Study notes: Gulliver's Travels
Lemuel Gulliver, a ship’s surgeon, visits countries that are the wrong size or the wrong kind of proud. In Lilliput he is a giant tied down by tiny officials. In Brobdingnag he is a pet in a land of giants and sees human skin far too closely. Later voyages mock science without kindness and a society of talking horses. Swift is not offering a travel guide. He is laughing, bitterly, at governments, war, and vanity.
Themes
Power looks different when you change size. Satire exaggerates so you will recognize a real habit. “Reason” without kindness can be cold.
People to follow
Gulliver, the Lilliputian court, the Brobdingnag king, and the Houyhnhnms and Yahoos.
Talk about
- Which tiny rule in Lilliput reminds you of a real rule?
- When is Gulliver the wise one, and when is he the joke?
- What is Swift attacking, not just describing?
Public-domain text.