Gulliver's Travels Group

Question:

maggie538
maggie538
Student
College - Junior

Explain this quote from Gulliver's Travels: "I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives, to be the most pernicious race upon the earth"

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Posted by maggie538 on Saturday December 6, 2008 at 6:27 PM and tagged with characters, gulliver's travels, plot, quotes.

Answers:

  1. ms-charleston-yawp
    ms-charleston-yawp Teacher
    High School - 11th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    You have cited one of the most important quotes from Gulliver's Travels, one that proves Swift wrote a true satire.  Here the king of Brobdingnag, after hearing all about England from Gulliver, decides that the English are "the most pernicious race of little odious vermin."  If you put this quote within the context of the novel, you will most certainly find that it is Swift himself who believes viewing high society and politics through foreign eyes may reveal violence, barbarism, and foolishness.  Further, one can extend the meaning of Swift's underlying meaning from simply the English government to the entire human race.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/gullivers-travels
    http://www.enotes.com/gullivers-travels/historical-context
    http://www.enotes.com/gullivers-travels/other-characters

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    Posted by ms-charleston-yawp on Tuesday December 9, 2008 at 8:38 PM