Gulliver’s Travels, written by Jonathan Swift, is the story about Lemuel Gulliver, a man from England trained as a surgeon. Gulliver sets to the seas when his business hits the dumps. The story is told in first person point of view. Gulliver narrates the adventures that take place during his travels. The characters in this story are Lemuel Gulliver, the emperor, the farmer, the farmer’s daughter, the king and queen of Brobdingnag, Lord Munodi, the Yahoos, and the Houyhnhnms. Gulliver is the main character of this story.
Gulliver’s Travels begins in Lilliput where he finds himself waking up to his shipwreck. He then finds himself surrounded by numerous tiny people called Lilliputians. He’s addressed by the Lilliputians who are wondering what this creature is. The Lilliputians are very protective of their kingdom, so they are not afraid to use violence against Gulliver, even though their arrows have very little effect to Gulliver. Overall, they are giving. They risk famine in their land by feeding Gulliver, who eats more food than a thousand Lilliputians could at one time.
Gulliver is taken into the capital city by a very elegant wagon the Lilliputians built just for him. He is introduced to the emperor, who is amused by Gulliver. Gulliver is grateful of the attention he is receiving by the royalty. Later, Gulliver becomes apart of the Lilliputian army. He fights in the war against the people of Blefuscu, who the Lilliputians hate for doctrinal differences concerning the proper way to crack eggs. Things go bad when Gulliver is convicted of treason for putting out a fire in the royal palace with his urine.
He is sentenced to be shot in the eyes with poisoned arrows. The emperor eventually excused him and Gulliver goes to Blefuscu, where he is able to repair a boat he finds and set sail for England. After staying in England with his wife, Mary Burton, and family for two months, Gulliver sets sea for his next voyage, which takes him to a land of giants called Brobdingnag. Here, a farmer finds him and at first treats him as an animal, keeping him for amusement. The farmer, later, sells Gulliver to the queen, who makes him a courtly diversion and entertains people by his musical talent.
Later, when a couple of courtly ladies let Gulliver play on their naked bodies, he is not attracted to them and far more disgusted by their enormous skin pores and the sound of their humongous urination. On a trip to the frontier, with the royal couple, Gulliver departs Brobdingnag when his cage is picked up by an eagle and released into the sea. Next, Gulliver sets sail again and, after an attack by pirates, ends up in Laputa. Laputa is a floating island where theoreticians live. The scientific research undertaken in Laputa and in Balnibarbi, land dominated by Laputa in academics, is ridiculous and unreasonable.
Its residents appear way out of wack. They know nothing of reality. In a short side trip to Glubbdubdrib, Gulliver witness historical figures in life. He isn’t amused by some of them, especially Julius Caesar. After visiting the Luggnaggians and the Struldbrugs, he sails to Japan and from there back to England. Lastly, on his fourth journey, Gulliver sets out as captain of the ship, but after the revolt of his crew and being trapped in his cabin, he arrives in an unknown land. This land is populated by Houyhnhnms, wise horses.
Gulliver sets about learning their language, and when he can speak he shares his voyages to them and explains the constitution of England. He is treated with enormous amounts courtesy and kindness by the horses. He wants to stay with the Houyhnhnms, but his similarity to the Yahoos forces the Houyhnhnms to banish him. Gulliver is mad but agrees to leave. He fixes up a canoe and makes his way to a nearby island. At this island he is picked up by a Portuguese ship captain named Don Pedro de Mendez. Don takes Gulliver back to England.
