Personally, I find Gulliver's Travels one of the most boring books ever written. Don't get me wrong. Swift is a wonderful essay writer, but his style does not captivate my attention for long periods of reading, such as his novel. I prefer his satirical works such as A Modest Proposal. Hilarious because he is not serious, Swift takes satire and makes it his own world.
Below I had to answer some questions about Books 3 and 4 for class. It is interesting the way Swift was able to weave in political metaphors and spins on his entire tale, but it is just much too long for me. I love reading, his novels just lose me sometimes. I guess it would be easier to understand had I lived in that time period and I could pin point exactly what he was talking about right off the top of my head, whereas now reading it involves research, which is interesting but tiring.
Book 3
1. In his account of the Lagado Academy, what basic philosophical position is Gulliver mocking? To what extent do you think that Gulliver's Travels as a whole counters this philosophy?
Gulliver is mocking obsessive study of nature; claiming philosophers and scientists do so much thinking they forget the real reason why they do the thing they do, often getting in the way with productivity, finding themselves too involved in the process and paper work of things rather than the end result. Things often become bureaucratic and laws and politics muddle and ignore the real reason they were made. Those who listen to the “projectors” and the scientific experimentalists cause their land to become barren and desolate. Mundi, though committing a crime of offending an abstraction known as music, is the only one keeping true to his ancestors’ way of life and the natural process. Everyone else around him is too worried over the little details rather than seeing the real beauty in music. As a whole, I think Swift touches this subject throughout the entire Gulliver’s Travel books… he mocks those who cannot find balance in life and are extremists.
2. How does Gulliver's account of the long-lived Struldbruggs deal with the problem of desire? What error or errors does this account suggest is the cause of much human folly and failure?
It shows how desire may not always be the right answer to things. You may be wealthy, live forever and have everything, but in the later years, you will grow old and karma will kick you in the butt with forgetfulness and natural age. It suggests that humans are not perfect and often seek desire and lust for what they often cannot have. It is better to have not wished at all, because something like this sounds tempting, but just because it looks pleasing won’t last forever.
3. Are the Struldbruggs happy to have eternal life?
No, they grow old, feeble, and degenerate and are forgetful.
Book 4
1. What sort of society is that of the Houyhnhnms? What is the guiding power in Houyhnhnm life? Are these horses flawed or incomplete in any way, or are they perfect?
They are a society of rational reason. They are not flawed or incomplete. They are perfect.
2. What view of humanity emerges from the comparison Gulliver is forced to make between himself and the Yahoos? How are the Yahoos to be differentiated from Europeans like Gulliver, if indeed they are different at all?
He is forced to accept the fact that humans were once like and probably still like the Yahoos. They are differentiated by being naked and Europeans are clothed.
3. What has happened to Gulliver's self-image and self-respect by the time he returns to England? How does he feel about his fellow human beings?
Gulliver is more critical and judgmental of himself. He feels humans are evil and disgusting creatures. Gulliver is happily received by his family (for they think that he is dead), but the reunion is a disaster for Gulliver: He cannot bear the sight or smell of his Yahoo-like wife and children. It is only after some time that he can bear to eat with them. To restore his mind, he spends much time in the stable.
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Satire that takes form as a novel usually sucks. Also avoid Voltaire's Candide.
Thank you for the warning. :)
Sincerely,
Ashleymarie Sey DeBondt
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