Moral lessons in Gulliver’s Travels

In Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift has criticized humanity. From the beginning to the end of the book, there is nothing but criticism of mankind in every possible way. So, it is not unnatural for anyone to conclude that Swift hated humanity and we cannot expect anything good in this book. The book is full of negative criticism. This negative criticism was directed towards the government, the aristocratic people, and even against ordinary people. 

 

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Many people consider Gulliver to be a misanthropic character. He went from one place to another and traveled to many parts of the world. But he could not find any goodness among humanity. All he could see was that human beings are greedy for power, ignorant and selfish. Very few people in Jonathan Swift’s time believed that despite all the criticism of humanity Gulliver’s Travels contains some important moral lessons. 

In the first book, Gulliver talks about an important moral lesson through the king of Lilliput. The king said that in England, there is a bad system of only punishment, but there is no reward. By this, Swift advises the readers that we should always encourage and reward good works of good people. Another important moral lesson in Gulliver’s voyage to Lilliput is that we should not fight for small maters but support each other in society. If we do not do it then there will be no peace and stability. 

Jonathan Swift has given a very important moral lesson in book 3. There, Gulliver traveled to a science academy. The government of the country generously provided money to the scientists who were doing research. Gulliver found out that there was not a single research project that would benefit ordinary people in any way. This was the condition of England during Jonathan Swift’s time. The rich and aristocratic people enjoyed all kinds of luxury while poor people suffered. For this reason, people had no interest in government. 

In book 4, Jonathan Swift tried to say that people should not be proud at all but should focus on improving their characteristics and personalities. It was difficult for the people of Jonathan Swift’s time to understand the moral lessons of Gulliver’s Travels. Jonathan Swift was not an ordinary man. He had dreams and visions about the world. He wanted that people should try to improve themselves. He was also frustrated about the fact that the rich and aristocratic people enjoyed all the facilities in this world that money and wealth came from taxes collected from farmers and other ordinary people. The aristocratic people had everything without doing anything. Jonathan Swift wanted this to change. He wanted a better government system for the people.

Moral lessons are easy to impart, but Jonathon Swift conveyed them in a sophisticated manner. Few people at his time would have realized this matter, but in our own time, we can understand it. People at that time were habituated to corruption and bad system of government. Swift tried to give the message that a country is made up of all its citizens. So, the rights and facilities of an individual are equal to the rights of the government and society.

This idea of moral equality was unfamiliar to many during Swift’s era, not just in England but globally. By using Gulliver as his spokesperson, Swift communicated that valuing moral qualities in individuals is essential. Though this perspective seemed unusual at the time, we now recognize the importance Swift placed on individual merit.

Political Satire in Gulliver’s Travels

Gulliver’s Travels is one of the finest examples of political satire and political allegory in English literature. It was written by Jonathan Swift and he was an idealist person. He was not satisfied with the current situation of England. So, he strongly criticized the political system of his time. However, he did not criticize the system and its leaders directly. He used allegory as a literary device. 

 

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Allegory is a widely used literary technique to present something in disguise. For example, Jonathan Swift is criticizing England and its political leaders but he is doing through Lilliputs and its people. It should be noted here that during Jonathan Swift’s time England did not have a high level of democracy and freedom. Writing a political satire directly was risky. Even Jonathan Swift could have lost his head if he criticized the king and his ministers directly. So, allegory was a safer option and even was more entertaining. Swift could give his message in a very effective way.

In book 1, Gulliver traveled to Lilliput. The people were divided on a very simple issue- which ends of the egg to break. It was a very nonsense matter, but this was enough to keep the people of Lilliput busy in the situation of almost like a civil war. The condition of England was like this. In the past 150 years (1550-1780), people of England were divided about which version of Christianity to follow- Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism or Puritanism. People belong to one sect used to hate others despite the matter that all of them were Christians. Even there was a bloody civil war during 1642-1660.

The king of England and his ministers had the same authority like the king of Lilliput and minister. At that time, there were two large parties in England- Tory and Whig. They also used to differ on everything. As a result, there was no political stability in the country just like Lilliput.

Jonathan Swift used to live in Ireland. For many years, Ireland had been a colony of England. Although Jonathan Swift was an English man, he was against this kind of colonialism.

In book 4, we can see that Gulliver traveled to Houyhnhnms. There, Houyhnhnms (Horses) considered Yahoos (human) inferior, ugly and uncivilized. The English people had the same attitude towards the people of Ireland. They used to believe that the Irish people were unfit to rule themselves just like the Yahoos. Jonathan Swift did not like this idea because he could clearly understand that the Irish people were suffering from exploitation. However, criticizing England could have been dangerous. So, Jonathan Swift used allegory to criticize England’s rule on Irish people.

Gulliver as a misanthropic character

Gulliver’s Travels is perhaps the most famous literary work of Jonathan Swift. Published in 1726, it has become popular among readers as a satirical novel and perhaps one of the best satirical novels in English literature. By writing this novel, the writer has strongly criticized everything in England and English society. This book, which is divided into four different sections, shows Gulliver’s travel to four different parts of the world. Portraying the badness of human beings equally present in each section, Jonathan Swift actually satirizes people of his time. Even the governments and the judicial system have not been spared from his criticism. In some parts of this novel, his disliking for humankind and avoiding human society are in extreme level. So, Gulliver is a misanthropic character. 

In book 1 of Gulliver’s Travels, we can find that Gulliver goes to Lilliput. Lilliput is a place in which the human beings are not only small in size but also narrow in mentality. The tiny creatures soon turn out to be treacherous and cruel. They love to fight for nothing and they are greedy for power and want to destroy anyone who disagrees with them. The king and his ministers have no respect for the citizens. They think that they are like God and citizens must obey them without asking any question. Today they are grateful to Gulliver for helping them to defeat Blefuscu. Tomorrow they are unhappy with Gulliver and want to kill him. Thus, they do not have any goodness in them. 

In book 3, Gulliver goes to Laputa. There, Gulliver goes to science academy and he finds that scientists are busy with all kinds of inventions except anything that would help humanity. The government general secretary distributes fund for this kind of useless research. The people there have no interest to do anything good. 

The worst attack against human beings comes in book 4. Here, Gulliver travels to Houyhnhnms. Here, we can find that Yahoos who are similar to monkeys are presented as human beings. The Yahoos have no quality and even they look ugly. They are inferior to Horses in every possible way- physically and mentally. To show hatred towards mankind, Gulliver frankly says, “I expressed my uneasiness at his giving me so often the appellation of Yahoo, an odious animal, for which I had so utter a hatred and contempt.” 

The more time Gulliver spends with the Houyhnhnms, the more hatred for Yahoos grows in his heart. His abhorrence of the Yahoo race first comes to the notice when, on one occasion, he catches a Yahoo child and describes it as an “odious vermin”. He is also seen using Yahoo skins as clothing, which actually represents his slight value for human life. Even when a discussion about killing the Yahoo race was made at the general assembly of the Houyhnhnm, he does not oppose it. Gulliver’s hatred for humans reaches its peak when he says that he must leave the Houyhnhnm land that he has grown to love so much. He exclaims: “that the certain prospect of an unnatural death was the least of my evils, for supposing I should escape with life by some strange adventure, how could I think with temper of passing my days among Yahoos”. Hence, Gulliver prefers death to living among his own people in civilization again; for him, they are corrupted, Yahoos too. 

His abhorrence towards Yahoos, who represent human beings, is increased after a female Yahoo attacked him being aroused by sexual urge. The association with the Houyhnhnms makes Gulliver loathing normal sexual intercourse. Such disgust keeps on troubling him, even when he returns to England, and with horror he apprehends that by copulating with his wife, a species of Yahoo, he has produced so many Yahoos. 

The way he treats his family members after returning home again show his hatred for mankind. He denies eating and talking with them. The very smell of them makes him ill. Instead, he would spend time conversing with his two new horses for “at least four hours a day”. He said,

“I began last week to permit my wife to sit at dinner with me…. Yet the smell of a Yahoo continuing very offensive, I always keep my nose stopped with rue, lavender, or tobacco leaves.” 

Thus, we can perhaps conclude that Jonathan Swift did not have any high idea about human beings. He created Gulliver as a misanthropic character. Gulliver could not find any good quality among people of any of the countries he traveled. However, we have to understand one thing that Jonathon Swift only criticized the people of his own time and own country. Naturally, he was frustrated because there was no democracy in England. The King and his ministers and rich land lords used to control everything. The aristocratic people had all the facilities and the ordinary people could not even get three decent meals a day. When there is no good governance, the discipline of a country suffers. As a result, people lose their goodness. 

Jonathon Swift was a humanitarian person and he dreamt of a world in which there would be no oppression and corruption. But two things were main obstacles for each. First of all, there was no good governance and when people did any good thing there was no system of reward. The second obstacle was that the ordinary people did not have high value for education and other good qualities. They did not want to welcome new ideas. Jonathon Swift dreamt of a world in which people will try to become better. They will value goodness and will respect each other. 

Jonathon Swift was unlucky that he was ahead of his time. He was a visionary and his ideas were modern. The people of his time could not understand it. So, they thought that Gulliver was a misanthropic character. However, in our own time we can understand that Gulliver was not a misanthropic character but he criticized the bad qualities of human being in the right way.