Let me just start off
by saying I was so excited for this week, especially after finishing Oroonoko
last week because Gulliver’s Travels
was something that I had already read. The satirical references aren’t always
the easiest for me to catch but this book is so ludicrous and yet entertaining
that I actually like it. I remember when I first read it I was like oh wow…yep
he’s peeing and pooping and their wheeling it away in barrels. Interesting. But
something I had not thought of, which came up in our discussion today was the
idea of why Gulliver is even living under the rules of the Lilliputians? “Besides,
I now considered myself as bound by the Laws of Hospitality to a People who had
treated me with so much Expense and Magnificence” (26). As was said in class
today, he could easily kill all these people by simply stepping on them. So is
he an idiot for obeying the laws of these little people? Or is this Jonathan
Swift’s way of showing the reader that although you are bigger and more
powerful, when shown kindness and authority of a nation foreign to your own
there needs to be a level of respect? Perhaps it was about a respect that was
not shown to Ireland from England in the 17th century? For those of
you that don’t know, and from what I can remember from European history, the
English conquest of Ireland was extremely brutal and bloody during that time
period. I wouldn’t be surprised if Swift used the anger for his homeland to
fuel this first story.
That was one of the things that bugged me most when reading the first book. I couldn't (and still can't) wrap my head around the fact that Gulliver stays with the Lilliputians willingly. I held out this hope that he would realize he could use his size and strength to return to his old life. It's almost as if Gulliver is content with being the old man out, maybe it makes him feel more at home..who knows.
ReplyDeleteI actually loved this aspect of the first book we read for class! I thought it was great that although he could easily destroy the lilliputians, he has too much respect for them to do so. I think this says a lot about Gulliver's character in general. Although he can be quite naive and gullible at times, who can dislike someone who acts out of kindness more than smarts?!
ReplyDeleteI never really thought about it in this light,but it is definitely an arguable position. It is neat to see the many different ways that Swift can be interpreted. Being crafted from an American education, I would have thought about it in terms of the colonies versus giant European powers or natives versus colonists. Another way it could be argued is not using the power of slavery for evil. This class is opening my eyes to new ways of viewing literature in general.
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