Questions and Answers for Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Travels
What is the main idea of Gulliver's Travels?
One could argue that the main idea of Gulliver's Travels is that we must always be prepared to challenge our cultural preconceptions. As with anyone, Gulliver harbors many such preconceptions and...
Gulliver's Travels
What lands does Gulliver visit in Gulliver's Travels?
Jonathan Swift's book Gulliver's Travels, begins with a letter from Gulliver to his cousin, and is then divided into four parts. Each part is named after the places he visits in that section. Parts...
Gulliver's Travels
How does Swift use irony in Gulliver's Travels?
Irony occurs when there is some discrepancy between what we expect and what the reality is. We do not really expect Gulliver to end up in locations where human beings are so very different,...
Gulliver's Travels
How did Gulliver reach Lilliput, and how was he treated by the Lilliputians?
At first, the Lilliputians assume that, because of his size, Gulliver will be violent and aggressive, so they treat him as an enemy. They tie him down, shoot him with arrows, and eventually...
Gulliver's Travels
Describe the character of Gulliver in Gulliver's Travels.
Gulliver is an adventurous soul, possessed with an insatiable wanderlust that makes it impossible for him to settle down in any one place for too long. No sooner is he back in the bosom of his...
Gulliver's Travels
How did the war between Lilliput and Blefuscu begin in Gulliver's Travels?
Jonathan Swift brilliantly satirizes conflicts in the Western world through the Lilliput - Blefuscu war in his novel, Gulliver's Travels. Though the war is bitter and violent, the conflict between...
Gulliver's Travels
Can you provide a character sketch of Lemuel Gulliver?
Lemuel Gulliver is the protagonist of Swift's satire Gulliver's Travels. He was born in Nottinghamshire, England in approximately 1661 to a middle- or upper-middle-class family. He attended...
Gulliver's Travels
In Gulliver's Travels, the explanation about the rope dancers is a clear example of Swift’s satire coming out....
Swift used the Lilliputians to satirize the English court of his day. In a broad sense, the rope-dancers in chapter three can be seen as a comic take on the work people in the English court would...
Gulliver's Travels
What is the point of view of Gulliver's Travels?
The first person point of view in Gulliver's Travels is important as it makes it much easier for the reader to identify with the story's protagonist. During his epic voyage, Gulliver encounters...
Gulliver's Travels
In Gulliver's Travels, what are some of the problems Gulliver poses to the Lilliputians?
Gulliver's large size is the biggest problem the Lilliputians have with him. When he falls asleep on their shores and they come across his huge body, they are naturally terrified. After all, if he...
Gulliver's Travels
Discuss the narrative technique in Swift's Gulliver's Travels.
Swift presents Gulliver's Travels as a series of first-person travelogue journals. This is done to mimic the style of travelogue books, which were popular during the novel's time of publication....
Gulliver's Travels
What is the major difference between the 2 societies, the Lilliputians and the Brobdingnagian in Gulliver’s Travels?
The major difference between the Lilliputians and Brobdingnagians is that of character. The Lilliputians though small in size were cruel, disrespectful and ungrateful towards Gulliver. First and...
Gulliver's Travels
What is the main satirical point in part 4 of Gulliver's Travels?
The main satirical point in part 4 of Gulliver’s Travels is essentially the same as that in the first three books, though it is perhaps even more bluntly expressed. That point is to ridicule and...
Gulliver's Travels
Describe Gulliver's experience in Lilliput.
When Gulliver first wakes up in Lilliput, he feels a desire to suddenly seize forty or fifty of the tiny Lilliputians and "dash them against the Ground." He doesn't act on this urge because he...
Gulliver's Travels
What are three examples of satire from Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels?
Lilliput and Blefuscu are satirical depictions of England and France. Like England and France, these two countries are at one another's throats politically and culturally. Their big dispute is...
Gulliver's Travels
What were the targets of Swift's satire in Gulliver's Travels?
Many have pointed out how Swift uses Gulliver's Travels to satirize specific institutions of his day, be it the British parliament, political factions in government, the monarchy, or the Royal...
Gulliver's Travels
What is an example of satire in part 2 of Gulliver's Travels?
One example of satire in part 2 of Gulliver’s Travels is the location of Brobdingnag. In the text of part 2, Jonathan Swift provides a map of the fictional country, which appears to reside in the...
Gulliver's Travels
What are two funny situations from Part 1 of Gulliver's Travels?
Much of the humor in Part I comes from the visual imagery of the contrast in size between Gulliver and the Lilliputians. The image of their hundred arrows shot into his hand that feel like the...
Gulliver's Travels
What does Gulliver experience in Lilliput in Gulliver's Travels?
In Lilliput, the six-inch-high residents of that land capture Gulliver, who has washed up on their shores. They bind him as he lies on the beach and shoot their tiny arrows in him, which do not...
Gulliver's Travels
What is Swift satirizing in Gulliver's Travels?
Jonathan Swift was one of the leading satirists in English literature. In Gulliver's Travels, he satirizes many aspects of literature, politics, religion, and philosophy, even critiquing the "tall...
Gulliver's Travels
In Gulliver's Travels, what is Swift's message for humanity?
Gulliver's various journeys can be seen as providing him with valuable experience of the wider world. A somewhat naive and insular young man at the start of his journeys, Gulliver becomes more...
Gulliver's Travels
Please explain the following quote from Gulliver's Travels. "...I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives to be...
In speaking with the King of Brobdingnag, Gulliver discovers that their culture is very different from his own; they are peaceful and moralistic, and Gulliver decides that although somewhat naive,...
Gulliver's Travels
Why is language important in Gulliver's Travels?
Language is a recurring theme in Gulliver's Travels as he voyages to other nations that are vastly different and quite imaginary. In particular, when Gulliver travels to the land of the Houyhnhnms,...
Gulliver's Travels
Compare and contrast Gulliver's life in Lilliput and Brobdingnag.
Ironically, although Gulliver is initially charmed by the attractive looks of the tiny Lilliputians, they end up treating him badly. They show themselves, much like Swift's idea of the British, to...
Gulliver's Travels
What is Swift's attitude towards Mankind in Gulliver's Travels?
In general, it is clear that Swift's depiction of the societies his protagonist, Gulliver, encounters during his adventures suggests a cynical perspective. Swift's point of view is not positive or...
Gulliver's Travels
What is the general theme of Gulliver's Travels?
The satirical allegory Gulliver’s Travels was published in 1726 by Jonathan Swift (1667-1745). The book incorporates the author’s vision and criticism of humankind, and is especially savage towards...
Gulliver's Travels
What are the allegorical representations in Gulliver's Travels in general and in part one in particular?
The first answer to this post thoroughly covered the allegorical connections in part I of Gulliver's Travels. Swift goes on to write three more parts to Gulliver's Travels. Each part takes him to...
Gulliver's Travels
How does Gulliver escape the land of Lilliput?
Gulliver discovers he is going to be accused of high treason in Lilliput. He also learns that, due to the "great leniency" of the ruler, he will only have to submit to having his eyes put out by...
Gulliver's Travels
What are the main incidents of Gulliver's Travels?
Gulliver's Travels is a satire that follows the protagonist, Lemuel Gulliver, as he voyages to various exotic fictional locales. Each of the fantastic races he encounters in his travels satirizes...
Gulliver's Travels
Explain one example of irony from either "A Voyage to Lilliput" or "A Voyage to Brobdingnag."
Irony occurs when words mean the opposite of what they seem to suggest on the surface, or when events work out in a way opposite than expected or intended. On Lilliput, the six inch high people are...
Gulliver's Travels
Describe the rope dancing in Gulliver's Travels. Who does it? Why do they do it?
One day, after Gulliver has impressed the emperor and people with his gentleness and docility, the emperor decides to entertain Gulliver by allowing the visitor to watch the rope dancers who...
Gulliver's Travels
Discuss Gulliver's Travels as a satire.
Satire pokes fun at social problems and human weaknesses, often using exaggeration. In Gulliver's Travels, Swift pokes fun at the human tendency to equate physical beauty with moral beauty and...
Gulliver's Travels
In Gulliver's Travels, who was Gulliver's worst enemy in Lilliput?
I would say there are several potential candidates. First, as the answer previous to this one has already given, there is Skyris Bolgolam, who certainly emerges as a major candidate, given his...
Gulliver's Travels
What punishment was given to Gulliver by the king of Lilliput?
In chapter 7, Gulliver learns that Flimnap, Skyresh Bolgolam, and other politicians have drafted articles of impeachment for committing treason and other capital crimes against Lilliput. The...
Gulliver's Travels
Why was Gulliver given the name "Quinbus Flestrin"?
Gulliver sees the words "quinbus flestrin" on the inventory of his pockets which the Lilliputians took early in his stay in Lilliput. He says that he interprets the words to mean "great...
Gulliver's Travels
Please provide a character sketch of the emperor of Lilliput.
The emperor of Lilliput is not only a small man in terms of physical stature, but he is also small in the figurative sense of being petty. This pettiness is on full display when he becomes angry...
Gulliver's Travels
What is the setting in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels?
Swift's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. By Lemuel Gulliver (1726), a satire of eighteenth-century British society and traveler's stories (which were very popular in England), has...
Gulliver's Travels
How was Gulliver treated by the farmer's daughter?
Gulliver is treated quite well by the farmer's young daughter, a girl he calls his "Glumdalclitch," which means little nurse. He says, in fact, that he would be guilty of great ingratitude, if...
Gulliver's Travels
What are some satirical quotations from Gulliver's Travels?
Many of the best satirical quotations in Gulliver's Travels relate to Swift's insinuated political commentary. As someone cynically disillusioned by his own unhappy involvement in the world of...
Gulliver's Travels
In Gulliver's Travels, why were Blefuscu and Lilliput enemies?
In Gulliver's Travels, Gulliver discovers that Lilliput and a nearby island Blefescu have been at war for a long time over what seems to him to be a ridiculous issue: a dispute over which end one...
Gulliver's Travels
What is an example of metaphor in this story?
A metaphor is a comparison of two unalike things, where one thing is said to be another. One of the most powerful metaphors in the book is spoken by the giant King of Brobdingnag while he speaks...
Gulliver's Travels
What technique does Swift use in Gulliver's Travels to produce satire?
Satire pokes fun at weaknesses and problems in people and institutions. In Gulliver's Travels, Swift pokes fun at the European tendency to be violent, to judge by surface appearances, to put vanity...
Gulliver's Travels
How was Gulliver tied down on the seashore?
In chapter 1 of part 1, Gulliver wakes up on the seashore, unable to move. He finds that his arms and legs are "strongly fastened on each side to the ground," and his hair is "tied down in the same...
Gulliver's Travels
Write a note on the narrative technique in Swift's Gulliver's Travels.
Gulliver's Travels is a spoof on what is known as the "Traveler's Tales" genre in literature. The narrator "pretends" to be telling a tale about his travels, but the work is a satire on human...
Gulliver's Travels
What satire can we find in part 4 of Gulliver's Travels? How does it criticize society?
I would suggest that the fourth part of Gulliver's Travels contains a criticism of the rationalism the Enlightenment espoused. Indeed, it's worth keeping in mind that Jonathan Swift himself could...
Gulliver's Travels
In Gulliver's Travels, what does Gulliver say are the reason for war in England ?
When his Master Houyhnhnm asks Gulliver what prompts wars, Gulliver enumerates the following four categories of reasons. "Sometimes [war is caused by] the Ambition of Princes, who never think they...
Gulliver's Travels
What happened to the Antelope, and where did Gulliver find himself (and in what condition) when he woke up?
In the classic fantasy Gulliver's Travels (or Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World) by Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's first voyage is to the land of the Lilliputians, a race of tiny people...
Gulliver's Travels
Explain how Gulliver indicates he is a practical man. Use examples of how he restrains himself and accepts his...
Throughout the book, Lemuel Gulliver emphasizes his superiority to the people he encounters. One way he does so is by emphasizing his superior manners and well-reasoned behavior. Because the novel...
Gulliver's Travels
How does Gulliver help the Lilliputians?
When Gulliver encounters the Lilliputians, they are at war with the nearby island of Blefuscu over a ridiculous religious question involving soft-boiled eggs. He helps the Lilliputians by capturing...
Gulliver's Travels
How did Lilliputians feed Gulliver the man mountain?
In Chapter II, at the Lilliput kingdom, Gulliver describes in detail how he was fed by the teeny tiny Lilliputians as directed by their emperor. According to Gulliver, the hurgo, or "great lord" of...
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