Topic > An analysis of the character of Gulliver Written by Jonathan Swift in the book Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver in Lilliput Part One "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift tells the story of Lemuel Gulliver, the surgeon of a ship that has a number of rather incredible adventures, consisting of four sections. In Book I, his ship is blown off course and Gulliver is shipwrecked. Despite his dilemma, Gulliver is initially impressed by the intelligence and modern abilities of the Lilliputians. Say no to plagiarism. a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In Chapter II, the Emperor of Lilliput arrives to take a look at the "giant" and Gulliver is equally impressed with the Emperor and his countries. They are elegant and richly dressed, and the Emperor attempts to speak civilly to Gulliver though they cannot understand each other "His Imperial Majesty spoke to me often, and I answered, but neither of us could understand a syllable." It is in this chapter that Gulliver first asks to be freed and is rejected by the Lilliuts. At the beginning of Chapter III, Gulliver and his captors have become great friends. Anyone who desires an elevated position at court must jump up and down on a rope stretched six inches above the floor (and remember that Lilliputians are only six inches tall). Only those who are able to do so win office, and anyone who wishes to remain in office can be invited to do so again. If he fails, he's out the door and a successful dancer takes his place. Gulliver notes that it would seem that a noble birth or a good educational background would seem to be better predictors of one's ability to rule than dancing on a rope, but the Lilliputians find no sense in this. A similar "test" requires those seeking a charge to jump or crawl under a stick, a sort of combined vaulting and limbo exercise. The Emperor, who holds the staff, raises or lowers the staff suddenly and without warning, so the performer is forced to change tactics in the middle of the flow. The winners receive a piece of colored thread, which they wear on their clothes with great pride. Gulliver delights the Emperor by also inventing new forms of entertainment; one involves having the calvary perform military maneuvers on the taut surface of his handkerchief, stretched out from the ground, but when a knight is thrown, Gulliver stops the game. At the end of this chapter, Gulliver is freed after agreeing to nine foolish conditions. The first thing Gulliver does in Chapter IV is visit the capital, Mildendo. Once again, he is tremendously impressed by the technological and organizational prowess of the Lilliputians, as evidenced by the beauty of their city. Now that he is an "insider", Gulliver is made aware of the political problems plaguing the country, both from within and without. The internal problem is an intense feud between people who wear low heels (like the Emperor) and people who wear high heels, who the Emperor would like to see out of power. Unfortunately, however, the Emperor's son has a passion for high heels himself, but his father's fear causes him to wear a low-heeled shoe on one foot and a high-heeled shoe on the other; that's why he limps. Lilliput is also threatened with invasion by the neighboring country, Blefuscu; the nature of their aggression appears to be religious. Apparently the current emperor's grandfather started a new religion that required believers to break eggs into the smallest part. Many Lilliputians refused to do so, for from time immemorial their creed had been to break eggs at the large end, and they insisted on their right to do so. This led them to emigrate to Blefuscu and now that.