Gulliver's Travels (review)
THE PLOT
The first two texts of the book serve as an introduction: in the first, the editor provides the reader with some details about the life of the Author, who in the book is called Gulliver, not Swift (this is due to the fact that at the time the story was written, censorship was in effect and since the book contains many criticisms of modern society, politics, and religion, the Author decided to publish the book under a pseudonym), and an explanation of the omission of certain parts, such as overly detailed descriptions. The second text is a letter sent by Gulliver to the editor, his cousin Sympson, in which the Author expresses anger over the changes made to the book that are explained in the first of the two introductory texts.
After these initial passages, the actual narrative begins.
Gulliver, who from childhood always wanted to become a traveler, and put a great deal of effort into studying this discipline, studied medicine, a field that later allowed him to become a ship's doctor on his various voyages.
All of the Author's adventures in the fantastic worlds he describes are always the result of his misadventures and accidents aboard ships.
In the first narrated voyage, Gulliver was on the Antelope, a ship that was wrecked in a storm. All the crew members died, except for the protagonist, who managed to save himself, after an exhausting swim, on an island that appeared to be deserted. Once ashore, due to exhaustion, Gulliver fell into a deep sleep; however, it was quite strange for him to find himself upon waking tied to the ground and surrounded by a myriad of tiny people, or rather, "short" people, six inches tall, about 15 centimeters. This population turned out to be very friendly with the Author, so much so that they granted him a house and, later, even his freedom: his only obligation was to obey the sovereign of Lilliput (this was the name of the island on which he had shipwrecked). During his stay in Lilliput, the Author learned the local language and thus entertained relations with the sovereign, the priests, and the population, who considered him almost a deity, given his abnormal size. The Lilliputians provided for his food needs, which over time, however, could become unsustainable from an economic standpoint, since the Author needed portions twelve times larger than normal. During conversations with the Lilliputians, Gulliver explained how politics worked in Europe and had the opportunity to learn about the local politics as well. The Author also served the sovereign of Lilliput several times: once by putting out a palace fire, using his urine, and another time by completely neutralizing the enemy fleet, that of the neighboring people of Blefuscu. But when Gulliver refused to completely subjugate that people, the sovereign of Lilliput was offended, leading to his being sentenced to blindness first and then to death by starvation. However, by a stroke of luck, the Author learned what the Lilliputians wanted to do to him and thus escaped to the nearby enemy kingdom of Blefuscu, from which he managed to depart using a boat found overturned near the shore. From Lilliput and Blefuscu, Gulliver took as a "souvenir" some animals, which were also small like the inhabitants of the place. Thanks to these, in England, he managed to make some money, with which he financed his second voyage.
The second voyage began with the Author aboard the Adventure, which was also driven off course by a storm. At the first sighting of land, the captain decided to replenish water using a large boat, on which Gulliver also wanted to go. Having landed, Gulliver was left alone on that island because his companions fled "legs in the air" at the sight of a giant. Indeed, the peculiarity of this country was that everything was twelve times larger than normal; in short, Brobdingnag (this was the name of the island) was the exact opposite of Lilliput. After various ordeals, the Author was rescued by a local inhabitant who decided to use him for profit, taking him to various fairs and markets to show him to people as a rarity in exchange for money. The only person who actually grew fond of Gulliver was the daughter of the inhabitant who had found him, who taught him the local language and who, when the Author was sold to the king's court, was the only one who wanted to stay with him. Here too, the Author had the opportunity to make known the politics and religion of Europe and to learn about the local ones instead. During his stay in Brobdingnag, Gulliver had quite a few misadventures due to his reduced stature compared to the rest of the landscape, including being in the clutches of a dwarf jealous of the fact that the Author had entered the queen's favor, displacing him. The dwarf made all sorts of trouble for him: for example, once he tried to drown him in a cup full of cream and another time tried to crush him through an avalanche of giant apples. But in Brobdingnag, the Author also managed to greatly amuse the royal family by demonstrating his skill in navigating with a boat specially built for him. The departure from this giant people occurred only by luck and in a dangerous way. One day the King and Queen wanted to make a trip to the borders of the realm, with Gulliver as a companion. Arrived at Fflanflasnic, a city near the sea, the Author wanted to be taken to see the ocean; this time it was not the nursemaid who accompanied him, since she was sick, but a servant. The latter placed on the beach the little house that had been specially built to carry Gulliver on trips, but suddenly an eagle carried it away. After a short flight, the eagle dropped the "house-box" into the sea. With the impact, the house did not break and subsequently Gulliver was rescued by a ship and taken back to England. In the first two trips, Gulliver learned of new populations only thanks to natural events (storms), but in the third and fourth, it was men themselves who forced the Author to leave the ship and seek land to survive.
In the third voyage, in fact, Gulliver was assigned the command of a ship, which was however attacked by pirates. The Author was thus forced to find land to land on with a small boat and with provisions only for a few days. Having found an island to rest and resupply food, Gullliver witnessed an extraordinary event: indeed, before his eyes was an island capable of flying. Driven by curiosity, the Author decided then to "climb" onto the island, where he learned of a very strange and, in my opinion, very boring population. Indeed, these people were so occupied with meditating and reasoning in the fields of mathematics, music, and sciences, that they had lost the ability to hold a conversation, given their easy predisposition to distraction. Indeed, the inhabitants of Laputa (the flying island) were always accompanied by some flagellators, that is, servants assigned to "whip" them in case they suddenly entered into meditation. On this island, Gulliver also came to know the malice and arrogance general to man when he finds himself with power in hand. An example was the method of suppressing revolts that the sovereign of Laputa used. Having descended from the island, Gulliver was hosted at the home of a kind gentleman living in the capital of the kingdom of which Laputa was a part, Lagado, but which was located on the mainland. Here the Author learned of the reasons for the ruin and desolation of the state and was admitted to the Academy, an institution of gathering of scientists where experiments were conducted where Gulliver observed both "strange" inventions and others very useful. Having seen the Academy, the Author decided then to leave and therefore to go to Maldonada, a port that had contacts with the island of Luggnagg, which in turn had contacts with Japan, the only nation with which Europeans had commercial relations. But arriving at Maldonada, Gulliver realized that no vessel was ready to sail for Luggnagg for at least a month. Then, the Author visited Glubbdubdrib, a country of wizards in which the sovereign honored him with the power to bring to life for one day any person he wanted. Thus he made illustrious characters and sovereigns appear, who however stated that they had conquered power thanks to falsehood, scams, and lies. Back at Maldonada, Gulliver went to Luggnagg where, however, he was made a prisoner. Later released, he was brought before the sovereign, here he stayed for three months. What struck him very much was coming to know the existence of some immortal human individuals, who however were destined for sadness since they did not always stay young, but aged carrying with them all the diseases and fatigue of old age. Departing from Luggnagg, Gulliver sailed for Japan and from there to Holland. Having arrived in Europe, he returned home to England.
The fourth and final voyage began with Gulliver taking command of the Adventure, but he was forced to recruit new sailors due to a decimation by disease aboard. These new crew members, however, took command of the ship, leaving the Author on an island where he saw some animals similar to men but much more primitive and uncivilized and horses capable of speaking. Having learned their language, Gulliver learned that in that country, men were used as domestic animals, since they were devoid of reason and were called yahoos, while the horses called houyhnhnms were the only beings capable of speaking and reasoning. Through long conversations with his houyhnhnm master, the Author realized the incivility due to the lies, falsehoods, and vices of European humans, so much so that he felt so comfortable in a society free of corruption that he wanted to stay there for life. Indeed, Gulliver built a house and began to live according to local customs, spurning his own image reflected in the water, a trace of his old life among brutish European yahoos stained by corruption and who use reason only to accentuate the number of vices that nature has given us. But adverse fate wanted that for this very reason, that is, for being a yahoo, Gulliver was not well received by some houyhnhnms who forced him to return to his homeland, where, however, he found many difficulties in resocializing with people not worthy of possessing reason. The narration closes with a final chapter in which the Author gives proof of the veracity of his story and tries, in my opinion, to win the favor of the censorship, praising the
queen and the British institutions.
CRITICISM
THE CHARACTERS
In the book, numerous characters are present, who have in some way all influenced the narrated events; here is the list:
- GULLIVER: the protagonist and, as narrated, also the Author. During the events, he always tends to seize everything that is possible to take. From the favors of sovereigns, to money to the peculiarities of the place. He has always shown a willingness to learn, so much so that he studied all the languages of the peoples he visited. After returning from the fourth journey, he takes on a character that is certainly more honest, but also more offensive and unscrupulous towards society and his own family.
- GULLIVER'S FAMILY: although it has never been at the center of the narrative, it has always played an important role, that is, that of the final destination of the protagonist's journeys.
- THE CAPTAINS of the SHIPS: important characters with magnanimous personalities. Even those captains who should have played the role of "villains" become good: an example is the pirate of the third chapter and the captain who took possession of the Adventure in the fourth chapter.
- THE SOVEREIGNS: except for Gulliver's master in the kingdom of the houyhnhnms all the other sovereigns have proven to be tyrants: an example is that of Lilliput who wanted to conquer the entire kingdom of Blefuscu and that of Laputa who sought to suppress revolts with force.
- THE SERVANTS: people with good souls and always ready to sacrifice themselves for the sovereigns.
- GLUMDALCLITCH THE NURSEMAID: a child who showed much affection towards Gulliver. In her personality, aspects of childishness such as being irresponsible can be found; an example is the episode in which she leaves Gulliver alone in the meadow of the palace, who then finds himself in the clutches of the dwarf.
- GLUMDALCLITCH'S MASTER and FATHER: at first, he seems to play the role of a good man and savior, even if later he proves to be heartless in exploiting Gulliver's abilities and characteristics for profit.
- THE PEOPLE: in the kingdoms of Lilliput and Brobdingnag, the people are submissive to the king and curious about novelties; in Laputa and Lagado they turn out to be noisy and absorbed in meditation; in Luggnagg they present themselves with cordiality and, finally, in the kingdom of the houyhnhnms, incomparable creatures endowed with good soul and without vices, they prove to be attached to traditional beliefs: in fact, this people drives away Gulliver only because he resembles a yahoo.
NARRATION AND COMMENTARY
The narration is smooth and easy to read and understand. The parts concerning the life of the Author in the various peoples he visited and his adventures at sea are very exciting; a bit less so, however, are the continuous references to politics; in fact, in my opinion, Swift dwelled too long on this aspect.
The first two chapters and the part concerning the experiments conducted at the Academy of Luggnagg (from page 216 to 229) are very beautiful. The fourth chapter turns out to be less captivating compared to the other two, since a good part of it is dedicated to the morals and politics of the houyhnhnms. The following pages, which stood out from the others as very funny, are to be noted:
- From page 63 to 72, where the search by the Lilliputians on Gulliver is narrated, very funny names are invented to indicate things that the Lilliputians do not know.
- From page 85 to 91 where the way in which Gulliver manages to extinguish a fire that broke out in the palace of the sovereign of Lilliput is narrated.
- From page 135 to 145 where the quarrel between Gulliver and the dwarf of the court of Brobdingnag is narrated.
- From page 150 to 160 where Gulliver's misadventures in the kingdom of Brobdingnag are narrated.
The book, however, falls short in translation: in fact, the use of the same structure and the same words are too recurrent. Another thing I did not particularly appreciate was the fact that in the introductory chapter entitled "Letter from Capt. Gulliver to his cousin Sympson", names like yahoo or houyhnhnm are mentioned, whose meaning will only be explained in the fourth chapter.
Overall, the book is to be considered a beautiful adventure story.
