Gulliver’s Travels

A Simple Life

The novel, Gulliver’s Travels, is just that, a novel about the main character, Gulliver who goes on many journeys. The part of this book that brings out the reader’s interest is Gulliver’s character and the ways his character changes as the story progresses. He begins as a naпve Englishman and by the end of the book he has a strong hatred for the human race. Gulliver shows that his adventures have taught him that a simple life, one without the complexities and weaknesses of human society, may be best, but the simple life he longed for should not have been the route he took.

Before leaving his hometown in England, Gulliver was an open-minded character. His first journey lead him to the land of the Lilliputians, who were relatively hospitable to him, providing him with food and drink. There, in this foreign land, Gulliver noticed that the Lilliputians were in war with a rebel nation. The reason these two nations were in battle with each other was because they disagreed on something as simple as which side of an egg, the larger or the smaller, should be cracked. Gulliver thought that this was a ridiculous situation and that this was not a reason to be fighting. Although he didn’t agree with this war between the nations, he did agree, out of courtesy, to help defend the Lilliputians against their enemies. After this, Gulliver was seen as a hero to the Lilliputians. Gulliver was then asked by the Lilliputian emperor to retrieve the military ships of the enemy, but Gulliver refuses to do so because he felt that it was not necessary to take the enemies into slavery or injustice. Gulliver argued and protested in Part I, Chapter V, pg. 66 “I would never be an instrument of bringing a free and brave people into slavery.” Mind you that these are Gulliver’s words, his reason for not taking the rebel nation captive.

In the land of the Lilliupt, Gulliver is physically taller than the rest of the Lilliputian population. He is far-sided, while the Lilliputians are near-sided, implying that Gulliver is able to see deeper into situations than the Lilliputians and is more open-minded about seeing the bigger picture of the fighting while the Lilliputians continue to fight over something miniscule. Gulliver’s ability to see far-sided was evident and when the Lilliputians turned against him, deciding to punish him, they wanted to blind him. By doing this, Gulliver would have been unable to see, leading him to lose his open-mindedness, which would make him less powerful than the Lilliputians. Luckily for Gulliver, he managed to escape being blinded; at least for the time being.

On his second journey, Gulliver visited the island where the Houyhnhnms and Yahoos resided. On this island the first people that Gulliver saw were the Yahoos but was first to talk to the Houyhnhnms. While speaking to the Houyhnhnms, Gulliver realized how intelligent the horse-like specie was. The Houyhnhnms initially thought Gulliver, because of the physical appearance, was a Yahoo, who happened superior to the rest of them. On this island, the Houyhnhnms were the dominant species while the Yahoos were the less governing and the more savage of the two groups. They were said to be flesh-eating animals that were greedy and selfish. Gulliver made the connection that the Yahoos were like the mankind. Though the human race has laws, government and art, their natural instincts are to be greedy and self-striving.

While speaking with the Houyhnhnms of the relations of the English, Gulliver begins to realize how much he dislikes his own people. Gulliver speaks of the English Revolution and the war with France. In speaking of this, he begins to refer to the English people as Yahoos. Gulliver and his master, one of the Houyhnhnms, speak more of what distinguishes the Yahoos and the Houyhnhnms. Becoming more intrigued by these conversations, Gulliver wants to see the compelling details for himself. He asks to be put among the Yahoos and notices first hand that they are physically strong but lack reason and bravery. Gulliver is now able to make a definite connection between the physicality of the Yahoos and mankind. “ This was matter of diversion to my master and his family, as well as of mortification to myself. For now I could no longer deny that I was a real Yahoo in every limb and feature…” (Part IV, Chapter VIII, pg. 252).

After this experience, Gulliver’s change in character becomes more evident. He obviously switches from being open-minded as on his first journey to being a close-minded follower of the Houyhnhnms. Gulliver accounts why he admires the Houyhnhnms so much, saying, “As these noble Houyhnhnms are endowed by nature with a general disposition to all virtues, and have no conceptions or ideas of what is evil in a rational creature, so their grand maxim is to cultivate reason, and to be