monkey, and in awe of a dwarf embarrassed the lascivious antics of the maids of honour and at last content to be tended like a baby by his girl nurse. We laugh at the abstractness of the philosophers of Laputa, and at the mad experimenters of Balnibarbi. And we are right in at least smiling at the preposterous horses, the Houyhnhnms, so limited and so positive in their knowledge and opinions, so skilled in such improbable tasks as threading needles a carrying so complacent in their belief that they are “the perfection of nature”. Much of the pleasure that we feel in this book is due to this gay, comic, fanciful inventiveness. However, we should also deep in mind the fact that beyond the mirth and liveliness of the book are gravity, anger anxiety and frustration, and swift intended that we should experience these also in full measure.

The Events which established the Tones of the Four Voyages:-

The title of the book tells us that it is and account of Gulliver’s Travels into several remote nations of the world. The four voyages of Gulliver are so arranged in the book as to show an intensification of tone as we travel through increasing darkness into the black heart of humanity. But the forward movement of the book is interrupted by the third voyage which is a grim comment on science, politics, and economics as practiced by madmen. The tone of each voyage is established by the nature of the event that brings about the adventure. In the first voyage, it is accident or the carelessness of the look-out, which accounts for the shipwreck in the second Gulliver, is left alone in a strange land through the cowardice of his shipmates. In the third he is captured and later abandoned by pirates. In the fourth, his crew of cutthroat revolts, seizes the ship and leaves him to starve on a nearby island.

The Enlightened and Benevolent Brobdingnagians:-

In Gulliver’s Travels we can see that in Brobdingnag we meet creatures ten or twelve times the size of Europeans, and we share Gulliver’s anxiety lest their moral natures be as brutish as their a violent shift of simple tone and point of view Gulliver, who seemed to be lovable and humane among the Lilliputians, appears disgraceful and morally insensitive in contrast to the enlightened and benevolent people of this land. Since Gulliver represents us (all human beings), his shame and ludicrousness are ours. When the peasants of Brobdingnag discover Gulliver, they feel both curiosity and dislike. The farmer picks him up with the caution of one who tries to catch a small dangerous animal in such a way that it shall not be able to scratch or bite him. Gulliver fears that his captor may dush him to the ground.

The Comic Obsessions of the People of Laputa:-

The people of Laputa or the flying island visited by Gulliver in the course of his third voyage are obsessed with only two branches of knowledge namely- mathematics and music. These obsessions render these people awkward and clumsy so far as the common actions and behavior of life are concerned they are very bad reasoners and imagination, fancy, and invention are alien to them. The tailor who is ordered to make a suit of clothes for Gulliver first takes Gulliver’s altitude with a quadrant’ and them with rule and campuses, sketches the dimensions and gut lines of Gulliver’s whole body on a sheet of paper. After six days, the tailor brings a suit of clothes which is very badly made and which is quite out of shape because he had made a mistake in his calculation. The obsession with music makes these people think that they can hear the music of the spheres. Besides, these people are in a state of constant fear because of the changes which they think would take place in the heavenly bodies. They apprehend the earth would, in course of time, be swallowed up by the sun or that the face of the sun would by degrees become dark and therefore give no more light to the world. The astronomers and this island have been able to make discoveries beyond those made by European astronomers. The astronomers here have made a catalogue of ten thousand fixed stars they have discovered two satellites revolving about mars and they have observed ninety three different comets. All this is intended to be a satire on the scientific experiments of the time because swift was no believer in science.

The Portrayal of the Houyhnhnms:-

Swift does not recommend that Gulliver (who represents us also) should try to become a Houyhnhnms. We find that every sense Houyhnhnms land is a rationalistic paradise. The Houyhnhnms are the embodiment of pure reason. They know neither love nor grief nor lust nor ambition. They cannot lie, and they do not understand the meaning of opinion. Their society is an aristocracy based upon the slave labour of the Yahoos and the work of a specially bred servant class. They face the processes of life, such as marriage, child birth, accident and death with a stoical calm. Their society is a planned society that has achieved the mild anarchy which many utopian dreamers have aspired to. They practice eugenics and they control the size of their population children are educated by the state. The agrarian economy is supervised by a democratic council. The government is conducted entirely by periodic assembles. The Houyhnhnms feel natural human affection for one another but they love everyone equally. This picture is all very admirable, but it is remote from the possibilities of human.

Thank You.