Summary:
A review of Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels, the most famous of Swift's satirical writings. A utopian novel in the form of allegory, Gulliver's Travels satirically depicts the conditions in England at that time and criticizes civilization in general, all by way of an imaginary book of travels.
Johnatan Swift was an English writer of the 18th century originally born in the Irish family. The majority of his writings were satirical and the most famous satire is just Gulliver's Travels. It is an utopia novel in the form of allegory that by way of an imaginary book of travels satirically depicts the conditions in England at that times and criticizes the civilization in general. Gulliver's Travels was initially named,,Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World" and is divided into four parts, each of several chapters. The book is introduced by a fictional preface of the publisher and an author's letter to the publisher. The feeling of the verity is even emphasized by the maps, the portrait of Gulliver and the first narrative person that is used in the text.
Lemual Gulliver was the third son of the Nottingham farmer. From his early childhood he dreamed about being a sailor. He wanted to cruise the sea and explore the unknown lands. That was why he decided to study geography, physics and all other subjects useful for the life on a ship. He was gradually preparing himself to be a successful sailor. One of those subjects he studied was also the healing and so after many years of studying he finally got the oportunity to put out to sea. He had already have a family but he left them to let his dreams come true and also to earn some money for his wife and children. At first he spent about six years at sea. He was serving on two ships in sequence as a crew healer. And here is where the first part of the book starts.
After those first six years Gulliver set on a journey again. But his ship, Antonia, got into a storm and suffered wreck. Because of the strong wind that wafted them in the storm, Gulliver did not even have an idea where his ship sank but he swam as far as he could trying to save his life. He reached the coastline somehow and immediately fainted from the exhaustion. He was actually the only one who survived. When he came round he realized that someone lashed him to the ground. It was the land of Liliputs, the people who were not more than six inches high. Fortunately they handled him well and the teachable sailor soon even started to learn their language. The Liliputans kept Gulliver alive and wanted him to protect them against people from the neighboring island. They sheltered him in an old church and fed him every day in order to keep the giant strong. Nevertheless when the king of Liliputans commanded Gulliver to attack the nation from the neighboring island, he refused to capture the innocent, even if their were enemies. Gulliver so was not confidential any more. After that he was accused of the treason, found guilty and in a secret vote condemned to death. Thanks to his friend Gulliver managed to escape onto Belfusk, the neighboring island, and with the help of the local king he built a ship and with some proviant as the corn, little sheep and cows set on a journey back to Britain. After a safe return to the home town, Gulliver sold the cattle and got a lot of money for his family.
Despite his wife's wishes he soon left the country again. The ship was called,,The Adventure" and the shipman John Nicholas headed for Surat around the Cape of Good Hope and the Strait of Madagascar. One time, they harboured some unknown island to supply the water and the provisions. Guliver went to explore the coastline on his own and when he want to return to the ship he did not find any. The crew while searching for some water was frightened by a giant and left the island without Gulliver. So Gulliver stayed in the land named Brobdingnag, the land of giants approximately 60 feet high. One farmer found him and brought him to his house. At first Gulliver served the farmer's daughter as a toy. Soon the farmer realized that he could earn a tot of money by showing the little man to people. They wandered the country and in every town and village they presented the dwarf-man. They also visited the capital city of Brobdingnag and with their performance went to the royal palace. The queen bought the little man and made him to serve as a Jack-pudding. He lived with the royal family for about two years. One time when they went to the seaside Gulliver's cage was incidentally grabbed by an eagle. The eagle then dropped him into the waves. Fortunately,Gulliver is saved by English sailors and got safe to Britain.
Gulliver than passed out two more travels. The third of all was onto an flying island Laputa inhabited by broody and absent-minded people who needed to have a servant by their side to paddle them gently in order to make them pay attention.
The fourth and the last travel influenced Gulliver for the rest of his life. By his own sailors he was marooned on an unknown island. It was an island of Hvajninims, horses endowed with the intellect and intelligence. There were some other creatures on the island, animals that resembles humans but were as wild as the beasts. Hvajninims called them Jahus. Gulliver looked like Jahu but surprised the horses by his intelligence and cleanliness. Gulliver gradually got familiarized with the horse community and even adopted their values and way of life. Right there he found out how miserable the human society was in its questing for the riches, power and fame. When he came back to Britain,he felt disgusted by humans. It took him some time to get acustomed to living with people again. Anyway, two stallions,he bought after returning from Brobdingnag, remained his closest friends.
By means of confrontation the human society and the fairy-tale world, John Swift tried to point out that the basic society's values were almost lost. Only the community of horses was able to live a moral life with the honesty and just being the most important attributes.
This is the complete article, containing 1,018 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page).
