Tuesday, September 13, 2011

What lands does Gulliver visit in Gulliver's Travels?

Gulliver's Travels, written by Jonathan Swift, follows the protagonist Gulliver as he travels to four distinct locations.

Lilliput: His first stop is Lilliput, a tiny society filled with tiny people. He lands here after a shipwreck in which he is the only survivor. When he awakens, he finds himself tied down by tiny people who believe him to be their enemy. You see, to the Lilliputians, he is a giant capable of great feats. However, after Gulliver agrees to serve the Lilliputians, he is freed and allowed to meet their Emperor. During his time here, he protects the kingdom by destroying the ships of the Blefuscu, the Lilliputian's enemy, and learns about life at court, including the politics of the kingdom. The Emperor and court soon grow weary of Gulliver because he requires far too many resources to be fed, clothed, and taken care of. Eventually, after urinating on a fire, he is branded a traitor and sentenced to be blinded. Gulliver escapes and finds an English ship, which takes him back to England.

Brobdingnag: Gulliver's second stop is when he is abandoned while trying to fetch water for the ship's crew. In Brobdingnag, Gulliver finds a land of giants, in which he is just a tiny curiosity. Eventually, Gulliver is purchased as a gift to the King, whom he delights with stories of England. After some time of touring the kingdom while in a small box and other misadventures due to his small size, his box is carried off by an eagle and dropped in the sea, where he is picked up by another English ship and taken back to England.

Laputa: The third voyage finds Gulliver's ship overtaken by pirates, who abandon him at sea on a small boat. After some time, Gulliver arrives at the flying island of Laputa, a land of intellect where the people only care about abstract ideas and vague speculation. The people here seem to be only interested in mathematics, philosophy, and theory. While here, Gulliver visits the Academy of Laputa, where scholars work tirelessly at useless ideas. During this trip, Gulliver also visits Glubbdubdrib, an island of magicians, Luggnagg, a place where its inhabitants have eternal life though they continue to age, and then Japan. As before, Gulliver returns to England.


Houyhnhms: Gulliver's final destination is the land of Houyhnhms, a land of intelligent horses who use human-like creatures called Yahoos as their servants. The Houyhnhms are distressed by Gulliver's accounts of England and how Yahoos seem to be in control, though they are seen as only partially rational, so they decide to expel Gulliver and send him away. Gulliver makes a boat, goes off to sea, is picked up by a Portuguese ship, and returns safely to England, where he is a changed man, preferring the company of horses to the humans he now finds disgusting and uncivilized.

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