Discussion Topic
The reasons for the Lilliputians' and the queen's anger with Gulliver in Gulliver's Travels
Summary:
The Lilliputians and the queen are angry with Gulliver due to various misunderstandings and his actions. He extinguishes a palace fire by urinating on it, which the queen finds highly offensive. Additionally, political tensions arise as Gulliver becomes entangled in local conflicts and power struggles, further alienating him from the Lilliputians and their ruler.
Why was the queen in Gulliver's Travels angry with Gulliver?
The Empress of Lilliput becomes very angry with and resentful of Gulliver when her rooms in the palace catch on fire and he puts the fire out by urinating all over her rooms. Her subjects first tried to put the fire out with buckets of water, but their buckets were only the size of thimbles, and Gulliver could clearly see that they were failing in their efforts. He says that he would have been able to smother the fire with his coat, but he'd left it behind when he rushed to the palace. The flames made him hot, and so he quenched his thirst with a large quantity of wine, and he says that he "voided [the urine] in such a Quantity, and applied [it] so well to the proper Places, that in three Minutes the Fire was wholly extinguished [...]." However, it is actually illegal for anyone to even...
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pee inside the palace, let alone to completely cover it with urine. Gulliver soon learns that the Empress actually forbids the rooms to be repaired for her use and that she vows to seek revenge on him for the slight. Later, this incident is used against him when he is accused of treason.
Why were the Lilliputians angry with Gulliver in Gulliver's Travels?
I don't think that it's exactly right to say that "the Lilliputians" were angry with Gulliver. Instead, I think you should say that *some* Lilliputians were angry with him. Unfortunately for Gulliver, these were some very important Lilliputians.
Among the most important Lilliputians who were angry at Gulliver were the leading admiral in the country and the high treasurer. The admiral has always hated Gulliver. The treasurer thinks that Gulliver is somehow having an affair with his wife and is also against Gulliver because of the high cost of feeding him.
Gulliver's enemies charge him with treason for various reasons, but what's really going on is that they dislike him personally and/or are jealous of his position and of the fact that the king likes him.