Towards the end of the book, however, Gulliver's character changes drastically. After his crew leaves him for dead on the island of the Houyhnhnms and go off to live the life of pirates, Gulliver comes into contact with the Yahoos and the "perfect" race of horses that rule the island. Gulliver comes to love this race of horses, and his despising of men continues to grow as he is convinced that he and every man he's lived with back home are all complete yahoos. Gulliver ends up being rescued unwillingly and taken back home, where he becomes a shut-in, neglecting his family, friends, and acquaintances and instead chills in the stables, talking to his horses for several hours a day. Gulliver, through his travels, becomes disgusted with the human race to the point of insanity. Witnessing all of these strange lands and comparing the creatures that live there with his own species turns him against everyone he knows once he returns, even his own family. This is where the satirical nature of Gulliver’s
Travels is most apparent. The reader is able to, through Gulliver, see how crappy
people are when set against all these other creatures that Gulliver meets.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
How Gulliver Changes
At the end of Gulliver's Travels, Gulliver is a completely different person compared to the man he was at the beginning of the story. In the beginning, Gulliver is this friendly, curious, explorer type. For one thing, once he comes to on the beach to find that he's been tied down by a legion of Lilliputians, he doesn't at once destroy them all. Even after he find the Lilliputians to be spiteful, nasty little creatures, he still sticks around for a bit and manages to get on the court's good side. He even helps them out with the Blefuscu-ites. He does everything he can to remain civil towards the Lilliputians. He saves the capital by pissing on it, the only logical thing to do in order to put out a miniature fire with no water around. And despite all Gulliver's done for the Lilliputians, the accuse him of treason for him not wanting to make Blefuscu a territory of Lilliput, and for defacing the capital, even though he saved it from burning to the ground. Gulliver's a good guy who seems to find the best in people, despite their being complete dicks.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This is especially true when one realizes that Gulliver is meeting exaggerated caricatures of people who resemble or accentuate a trait of his own kind. Because of that, his own perceptions are more colored as a result. It's almost like an accidental brainwashing.
ReplyDeleteGulliver's disgust with humans as a whole towards the end of book four caught my attention as well. Perhaps Gulliver's travel plans all along were to simply rid himself of any connection to the human race. Which can be seen when he meets both the Lilliputians and when he arrives on the island of the Houyhnhnms. It's as if Gulliver is desperate enough to part ways with the human race that he is ready and willing to join the next culture he meets.
ReplyDeleteGulliver's absolute disgust with humanity is actually one of my favorite bits about this book; he's so willing and cheerful in his disgust that he completely rationalizes being a horse. He's so pleased with himself and his decision...I couldn't handle it and wound up actually laughing aloud.
ReplyDelete