Kent-Drury

English 421

Gullivers Travels

Terms

Picaresque Novel—A hero (picaro), often a rogue, goes through a series of adventures that are episodic in nature (i.e., loosely tied together, without a strong central plot).

Unreliable Narrator—"A narrator who may be in error in his or her understanding or report of things and who thus leaves readers without the guides needed for making judgments" (Harmon & Holman 534).

Overall questions for the whole work:

1. Gulliver is usually described as an unreliable narrator (see definition above). When are we not supposed to believe him, and how do you know?

2. Each book in Gullivers Travels starts out with a map and an explanation of how Gulliver gets to each of the lands he visits. How do these maps and introductory comments function? What is Swift trying to do?

3. What ethnographic components can you find in the book? What elements of travel narrative? Exploration narrative? Captivity narrative?

4. In our time, Gulliver's Travels has usually been thought of as a children's story, whereas in the 18th century it was seen as a satire for adults about English politics and institutions. Which is it?

5. How do Gulliver's attitudes change over the course of the book? (Note: Most 18th century commentators found Gulliver sane, but beginning in the 19th century commentators began to think of him as misanthropic and even mentally ill. What do you think?)

6. Be sure to read the endnotes in the back of your book, or you'll miss most of the satire!

Questions about Book 1

1. What are we supposed to think about the Lilliputians? What do they have to do with Gulliver's England?

2. What is the role of size in Book 1?

3. What aspects of Lilliputian culture are difficult to take seriously? Why?

4. What causes Gulliver's downfall in the Lilliput?

Questions about Book 4

1. Attitudes toward race are very complex in Book IV. What races are described? What are their features? Are there physical features that are described as intrinsically “better” than others? In the logic systems presented in the book, to what extent are physical features tied with perceptions about mental capacity and ability?

2. How are 18^th century concepts described (i.e., religion, international relations, political (e.g., Walpole), economic, the professions (e.g., lawyers, doctors, politicians), social class, women)?

3. Would you like to be a Houyhnhnm (i.e., to live under their rules/customs)? Why or why not?

4. How do you think Swift wants us to understand the Houyhnhnm culture? Do you think he wants us to respect their culture? Or are there some aspects he doesn't want us to accept?