Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift | Themes

Gulliver's Travels is an amazing, imaginative novel full of heady themes. The abuse of power, the cerebral vs. the real world, society vs. individual, and perspective. Gulliver encounters a number of monarchs and leaders, from tiny to giant, from practical to esoteric, and they all take advantage of their superior position in some way by engaging in the abuse of power. They either demand absolute obedience from their subjects through humiliating rituals, as is the case with the King of Lugnag, who makes his subjects lick the floor, or they exhibit extreme incompetence, as is the case with the Lilliputian King, who engages in an ill-conceived war with his neighbors. Even Huenems, whom Gulliver idealizes, exploit the lesser species of their island, the Yahoos, through extreme prejudice. Cerebral vs. real world is another key theme. The cultures Gulliver encounters in his travels either take practicality to an extreme, rendering their practicality impractical, or focus on abstract ideas and pure reason in ways that make life difficult, for their own people or for others. For example, the Lipputans are the most scientifically and mathematically advanced culture Gulliver encounters, yet they're unable to craft a decent suit of clothes, and their knowledge of the universe causes them tremendous anxiety. Likewise, the Huenems focus on pure reason as the governing principle of their society causes them to miss out on some of the emotional experiences, love in particular, that give life meaning. What is knowledge, after all, without action? Society vs. individual is a theme that speaks to the way all of the cultures in the countries Gulliver visits demand a certain level of conformity from their citizens, whether that means following the rules set up in the royal courts, or adhering to broader social conventions. These rules often create problems for people who break them, or for those who want to break the conventions, but feel pressure that prevents them from doing so. Perspective is the final major theme. Nothing in the world of Gulliver's travels is purely objective, not even the size and shape of human beings. All reality is filtered through the lens of each specific society, rendering all understanding of the world, even the narrator Gulliver's, totally subjective.