Gulliver's Travels Post numero uno!

The first book I have decided to read for my senior project is Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift. The theme or idea I was going to try to go with for my project is how fictional stories survive the test of time. How certain ideas and themes show up in other parts of our culture. If you were to mention Gulliver’s Travels the first thing that is thought of is the island of the little people but that’s only the very first part of the book. There are three other parts, so why is the first part the only that anyone remembers or can identify with? I have only read the first part of the book but I’d like to compare the other parts later and see if there is something special about the first part that makes it the thing that sticks in everyone’s mind.

In the first part of Gulliver’s Travels the main character is shipwrecked on the island of Lilliput. He is awaken to being tied down to the beach and poked by tiny spears that feel like needles. The island of Lilliput is inhabited by little people about 6 inches tall. Gulliver is kept as a prisoner for awhile but when he finally gets the Lilliputians to trust him he is released. Because Gulliver is so much bigger than the Lilliputians, it takes a lot more of their food, drink, bedding, and clothing to sustain him. We soon learn that there is some dissent within the island of Lilliput. There are two groups of people in Lilliput that fight amongst themselves. There are the high-heeled and the low-heeled. The emperor of Lilliput is a low-heeled and only employs other low-heeled people. That of course makes the high-heeled people mad and they fight amongst themselves. This sounds a lot to me like political parties fighting over different issues. But it can also refer to the fight between the Whigs and the Tories.

There is also another island called Blefuscu. That island is also inhabited by little people. The people of Lilliput and the people of Blefuscu used to live and work together. Everyone opened their eggs from the large end. But then someone decided to open his egg from the small end. It caused a revolution. Soon small end openers and large end openers fought. The Lilliputians were outraged that people would open their eggs from the small end. They believed it was against their religious writings. But in the writings it says “That all true believers shall break their eggs at the convenient end.” This statement of course can be interpreted differently depending on who reads it. I feel the fight between the people of Lilliput and the people of Blefuscu is supposed to show how stupid it is for the Christian religions to fight each other. They fight over the interpretation of the Bible and no one is really wrong or right.

Gulliver soon helps the Lilliputians conquer the Blefuscuns and he is revered as a hero, but when he tells the emperor of Lilliput that he cannot in good conscience allow him to make the people of Blefuscu slaves he is accused of committing treason. His punishment is to have his eyes poked out. Of course Gulliver doesn’t like that idea so he escapes to Blefuscu. They treat him well enough until he finds a boat his size and is able to sail back to his family.

I feel the plight of the Lilliputians and a lot of their so called “crazy” customs were written to make fun of the world and how people fight over stupid things and no one really wins in the end. The Lilliputians have a strong sense of honor which we look at as a good thing but because of the honor their punishments are so much worse. Although people get rewards for doing good the punishments seem a little harsh. If someone were to accuse an innocent man of something, the accuser would be killed. The death penalty is very prominent in Lilliput somewhat mocking people about how easily we kill others. I look forward to comparing the merits of this part to the other parts to find out why this part is more “superior”.