The
hero of Jonathan Swift's fantasy
novel is part sailor, part
pioneer, a man driven to find new and unexplored territories to live in
and then write about back home. His first
adventure begins as he is
shipwrecked and after swimming for his
life comes upon the island of
Lilliput. Interrogated by the tiny locals who think him a giant by
comparison he is taken prisoner and soon meets with the country's
ruler. During this time he also learns the native language and comes to
be a favorite amongst the court, not least when he uses his size and
strength to defeat the enemies of Lilliput by kidnapping their entire
naval fleet in one fell swoop.
From here (after a brief respite at home in England) he journeys to
Brobdingnag, where the tables are quickly reversed as he finds that he
is as tiny to the locals as he once was enormous to the Lilliputians.
Among other adventures and misfortunes he duels with gigantic
wasps, is kidnapped by a monkey and finds his life in peril
constantly here due to his small size and the dangers around him. He
also wonders anew how the Lilliputians must have viewed him when the
notices that every feature of the locals is magnified to him many times
due again to his own small size.
After this almost deadly adventure he
travels to Laputa, Balnibarbi,
Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib and Japan but ultimately it is his
voyage to the
land of the Houyhnhnms (a race of horses) which has the most profound
effect upon the author and he finds himself taken with his new hosts at
the same time looking with new eyes upon his own and other's humanity.
Gulliver's Travels is at times funny, profound, absurd but nevertheless
the most original book I've ever read.
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