So I was just wondering why Gulliver decides to even stay in Lilliput after he is set free. Dr. Mitchell-Buck asked this question in class and it resonated with me. Of course if Gulliver left there would be no story but it honestly doesn't make sense for him to even humor these small little terrors when he's waayy bigger. And how can he not escape them before they get to Lilliput? He has a gone and just the fact that he's a giant to their tiny little bodies gives him an automatic advantage. I mean really? He even signs a contract which is so silly and comical. So this line of thought got me to thinking. The Lilliputians represent the various groups of Protestants (Whigs and Tories) in Britain. Swift is satirizing these Protestants and various other political parties. These groups argue over silly things and this is represented by the Lilliputians' arguments such as high heels and eggs issue. Why does it matter whether you wear high heels or not or an egg is supposed to be cracked? These squabbles are comical and idiotic; they emphasize how illogical these religious and political groups are being during this time in Britain. My questions is if the Lilliputians represent the various groups of Protestants (Whigs and Tories) in Britain who does Gulliver represent?
Well, I'm thinking that Gulliver may represent the common folk of London. If there about 2 million people in London during this time that means there is a bigger population of normal folk than high society, religious, and political groups. A small amount of elite rule a huge population of people just working to get food, clothes, and a better place in society. Huh? That doesn't sound right. Why aren't the middle and poor class (who make up the biggest part of the population) able to make their own rules for themselves? Perhaps Swift is satirizing this problem right here. Gulliver is bigger, but gullibe (hence the name) and a little too nice and naive. His choices don't make sense. He stays in Lilliput. He signs a contract requiring specific behavior and tasks of him. Yet He's BIGGER and stronger. Why does he let himself be ruled under the thumb of tiny little terrors he can just crush under his feet? Maybe Swift is asking people to think of how ridiculous society works.
This book has really got me thinking about our present society because we don't really question how our own society and government. Oh we have lots of complaints and beliefs maybe but we do nothing about it. Us normal people are too busy working, going to school, and trying to make a life for ourselves to really ensure that our society isn't controlled by rich people sitting behind big oak desks signing our lives away. However, I do have to say our society has come a long way in time and maybe that's what we need. The world needs time to figure out some things and stop worrying about little petty tiffs...I guess. I'm not sure yet.
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I agree with what you're saying here. It's interesting how Gulliver would represent the normal middle class and the lilliputians that make him sign the contract represent the congress, the senate, and the 1%. It's funny how Gulliver could crush the lilliputians at any time, while, in the real world, the middle class and below could rise up against the lawmakers and politicians at any time. Pretty interesting to think about.
ReplyDeleteGulliver would seem like the perfect representation of a larger, yet much more helpless lower class. Not only does he have a knack for almost all civilized languages, but he's also not necessarily shown as being 'stupid'. Gullible, yes, but he is shown to being intelligent at times, so the class itself isn't being insulted.
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