Question- Describe the character of Gulliver in detail.

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Does Gulliver have a distinctive personality of his own or he changes with the situation?
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Does Gulliver change as the story progresses?
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What are the lessons he learns from his adventure.

Answer -

Lemuel Gulliver is the protagonist and narrator of Gulliver's Travels. He narrates his story in brief before the main plot begins. He arrives in the country of Lilliput. He goes through many adventure trips. He escapes for his life at some points. After every voyage, he thinks to avoid such adventurous circumstances but he keeps encountering some or the other adventure. Gulliver is a surgeon by profession. When he gets bored of his work, he goes for the voyages which turnout to be very adventurous. Gulliver's voyages takes four to five years of time. In the beginning of his voyage, Gulliver was a gullible man but his experiences make him strong and immune. He was also an intelligent and educated man. He was the third son out of the five and his father was the owner of an estate in Nothinghamshire, England. He studied at Cambridge University and serves an apprenticeship with a surgeon. Later, he takes up a post as a surgeon in abroad. He marries a woman named Mary Burton. While he was travelling to the south sea, his ship gets blown on to the rocks and wrecked. He manages to swim to a land and falls asleep from fatigue. He gets surrounded by the Lilliputs who are tiny human beings of six inches. He makes them believe that he will not harm them. Gulliver's vivid and detailed style of narration makes it clear that he is intelligent and well- educated. His perceptions of the people and the world were gullible and naive. He was not aware of his own emotions. He lead a factual life. He was obssessed with the facts of navigation. The absurd things he encounter, never makes him consider them as funny incidents. He never compares the land he visits to his own homeland. He never thinks of the incidents as a comic element. The satire gets created on its own. Gulliver's gullible nature makes it possible for the readers to pick the satirical elements. Gulliver doesn't notice the things which the reader would laugh at. He narrates the story in a detailed style. He makes it a vivid experience for others. He has virtually no emotional life.

His name reflects his character as gullible. He has unimaginative English stock. He was a typical British middle class of his time. He believes to what he was told by others. He was an honest man and expected others to be honest too. His this expectation creates a room for comedy. It develops the satire and irony, Gulliver was fair with his words. He did whatever he said before. Sometimes Gulliver didn't understand the meaning of what he sees around. One can believe on Gulliver's words because he says things accurately. He gives a series of incidents of this novel. The story is presented by him as to mishighly. Gulliver had no ego issues when he landed up among the Lilliputs. The 6 inch long Lilliputs attacked him with arrows of fire but he made sure not to harm any of them. He was not cruel to them. He didn't try to crush them at once. Gulliver was much superior to tiny vengeful creatures. He was superior to them morally and politically. Jonathan swift's writing creates this wonderful character of Gulliver. He was concerned with kindness and honour. Gulliver was not only admirable to others but he also learns the new language of whenever he goes. This shows his excellent skills of learning a new language and his desire to communicate with others. He swears to honour a peace treaty which said that he will not harm anyone among the Lilliputi Answer -He does that to assure the people of that Land. He possesses moral superiority to the little Lilliputs. He agrees to all the rules he was asked to follow. He became a prisoner to the tiny Lilliputs of six inches by his own choice. The people begin to trust Gulliver and he arranges for the Emperor to organize military exercises on his handkerchief. Gulliver was chained and his freedom was debated at the council. Skyresh Bolgolam was the Admiral who opposed his freedom but his statement was over ruled. He gave a list of conditions which Gulliver must follow. Gulliver couldn't leave their country without taking permission from the Emperor. He cannot trample on the Lilliputs. Gulliver had to help the Lilliputians to fight with their neighbour from the Island of Belefescu. These neighboouring enemies were going to invade the lilliputs. Gulliver was promised to be fed and taken care of it he fights along with the Lilliputians.

Swift presents the character of Gulliver with an air of realism. Gulliver's background is described in credible detail. His journey to Lilliput is presented in the style of a travelogue. Swift refers to actual places like West Indies. He gives vivid details about the places Gulliver visits. The country of Lilliputs are described in detail which gives a believable picture of real human beings in a real society. Swift did this to create a satire on the real society and people. The Lilliputs represent the readers. The size is the only aspect which is not relatable but that also has a significant meaning. The minuscule size of the Lilliputs make a satirical point. Like the real people, the Lilliputs think of themselves as an important part of the society. They think that their affairs are highly significant. The indicrous exaggeration of the Lilliputs create humour. They give importance to trivial issues which is a statement on the society. The effect of swift's satire is to puncture the pomposity of all the human beings. The small size of Lilliputs also show their size of moral limitations. The Lilliputs are morally diminished people in comparison to Gulliver. The character of Gulliver is honest and his intentions are never honor and kindness. wrong. He has the qualities of gratitude, common sense, Though he is a bold adventurer who visits a multitude of strange lands but his heart is soft. Gulliver spends sixteen years of his life on voyages. He goes through many challenges but he still remains humble to others.

Gulliver goes to his second voyage and lands up at Brobdingnag. The people of Brobdingnag are giant men. They are so tall that Gulliver looks like Lilliput to them. Their size is again symbolic to their moral ability. Brobdingnagians and morally superior to Gulliver. In this encounter, Gulliver shows his immense love for his country. His loyalty towards England can be seen as he accepts all the malice activities of the British politics. Gulliver shows his pride over the madness of the British society. He becomes a hypocrite. This was probably the reason of his small size in front of the Brobdingnagians.

Gulliver even lies in front of the Brobdingnagian king about his native England. Gulliver shows his moral height in comparison to Brobdingnagians.In his third voyage, Gulliver gets attacked by pirates and lands up on the flying island of Laputa. The people of Laputa have one eye pointing inward and the other eye upward. They are always so lost in thought that they have to be reminded to pay attention to their surroundings. The king of Laputa is Balnibarbi. Gulliver visits many more places in this voyage. He learns the lies of history from the great men of the past is Glubbdubdrib. In the fourth and the last voyage, Gulliver reaches the land of the Houyhnhnms. It was the place of intelligent race of horses. They are rational and benevolent from human beings. The another creature were Yahoos who are degerated humanoid race. They are evil, greedy, dirty and kept as tamed animals by Houyhnhnms. Gulliver lives with them and emulate them completely. When he comes back to his home after years, he buys horses and spoke to them only. He avoided speaking to any humans as he himself considered them as Yahoos. The Yahoos represented the animalism. Gulliver's pride refuses to accept himself as a yahoo. Inspite of the fact that he was asked leave Houyhnhnms due to this reason. He was declared as a danger because he was a human which was similar to Yahoos. Gulliver always saw himself as Houyhnhnms. Gulliver becomes a crazy man at the end. His pride was the reason for his condition. He became a recluse.

Despite of all the qualities of Gulliver, it is difficult to regard him as truly a heroic character. He remains isolated from his world for sixteen years which is a difficult experience. Gulliver shows this courage throughout his voyages but he lacks some basic characteristics of a hero. Gulliver never shows his feelings regarding anything. He barely reveals his soul to the readers. He goes through so many harsh situations but seldom says any thing on his experiences. He lacks in expressing his passion of any sort. Gulliver doesn't lack courage but he lacks the drive which makes a hero. There is no sense of mission in his approach. He starts living on the land where he reaches during his voyage. He leaves the place only when he is asked by the kings or gets punished. He never mentions his real home. He never misses his family. Even he himself is not aware of his great courage of facing such critical situations. After his business fails, he says that he needs to earn money but later he never mentions anything on this. He gives an impression that he has no aspirations. He seem to be passive sometimes as he never comes up with any trick to come out of a situation. He is too dull for any battles of wit and genius. He is a nice man but too much of any quality ruins the image of a character. Gulliver is factual and intelligent but not imaginative and quick on action. Due to his Gullible nature, Gulliver gets exploited by tiny Lilliputs. Though he narrates the story but he never makes any statement on the similarities of the people of the different countries he visited. Gulliver makes no critical or analytical remark on anything he experiences. He never expresses his views on the people and place he has encountered. His journey begins in 1699 and ends in 1715. This journey changes many things in Gulliver's character. From being a gullible man, Gulliver's becomes a misanthrope and recluse till the end.

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