Gulliver's Travels Summary
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
Setting
The novel is primarily set in England and the imaginary countries of Lilliput, Blefuscu, Brobdingnag, Laputa, and the land of the Houyhnhnms
Main Characters
Gulliver- he is the narrator and protagonist of the story.
The emperor- he is the ruler of Lilliput who is fewer than six inches tall Like all Lilliputians.
The farmer- he is Gulliver’s first master in Brobdingnag.
Glumdalclitch- she is the farmer’s nine-year-old daughter, who is forty feet tall.
The queen- she is the queen of Brobdingnag, who is so delighted by Gulliver’s beauty and charms that she agrees to buy him from the farmer for 1,000 pieces of gold.
The king- he is the king of Brobdingnag, who seems to be a true intellectual and well versed in political science among other disciplines.
Lord Munodi- he is a lord of Lagado who hosts Gulliver and gives him a tour of the country on Gulliver’s third voyage.
Yahoos- they are unkempt humanlike beasts who live in servitude to the Houyhnhnms.
Houyhnhnms- they are Rational horses who maintain a simple, peaceful society governed by reason and truthfulness
Gulliver’s Houyhnhnm master- he is The Houyhnhnm who first discovers Gulliver and takes him into his own home.
Don Pedro de Mendez- he is The Portuguese captain who takes Gulliver back to Europe after he is forced to leave the land of the Houyhnhnms.
Brobdingnagians- they are Giants whom Gulliver meets on his second voyage.
Lilliputians and Blefuscudians- they are two races of miniature people whom Gulliver meets on his first voyage.
Laputans- they are absentminded intellectuals who live on the floating island of Laputa, encountered by Gulliver on his third voyage.
Plot Summary
Lemuel Gulliver is a married English surgeon who wants to explore the world. He takes a job on a ship and ends up shipwrecked in the land of Lilliput where he is captured by the minuscule Lilliputians and brought to the Lilliputian king. The Lilliputians are astonished by Gulliver’s size but treat him gently, providing him with lots of food and clothes. Gulliver is at first chained to a big abandoned temple then, after surrendering his weapons and signing articles of allegiance to Lilliput, he is granted his liberty. He befriends the king and puts out a fire in the palace by urinating on it. He successfully assists Lilliput by stealing the neighboring Blefuscans’ warships and receives a high honor. Gulliver makes friends with the Blefuscans’ when they come to make peace and, soon after, an unnamed man of the court informs Gulliver that the Lilliputian court plans to accuse him of treason and put out his eyes. Gulliver escapes to Blefuscan and then returns to England.
Gulliver soon sets out on his next voyage and is stranded in the land of Brobdingnag where the Brobdingnagians are immense giants and Gulliver feels like a Lilliputian. After being forced to perform exhausting freak shows by the Brobdingnagian farmer, Gulliver is sold to the Brobdingnagian queen. In the court, Gulliver is well cared for but everyone laughs frequently at his physical mishaps. Gulliver tries to maintain his dignity with little success. He offers to help the Brobdingnagian king strengthen his power by using gunpowder and is puzzled by the king’s disgust.
Gulliver sets out yet again to sea and is again stranded, this time getting taken up by the Laputians to their floating island. He meets the Laputian king and observes life in Laputa where everyone is so obsessed with abstract mathematical, musical, and astronomical theory that they are utterly incompetent about practical matters and can barely hold a conversation. Gulliver is disgusted when he visits the city of Lagado below and sees the destructive influence the Laputians’ theories have had, turning once functioning people into a broken society. He tours the academy where the projectors contrive useless scientific projects. Afterward, Gulliver visits Glubbdubdrib and meets ghosts of history, visits Luggnagg and meets the power-crazed Luggnaggian king and the grim immortal Struldburgs, and finally returns to England.
Gulliver sets out on his fourth voyage only to be stranded in a land where the noble and reasonable horses, the Houyhnhnms, do their best to control the foul degenerate human Yahoos. Gulliver tries to distance himself as much as possible from the Yahoos and, indeed, the Houyhnhnms, especially Gulliver’s mentor, the master horse, see Gulliver is different because he has a rational mind and wears the clothing. The more Gulliver learns from the Houyhnhnms, the more he admires their uprightness, egalitarianism, and reason, and he eventually turns against humankind, wanting to live forever among the Houyhnhnms. Much to Gulliver’s disappointment, the Houyhnhnms ultimately insist that Gulliver returns to his own country. Back home, Gulliver remains disgusted by all the Yahoos around him, including his family members, and spends all his time with horses, reminiscing longingly about the Houyhnhnms.
Themes
- Society and the State. As Gulliver travels from society to society, he observes each one’s organization in detail and compares and contrasts it with the English state. Though all of the societies visited are flawed, several possess some admirable qualities and almost all of them play out the consequences of a particular utopian ideal.
- Knowledge. Gulliver’s worldly knowledge about other societies and lifestyles makes him a tolerant and open-minded person, able to see both sides of most stories while many of the minds around him are more rigid.