ir Emperor wants to rule the world. He wants to become:
“Sole Monarch of the whole world.”
They give Gulliver a big post. But later, they plot to kill him. Gulliver runs away to save his life. This shows both rise and fall. He becomes great, then he falls.
Giant and Safe: Gulliver’s second visit is to Brobdingnag. Here, people are very big. Gulliver feels like a toy. At first, he is afraid. Later, the king treats him with care. He is loved and kept safe. Gulliver tells stories about Europe. The king hears them and laughs. He says English people are cruel. He says the majority of Englishmen must be:
“The most pernicious life race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth.”
Gulliver feels small inside. He sees that a big size does not mean pride. His life is calm here, but he wants to leave. That is another turning point.
Flying and Foolish: Next, Gulliver goes to Laputa. It is a flying island. The people here are crazy about science. They do silly things. They try to get sun from cucumbers. They try to turn poo into food. Here is a quotation from the book to strengthen the point.
“He had been eight years upon a project for extracting sunbeams out of cucumbers, ……, and let out to warm the air in raw, inclement summers.”
Gulliver sees no real use in their work. He is tired and bored. He sees that not all knowledge is good. His life is safe, but his mind is not happy.
Wise but Lonely: In his last visit, Gulliver goes to the land of Houyhnhnms. These are wise horses. They live by reason and peace. Gulliver loves them. He also sees the Yahoos. They are dirty, greedy humans. He feels shame. He sees humans as evil and mad. When he comes back home, he cannot love people. He talks to horses and hates men. This is his greatest fall. His heart breaks. He becomes a lonely man. This shows the sad end of his change.
Back but Broken: When Gulliver returns to England, he cannot live like before. He does not like his family. He isolates himself, preferring the company of horses:
“When I happened to behold the reflection of my own form in a lake or fountain, I turned away my face in horror and detestation of myself.”
This is the final stage of his life. His travels brought him both light and dark. He was a hero, but became a man full of pain and hate.
In termination, Lemuel Gulliver’s life is full of ups and downs. He becomes great in Lilliput, safe in Brobdingnag, bored in Laputa, and broken in the land of the Houyhnhnms. Each place changes his heart. In the end, he is not the same man. He learns a lot, but he loses his joy. Jonathan Swift uses Gulliver’s life to teach us deep lessons.
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