Gulliver's Travels - Essay

Gulliver’s Travels

Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels follows an English surgeon, Lemuel Gulliver, as he goes out to sea. Each part of the story documents a different voyage to strange locales. The first two parts of the story depict Gulliver’s time on the islands Lilliput and Brobdingnag. On the island of Lilliput, the inhabitants are a small fraction the size of Gulliver while on Brobdingnag, Gulliver is the size of a Lilliputian in comparison to their inhabitants. The Lilliputians fear Gulliver and he holds great power during his stay. In Brobdingnag, Gulliver is treated like a toy by the inhabitants due to his tiny stature. Thematically, parts one and two of Gulliver’s Travels have very broad similarities in the way Gulliver finds himself in unfamiliar situations. However, when inspected further, parts one and two explore two different extremes: power and insignificance, respectively.
Parts one and two of Gulliver’s Travels have very broad, obvious similarities between them. In both parts, Gulliver experiences scenarios that would be unrealistic on Earth. Both parts have fantastical themes in the way Gulliver lives the impossible scenario of being a giant and then being infinitesimal. A recurring theme in parts one and two is that Gulliver is in very scary, uncomfortable and foreign situations. On the island of Lilliput, Gulliver awakens on the shore to find himself tied down by several six-inch men with bows and arrows (Gulliver, 1295). In Brobdingnag, Gulliver explores the unfamiliar territory and is shocked that stalks of corn are about forty feet high (1324). Parts one and two share the fact that at the beginning of each, we are shown the fear and unfamiliarity that Gulliver experiences in these new lands. When Gulliver is discovered by the inhabitants of Lilliput and Brobdingnag, his size is a topic of interest in both lands. The amount of attention Gulliver receives, whether positive or negative, puts him in awkward, uncomfortable situations. In...