Study Questions
1. Where does Gulliver meet the Emperor?

2. How is Gulliver fed?

3. Why does the Lilliputian government go to such trouble to feed and shelter Gulliver if he is so dangerous because of his size?

4. What does the inventory of Gulliver’s belongings tell the reader about the differences between Lilliput and England?

5. How does Gulliver ingratiate himself to the Emperor?

6. Why does Gulliver cooperate with the Lilliputians?

7. What are some of the shows Gulliver sees and participates in, and how do high government officials participate in them?

8. What is the purpose of the agreement between Gulliver and the Lilliputians?

9. Who is Gulliver’s worst enemy at the Lilliputian court?

10. What are the main problems of Lilliput, as described to Gulliver by Reldresal?

Answers
1. Gulliver meets the Emperor for the first time in the house where he is being kept.

2. To feed Gulliver, the villages around the capital provide six beeves (oxen), forty sheep, and a proportionate quantity of other foods and beverages.

3. The Lilliputian government goes to great trouble to provide for Gulliver’s needs because he can be used as an ally against the enemy country, Blefuscu.

4. The inventory of Gulliver’s belongings tells the reader both about the difference of scale between the Lilliputians and the English and about their lack of familiarity with such things as tobacco, watches and gunpowder.

5. Gulliver ingratiates himself with the Emperor by agreeing to perform in various shows. The difference in size between himself and the Lilliputians is a source of entertainment.

6. Gulliver cooperates with the Lilliputians in order to convince them to unchain and free him.

7. The shows Gulliver sees and participates in include military and acrobatic exercises; high government officials participate in dangerous acrobatic stunts in order to show their dexterity.

8. The purpose of the agreement between Gulliver and the Lilliputians is to get Gulliver to help them both in domestic matters (carrying messages, helping in construction projects, surveying the coastline) and in the war against Blefuscu. In exchange, he receives his freedom, subject to certain conditions.

9. Gulliver’s worst enemy at the Lilliputian court is Skyresh Bolgolam, the Admiral of the Realm.

10. According to Reldresal in his conversation with Gulliver, the chief problems of Lilliput are the domestic quarrel, which has at times resulted in violence, between the high-heel and low-heel parties or factions, and the long war over the religious question of which end of an egg to break before eating it.