Failure to Perceive

An essay I wrote for another assignment:

In the seventh century B.C., the prophet Isaiah criticized the Jewish people by calling them, “Ever hearing, but never understanding…ever seeing, but never perceiving.” In many ways, this criticism also applies to Gulliver, the main character in Jonathan Swift’s novel Gulliver’s Travels. Throughout the novel, Gulliver displays many of the same weaknesses as the people he meets, especially the Lilliputians and the Laputans. In addition, he often seems to miss the condemnation and criticisms present in his own observations, though they are obvious to the reader. Only after experiencing the radical differences between the Houyhnhmn and Yahoo cultures does he become aware of the inconsistencies in his own character. This oblivious behavior supports the claim that Gulliver functions primarily as a “gullible vehicle of satire.”

While living among the Lilliputians, the tiny inhabitants of the isle of Lilliput, Gulliver observes their preferred method of choosing political leaders: rope-dancing. When a new leader needs to be appointed, the people create a tightrope out of a small thread which they suspend several feet above the ground. Then, those who hope to receive the position “petition the emperor to entertain his Majesty and the court with a dance on the rope; and whoever jumps the highest without falling, succeeds in the office.” To the reader, this method of choosing leaders and public servants is laughable, because the choice has nothing to do with whether or not the candidates are qualified to lead. Gulliver, however, seems to miss this point.

In fact, during Gulliver’s stay in Brobdinag, the land of giants, he finds himself defending the equally fallacious methods of choosing leaders often employed in England. While describing the English political system to the giant-king of Brobdinag, the king asks Gulliver “what qualifications are necessary in those who are to be created new lords,” and then perceptively inquires “whether the humour of the prince, a sum of money to a court-lady, or a Prime Minister…ever happened to be a motive in those advancements.” Though the king, and the reader, can immediately see the potential for corruption within the English system, Gulliver persists in defending his country’s practices.

Gulliver’s descriptions of the floating island of Laputa also demonstrate his lack of analytical ability. The king of Balnibarbi lives on Laputa, an island that floats above the lands of his kingdom. Though the king’s job is, presumably, to protect his subjects and to do what he can to increase their prosperity, his method of dealing with discontent betrays his lack of concern for their welfare. Gulliver observes, “If any town should engage in rebellion or mutiny, fall into violent factions, or refuse to pay the usual tribute…keeping the island [Laputa] hovering over such a town, and the lands about it…he can deprive them of the benefit of the sun and rain, and consequently afflict the inhabitants with dearth and diseases.” Rather than being distressed at this display of inhumanity, Gulliver dispassionately records his findings, and then moves on.

The reason for this is clear if we refer, once again, to Gulliver’s conversation with the king of Brobdinag. Gulliver tells the king about English methods of warfare, enthusiastically emphasizing the destructive powers of gunpowder and cannons. “The king was struck with horror at the description I had given of those terrible machines, and the proposal I had made. He was amazed how so impotent and groveling insect as I (these were his own expressions) could entertain such inhuman ideas, and in so familiar a manner as to appear unmoved at all the scenes of blood and desolation…” The king’s concerns do not influence Gulliver in the slightest. Instead, Gulliver explains away the king’s accusations by referencing his “narrow principles” and “short views.”

Throughout the story, there are many other examples of Gulliver first failing to see the flaws in those around him, and then demonstrating those same flaws in his own actions and words. This facet of Gulliver’s character is no accident. Swift, consummate writer and story teller that he was, must have carefully crafted Gulliver’s character, or lack thereof, to be the best conduit of his own pointed and satirical views. The purpose of Gulliver’s Travels is to reveal the flaws and shortcomings in English society, and that purpose is best furthered through a protagonist who himself incarnates those same deficiencies.