Gulliver’s Travels

Novel | Jonathan Swift

Compare and contrast the King of Lilliput and the King of Brobdingnag.

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Compare and contrast the King of Lilliput and the King of Brobdingnag Gulliver s Travels is a famous book by Jonathan Swift - In the earlier parts of this text Swift tells the stories of Gulliver in two lands One is Lilliput and the other is Brobdingnag The kings of these two lands are very different One is proud cruel and selfish The other is kind fair and wise Through them Swift shows two sides of power He uses this to criticise the bad sides of English politics and to praise good rulers Pride Vs Humility The King of Lilliput is proud He is only six inches tall but his pride is huge He thinks he is very great and wants to rule the whole world He orders Gulliver to attack Blefuscu just to show his power He desires to make it a province of Lilliput and become the Sole

Monarch of the whole world But the King of Brobdingnag is very humble He listens to Gulliver and treats him with respect Though he is a giant he is not proud He acts like a father to his people and rules with kindness Corruption Vs Morality The Lilliputian king is full of corruption He chooses his officers based on silly games like rope-dancing He does not care about honesty or skill If the Emperor disfavours anyone they can not join the government body as an official This is evident in the following quote The disbelief in a Divine Providence renders a man in-capable of holding any public station But the king of Brobdingnag is moral He hates lies war and greedy leaders When Gulliver tells him about English politics he feels disgusted He calls Englishmen a life race of little vermin He wants his land to be honest and kind He believes in truth and good values Tyranny Vs Justice The King of Lilliput is a tyrant He controls everything and gives no freedom People must follow his order or they are punished He listens to liars like Skyresh Bolgolam and throws Gulliver out of the land But the Brobdingnaggian king is just He does not hurt others without reason He listens before judging He shows mercy and wisdom He is not led by greedy ministers His rule is fair and his people love him War Vs Peace The King of Lilliput loves war He declares war over small reasons like how to break an egg He wants to conquer Blefuscu and rule it Thousands die in this silly fight Six wars at different times occurred as the issue violated their religious doctrine which states That all true Believers shall break their eggs at the convenient end But the King of Brobdingnag loves peace He never wants war unless it is needed He thinks war is cruel When Gulliver tells him about guns and battles he gets angry He wants to keep his people safe and happy His land is calm and without fighting In Gulliver s Travels Jonathan Swift shows two kinds of rulers The King of Lilliput is proud cruel and selfish The King of Brobdingnag is kind fair and wise These two kings are very different One shows bad politics and the other shows good leadership Through them Swift criticises the real leaders of his time He wants people to learn from the king of Brobdingnag A true ruler must love peace hate lies and care for the people

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