to break an egg Gulliver says the Lilliputians are nbsp Human creature not six inches high nbsp In Brobdingnag people are giants and Gulliver feels like an insect In Laputa the island flies in the sky and people forget simple life for useless science These lands do not exist in reality They feel like the strange thoughts of a restless brain This dream-like quality makes the book look like a neurotic fantasy nbsp Fear and Confusion in Gulliver s Mind Gulliver himself often feels fear and confusion In Lilliput he is first treated like a hero Then the Lilliputian king plans to kill him In Brobdingnag he is always afraid of being crushed In Laputa he feels bored and mentally tired His mind never feels calm Each journey makes him more confused about the world This shows inner mental struggle The story moves like the changing thoughts of a worried man This is why many see the book as neurotic nbsp Extreme Hatred of Humanity The strongest sign of neurotic fantasy appears in the last voyage Gulliver meets the Yahoos who look like humans but act like animals They are dirty greedy and cruel Gulliver feels deep hatred and shame He compares all humans with Yahoos When he sees his own reflection he hates himself nbsp I turned away my face in horror and detestation of myself nbsp This reaction is very extreme Gulliver loses his balance of mind He forgets human love and kindness This hatred feels emotional and unhealthy It shows mental disturbance not normal thinking This type of hatred makes the novel a neurotic phantasy nbsp Love for Houyhnhnms and Escape from Reality Gulliver s love for the Houyhnhnms the wise horses is also unnatural He wants to live like them forever He wishes to leave human society When he returns home he avoids people and talks to horses This escape from human life feels like a mental breakdown It is not realistic behavior This strong desire to escape reality makes the story feel like a neurotic dream nbsp But Fantasy with a Purpose Even though the book feels neurotic it is not meaningless Swift uses fantasy to criticize human pride war politics and false knowledge The strange lands help him speak freely Behind every dream-like scene there is a real message The egg war shows religious conflict The Yahoos show how low humans can fall without reason Laputa shows useless science For example the scholars of Laputa try to extract sunbeams from cucumbers nbsp He had been eight years upon a project for extracting sunbeams out of cucumbers nbsp So Swift s fantasy is controlled and thoughtful nbsp In fine Gulliver s Travels can be called a neurotic phantasy because it is full of strange dreams fear hatred and mental unrest Gulliver s mind becomes broken by his journeys But this neurotic fantasy has a strong aim Swift uses it to attack human pride and foolishness So the book is a neurotic fantasy but a meaningful one It shocks the reader to make them think and change