SWIFT'S GULLIVER:

A QUESTION OF FREEDOM OR SLAVERY

by

Lori Sue Goldstein

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the

College of Arts and Humanities in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Arts

Florida Atlantic University

Boca Raton, Florida

August 1991 = Copyright by Lori Sue Goldstein 1991

ii SWIFT'S GULLIVER: A QUESTION OF FREEDOM OR SLAVERY

by

Lori Sue Goldstein

This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate's thesis advisor, Dr. Carol McGuirk, Department of English and Comparative Literature, and has been approved by the members of her supervisory committee. It was submitted to the faculty of the College of Arts and Humanities and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts.

SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE:

Thesis Advisor ({&;__ u Jlj-V

~ ~erson, Department of English and Comparative Literature

Dean, College of Arts and Humanities

It!'~' l?t:;( Dean of DatV ABSTRACT

Author: Lori Sue Goldstein

Title: Swift's Gulliver: A Question of Freedom or Slavery

Institution: Florida Atlantic University

Thesis Advisor: Dr. Carol McGuirk

Degree: Master of Arts

Year: 1991

Although Jonathan Swift wrote Gulliver's Travels in 1726,

Swift's outrage at personal, social, economic, and political

slavery can still be felt today, and his work continues to be

significant. Criticizing institutions and human nature's

tendency to trust those who wield political authority, Swift

condemns our reluctance to safeguard our freedom. Swift

exposes submissiveness and its consequence: a loss of liberty.

Whether Swift uses allusions to Irish history, direct personal

statement, or Gulliver as persona to reveal the self- destructive consequences of passivity, he "deliberately taunts those who might be so wise and yet remain so stupid" (Bloom

34) •

iv TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: Introduction ...... 6

CHAPTER 2: Submission in Irish History and Swift's

Personal History ...... 11

CHAPTER 3: Gulliver as Persona: The Critical Debate ... 19

CHAPTER 4 : Gulliver in Voyage 1: The Passive Giant .... 24

CHAPTER 5: Gulliver in Voyage 2 : A Lilliputian Among

Giants ...... 3 7

CHAPTER 6: Gulliver in Voyage 3: The Uninvolved

Reporter ...... 4 7

CHAPTER 7: Gulliver in Voyage 4: A Yahoo Among

Houyhnhnms ...... 53

CHAPTER 8: Conclusion ...... 59

Works Cited ...... 62

v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

Swift believed that the issues he addressed in his satires would remain relevant for ages to come. Concerned with human nature in general and slavery and liberty in particular, Swift exposed and criticized the consequences of any passive acceptance of oppressive control. Particularly through the persona of Gulliver, Gulliver's Travels exposes and reproaches nations, institutions, and individuals who invest an absolute and unreasonable faith in authority.

Knowing that such passivity causes us to lose liberty, Swift uses Gulliver to reveal his concern. Using Gulliver as a satiric tool, Swift exposes our faults and imperfections and dramatizes the consequences of submissive behavior. Whatever

Swift's motives in creating Gulliver as a submissive persona in Gulliver's Travels--to satisfy a personal need, to comment on his own situation, or to reform society's morals--he criticizes the abuses that arise from passive acceptance of oppression. In Gulliver's Travels, swift enables us to see that we continue to give others the power to mistreat us.

Gulliver encounters an emperor in Voyage 1, a king in

Voyage 2, a prince in Voyage 3, and wise horses in Voyage 4.

6 7

Each of these sovereigns requires all subjects to maintain a subordinate status. The horses have a democracy, yet they exclude the Yahoos, keeping them at a subservient level. Emphasizing only two classes of people, the powerful and the powerless, Swift uses Gulliver's experiences to cry out for liberation. Angry that the powerless are treated like an

inferior species and feeling helpless as they accept their oppression, swift throughout Gulliver's voyages "deliberately taunts those who might be so wise and yet remain so stupid"

(Bloom 34). Almost all critics agree that Swift's satire is directed at "human nature," yet critics have seldom named human submissiveness and its destructive consequences as a major

target. Yet swift himself reveals to us through personal letters and other writings that he is deeply concerned with the issues of slavery, freedom, and submissiveness.

Consequently, after examining criticism and the text of Gulliver's Travels, I have become convinced that satirizing

human submissiveness was Swift's major concern.

In Chapter 1, I cover the background leading to Swift's

insistence on liberation of the powerless. England's cruelty

toward Ireland, Ireland's passive acceptance of England's tyrannical oppression, and Swift's feelings of personal political oppression all were factors in the development of the satiric perspective of Gulliver's Travels. I argue that swift was concerned with liberty and slavery because of his 8

observation of Irish passivity and its destructive

consequences.

Chapter 2 surveys the last fifty years of criticism on

Swift ' s persona, Gulliver. Critics have deb a ted whether

Gulliver is Swift, a character, a type, a mask, a voice, or an ironic device. Although it is important to know what the

critics have said, it is also important to see that the

critics have never come to a consensus. I conclude that

Swift's motives for writing Gulliver's Travels--his attack on

submissiveness and its destructive consequences--may be used

to clarify the critical debate on Gulliver as persona. Chapter 3 discusses Gulliver as a passive giant in Voyage

1, exploring where his fears originate and how he handles

them. As he encounters different situations, we see the destructive consequences of Gulliver's fawning behavior and

inaction. Remaining humble (in Gulliver's case, weak and

submissive despite the pain he experiences), Gulliver is

Swift's tool--a mirror--showing us our inadequacies.

Chapter 4 discusses Voyage 2, examining Gulliver as a

Lilliputian among giants. Gulliver's fears are explored and his submissiveness is again illustrated. Looking for approval, acceptance, and security, tiny Gulliver relinquishes his liberty. Gulliver is a toy and an oddity used for entertainment. Flattered by the attention he receives, Gulliver adopts a slave-like submission, accelerating the downward spiral of his self-deception and self-destruction. 9

Chapter 5 examines Voyage 3, where Gulliver visits Laputa and Balnibarbi. In this loosely constructed voyage (written last and in collaboration with Pope and other Scriblerians),

Gulliver is not consistent in his narrative as he reports about the women of Laputa and their desire for change. Yet the theme of submission emerges in Gulliver's discussion of the consequences of Count Munodi's inability to make a stand against the king. The brief additional anecdote about the newly liberated natives of Lindalino also reveals what happens when passivity is rejected for political activism. Gulliver's experiences in Voyage 3 show the destructiveness of passivity and the benefits of fighting for liberty; however, in this voyage Gulliver is only a device to show us that we have choices. He does not here internalize his experiences, as he will in Voyage 4.

Chapter 6 examines Gulliver as a Yahoo among Houyhnhnrns in Voyage 4. In previous voyages, Gulliver has accepted temporarily subservient roles for a short time; by the conclusion of this voyage, however, Gulliver has completely renounced his humanity. Gulliver's submissiveness has become an idolatry of horses and a loss of human identity: Gulliver returns horne disgusted by his wife, his children, and even his own existence. This final stage of Gulliver's degeneration leaves him isolated, unenlightened, and de-humanized.

Gulliver is a tool to show that "we must work out our solution, not denying but wrestling with the chaos we are born 10 to, and refusing any of the tempting simplifications which prove, as in Gulliver's own case, so dangerous" (Williams Compromise 206) . CHAPTER 2 SUBMISSION AND SLAVERY IN IRISH HISTORY AND SWIFT'S PERSONAL

HISTORY

Swift's concern for political oppression resulting

from blind submission to authority is apparent in many of his

writings. The source of this concern seems to have been his

experience of living in Ireland. Swift was described by Sir

Walter Scott as "dwelling in a land where he considered the

human race as divided between petty tyrants and oppressed

slaves, and being himself a worshipper of that freedom and independence which he beheld daily trampled upon" (Williams

Heritage 292). England professed to represent and support the Irish, yet

England conspired to prevent Ireland from becoming

constitutionally sovereign and economically independent. In

fact, the English lived on Irish revenues while Irish poverty grew. As Swift notes in "A Modest Proposal," the English

allowed absentee landlords to levy unfair rents on the

peasants, causing Irish lands to become uncultivated. English policies favored dissenters, desired to get rid of the Test

Acts, and did not enforce the Act of Uniformity: these were all positions unfavorable to Swift's Church of Ireland and

11 12 therefore forcefully opposed by Swift. Encouraging Ireland to import all its food, England encouraged Ireland to remain dependent and impoverished. Moreover, Irish posts and pensions were given away largely to the English, serving as "out-door relief for such as had a claim on the English government"

(Newman 279). Commercial restrictions were also placed on the Irish.

The Navigation Acts of 1660-1663 allowed exports to the colonies only from English ports and only by English ships-­ thereby restricting Irish trade. The Cattle Act of 1666 placed prohibitive taxes on Irish livestock exported to

England, and the Woolen Act of 1699 forbade the export of any

Irish woolens except raw wool. In thus restricting Irish exports, England exploited Ireland, which in Swift's view became a pawn being manipulated by an oppressive, corrupt

English government.

As famine increased and agriculture decreased, the Irish were forced to emigrate or die. The famines of 1726 and 1729 killed thousands; during the famine of 1739-41 one-fifth of

Ireland's population starved to death (Nokes 398). The Irish peasantry was described by Lock in the 1700s as "leading a life of degradation that bordered on the animal" (9).

It has been repeatedly documented that Swift was "against the subordination of the Irish to the English parliament"

(Newman 279) and that he was angered by English legislation inhibiting the Irish economy. Swift wrote scathingly about 13 the effects of Ireland's passivity. Feeling outrage at the corrupt Whiggish attitudes and politicians who had gained power after 1714 in England--especially Walpole and his perennial political and religious favoritism--Swift, especially during the 1720s, "cried out" for Ireland to release itself from self-imposed bondage.

Swift assessed the condition of Ireland as weak and vulnerable. He felt compassion for Ireland, but also anger and disappointment at a nation that seemed to encourage

"idleness, thriftlessness, and lack of enterprise" ( 296) .

Swift's anger grew as he watched the Irish people give away their power (Rowse 144). In fact, Swift was concerned with

Ireland's "mistaken choice as a choice, not as a non-choice"

(Hall 28) . As Bloom says, "However mirthless swiftian wit may sometimes be, it is never a disguise for indifference to or over man's fate" (34). Dependent and impoverished, unwilling to fight for their rights and lacking unity, the Irish, in

Swift's words, had given up their freedom: "liberty is the most valuable blessing of life; yet we are fond to fling it away on those who have been 5,000 years using us ill" (Scott

15: 250). Intolerant of English tyranny and Irish submission, Swift defined Irish passivity as a major target of his satire.

Newman says Swift loathed "waste, muddle . . . stupidity which caused suffering" (298).

Although Swift respected properly constituted authority

(he was, after all, a Dean in the Church of Ireland), he did 14

not advocate mere passivity. In fact, "the longer (Swift]

lived in Ireland, the more did he seem to see the workings of

all that he most hated in human nature" ( 298) . In his darkest

moments, Swift saw the Irish as "an inferior species, a kind

of expendable Yahoo" (Nokes 347).

Swift--satirist, skilled rhetorician and "Hibernian

Patriot"--dedicated his life to fighting for an oppressed

nation and obtaining political preferment. Swift lost his

fight to be named a bishop, and he uses Gulliver to express an

anger at the English government that is personal as well as

political. A champion of "liberty" and "common sense," Swift

uses his persona and his satire to illustrate what happens

when we relinquish our liberty. Seeing himself as "part of

humanity, susceptible to the weaknesses of any human being"

(Taylor 18), Swift offers no solution to the problems he uses

Gulliver to present. He does "not offer an ideal or norm of

human behaviour" ( Probyn 6) . Instead, he highlights his

personal political frustration and the consequences of

submissiveness--his and Ireland' s--through the use of

Gulliver.

During the composition of Gulliver's Travels (completed

in 1725), Swift was involved in Irish politics. While critics

cannot agree about the extent to which Gulliver may be seen

literally as Swift, Gulliver is by most accounts the perfect means of disclosing Swift's despair. Taylor assures us that

"What happened to Gulliver could in some measure have happened 15 to Swift. And for a time it did happen to him, and a great deal of the dynamic force and vitality of Gulliver's Travels comes from the amount of self-portrait that Swift put into it"

( 17-18) . Through the indirect means of persona, the mask named "Gulliver" helps the reader to understand Swift's mind, identifying the specific corruptions that he is targeting.

Concerned with "proper behavior in a difficult world," Swift uses Gulliver as a tool to expose the English government's cruelty toward Ireland and its people and also the ingratitude that Swift experienced from such English political operatives as Walpole (Williams Compromise 154).

In Voyage 1, Gulliver demonstrates his loyalty to the

Lilliputian Emperor by capturing the fleet of Blefuscu. He is then declared a traitor because he will not go on to reduce

Blefuscu to a province. Trying to negotiate peaceful solutions both for Lilliput and Blefuscu, Gulliver is accused of disloyalty and disaffection; his intentions are viewed as suspect. In his own life, Swift attempted to arrange special benefits for the Church of Ireland. Although these were eventually granted, Swift did not receive the praise or the church preferment he thought he deserved. Instead, Queen Anne and the Duchess of Somerset used their influence to impede

Swift's advancement to bishop (Rowse 150); and because Swift was a Tory, he even became suspected of Jacobite intrigue.

In Voyage 1, Gulliver watches the rope-dancers play the

"game" to stay in power. Similarly, Swift watched such people 16 as Walpole attain high political positions through flattery and deception. Vainly trying to become a part of the

Lilliputian court, Gulliver soon realizes that he is too big to fit in. Swift also felt "too big" for England under

Walpole. After failing to obtain a position from the Whig government, Swift declared: "I had long experience, while I was in the world, of the difficulties that great men lay under, in the points of promises and employments; but a plain honest English farmer, when he invites his neighbors to a christening, if a friend happens to come late, will take care to lock up a piece of bread for him in the cupboard" (Scott

19: 32). Swift's satire in Gulliver's Travels is concerned with the "petty irrelevances, the ceremonial absurdities which cloud the real issues and responsibilities of governments"

(Ward 135).

Probably because of the fear of his satire, Swift was rejected by the circle of important people. Like Lord Munodi in Voyage 3, Swift felt the frustration of his situation: "I have been pretty well known to several great men in my life; and it was their duty, if they thought I might have been of use, to put me into a capacity for it; but I never yet knew one great man in my life, who was not every day swayed by other motives in distributing his favors, whatever resolutions he had pretended to make contrary" (Scott 15: 459-60).

Gulliver and swift were loyal servants of the high political officials they encountered; neither was rewarded. In Voyage 17 2, Gulliver is treated well by the king, but he is still not viewed as a human being. Likewise, Swift was treated well by some of his noble friends without being given the high distinction or political power he craved. Gulliver, like Swift, "is flattered into overlooking the fact that he is an

object of curiosity on exhibit, rather than a great man being sought after" (Taylor 24). In Voyage 3, Count Munodi hopelessly reveals to Gulliver that he cannot control the court's decision to destroy his property. Here Swift points out "the need for

practical restraints of royal power" (Lock 130-31) . Whether Swift shows the reader a flying island or a government that ostracizes people like Munodi who do not want to obey foolish demands, swift points out that the courts tend to be divorced from the countries and the people they govern. Similarly, Swift feels the ingratitude of government officials and

reveals his despair over his failed dream of becoming a bishop: "I give hints how significant a person I have been, and nobody believes me: I pretend to pity them, but am

inwardly angry" (Scott 16: 326). Swift, Munodi and Gulliver cannot become members of their own society or the society that they inhabit as exiles. In fact, all remain social outcasts. Munodi, Gulliver and Swift remain "bewildered and skeptical alien[s] observing the oddness of [their] surroundings" (Ward 156). Desiring to fit in, they continue to wish for official approval, despite their invariable failure. 18

Early in his political life, Swift attempted to win the support of the Whig government, yet he was never accepted, which led to swift's decision in 1707 to join the Tory Party. Although he was accepted by the Tories, their time in power was brief and the Tory Queen Anne personally opposed his preferment. Gulliver's feelings of isolation, neglect, and deprivation mirror Swift's emotions during his life.

Throughout Gulliver's voyages, we hear and feel Swift's bitter thoughts. Gulliver is expelled from a world of wise horses, as swift was exiled from London to the Deanery of St.

Patrick's in Dublin: both Gulliver and Swift experience the rage of disappointment and alienation. Both lose their faith in mankind.

Is Gulliver swift? The critical debate continues and is not conclusive. Nonetheless, the following review of the last fifty years of criticism on Swift's persona shows that there are still many significant issues in Swift's life and his writings--especially the issue of submissiveness--that need further clarification. CHAPTER 3

GULLIVER AS PERSONA: THE CRITICAL DEBATE

"The very being of writing," says Roland Barthes, "is to keep the question 'Who is speaking?' from ever being answered"

(Smith 398). The critics have tried to uncover Gulliver's relationship to Swift and thus to clarify Gulliver's status as persona of Gulliver's Travels. There is no evidence conclusive enough, however, to close the debate; so that

Gulliver is by turns called a character, a trait, a mask, a puppet, a voice, or a device. In surveying the last fifty years of criticism, I have concluded that while Swift's method of characterization is important, considering Gulliver in terms of the themes he is used to illustrate constitutes a more reliable approach to understanding Swift's message.

The question remains: "What is Gulliver's purpose?" Is he supposed to be Swift? Is he a character or a trait? Can he be a mask, a puppet, or (as I argue) a device to reveal swift's satiric message on liberty and oppression? Kathleen

Williams suggests "that Swift is not necessarily identifiable with Gulliver" (Heritage 27). She states that Gulliver may or may not be Swift. Taylor goes further, suggesting that

Gulliver is definitely not Swift (7). Lillian and Edward

19 20 Bloom agree that Gulliver is not Swift but a character.

In fact, arguing for Gulliver as a character is one of the more traditional approaches. Six critics in particular have focused on Gulliver as a character--although they cannot agree on whether this character is weakly or strongly realized. All these critics agree, however, that Gulliver is not Swift. Lillian and Edward Bloom suggest that Gulliver is

"an evolving though not altogether full-bodied character"

(88). Similarly, Robert Elliot is concerned that Gulliver's character does not develop even though he seems to alter

(191). E. E. Sullivan also sees Gulliver as a character, although "Gulliver is not a consistent and developing character" (500). Claude Rawson suggests that Gulliver is not a real person and W.E. Yeoman agrees, noting that Gulliver is not a three-dimensional novelistic character (Cook 43). These are contemporary critics echoing the consensus of critics fifty years ago.

Yet times have changed and so have many critics' viewpoints. Leonard Feinberg argues from the viewpoint of the satiric genre: "satiric characters are 'types' rather than individuals" (231). In fact, most critics now agree that Gulliver does not represent any one individual but represents mankind. Swift's friends Gay and Pope read Gulliver in that way: to them Gulliver represented the general nature of man, the typical, instead of the unique (Lock 12 3) . In this approach, the main focus is not to make Gulliver consistent as 21

a particular person or stereotype but to regard him as a tool

to expose a variety of issues that concerned Swift.

Other critics argue that Gulliver is Swift's voice or a mask to expose Swift's anger with human nature. According to

Bragg Ewald, Claude Rawson, and Herbert Davis, we often hear

Swift through the mask he uses or through the puppet's voice

(Smith 385). Emphasizing the notion of the satiric mask allows the reader to hear Swift's voice and yet also to hear the opposite of what Swift is saying. What seems ironic or paradoxical in Gulliver's nature allows Swift to shock the

reader as he plays the "devil's advocate," habitually taking both sides of an argument. Swift's satiric irony--his double statement--is what makes Swift's persona such a controversial topic.

Nevertheless, other critics see Gulliver as a combination of character, type, voice, mask, and device. Peter steel, for

instance, acknowledges Swift's use of Gulliver's varying voices. He believes the reader should enjoy Swift's use of

Gulliver's inconsistent voices for their ironic effect and not try to separate them (Smith 397). Donald Keesey also speaks of Swift's Gulliver as "shifting satiric devices designed to startle the reader," as the reader listens to Gulliver's seemingly factual narrative and becomes involved in Gulliver's experiences ( 323) . Gulliver, from this analytic approach, also seems to be a guide who takes us to different places and allows us to examine various patterns of behavior. 22 As David Ward states: We accept Gulliver as what he really is: a tool which the author uses to warp our vision of ourselves and reality; a means by which we can be brought to look at things through several distorting mediums in a carefully prepared series of experiments. (125)

W.A. Speck, however, best sums up the critical debate,

suggesting the danger of any simplistic approach: "the equation of Gulliver with Swift himself has over the years

been the most fruitful source of misunderstanding of the

Travels" (131).

Varied critical interpretations of Gulliver leave us wondering what role Gulliver plays. We must acknowledge, however, while Gulliver is not necessarily the author, Swift

does employ Gulliver as a device to focus on his deepest

concerns: slavery, freedom, and submissive behavior. Gulliver

shows us what Swift wants us to see: Gulliver is a two-sided

coin, revealing both all Swift advocated and all Swift

abhorred. The question of persona is important; however, I would argue that who is speaking in the satire or what device

is being used is less important than the issues being examined . In debating the question of persona, Brian Hall writes: "The only reasonable conclusion is that there is no single 'meaning' to be found in Swift's works; that a book such as Gulliver's Travels is not to be 'explained' by any single notion whether biographical, psychological, or by any single critical method or rhetorical analysis" (220). While

Swift's use of literary devices is a complex matter, his 23 central issue--human liberation--is clear enough to readers.

To attain a fuller understanding of Swift and Gulliver's

Travels, it is essential to engage in a close reading of

Gulliver's choices and their consequences in Voyage 1 through Voyage 4. CHAPTER 4

GULLIVER IN VOYAGE 1: THE PASSIVE GIANT

In Voyage 1, Gulliver's submissive behavior is caused by his fear of the unknown and his desire to protect himself. It is also motivated by his exaggerated views of the

Lilliputians' capabilities, by his naive character, and by his desire to be an honorable guest or traveler. Gulliver knows he has choices and decisions to make, yet even when he makes a decision, he is often unable to carry it out. Both his malleable character and his inability to act lead to his mistreatment by the Emperor and his court. The more humbly

Gulliver acts, the more others take advantage of him.

Betrayed by people in positions of power, Gulliver hesitantly begins to question the values of courts. Logically, this train of thought should lead him to begin to question his own choices. Yet he never does. As Gulliver learns more about himself and mankind, he only begins to feel contempt for both.

In Voyage 1, Gulliver is at first unsure of where he is or who has captured him. Finding himself tied to the ground, he struggles to move. Hearing strange noises, he notices little people. Unable to comprehend what the little people are saying or what they may do to him, Gulliver again tries to free

24 25 himself. First, he loosens the ropes around his head.

Noticing six-inch creatures equipped with bows , arrows, and spears, Gulliver "roars," startling the Lilliputians, who quickly leap from his chest. Gulliver now marvels at the

Lilliputians 1 ingenuity and their ability to capture and restrain someone his size. Suddenly, Gulliver feels the

Lilliputians mount his body. He considers attempting to crush some of them but again they vanish, reappearing to discharge hundreds of arrows. Gulliver decides to lie quietly, and the

Lilliputians cease their attack. Gulliver again tries to free himself; however, as arrows and spears pierce his face, hands, and body, Gulliver decides it is more prudent to attempt escaping when everyone is asleep.

Gulliver is astonished by the Lilliputians 1 organization, unity, and strength in numbers. He stares at the ropes that bind him, wondering about the Lilliputians 1 strategy and ingenuity. Looking at their size and his present predicament, he marvels at their fearlessness in attempting to harness someone his size. Finding their boldness fascinating yet alarming, Gulliver fearfully awaits their next move. Allowing them to restrain him, he relinquishes his control. Gulliver talks of freeing himself, boldly declaring that he can defend himself against the Lilliputian armies. It is evident by his statements and inaction, however, that his speech is empty.

As his words lose their credibility, Gulliver becomes a foolish, passive giant. 26 Gulliver naively assumes that physical size is synonymous with physical strength. He believes that the Lilliputians are inferior to him because of their size. Viewing "small" as insignificant and lacking power and seeing "large" as important and powerful, Gulliver naively conjectures that he has more control and power than the Lilliputians who are one-twelfth his size. Tied down and unable to move, Gulliver cannot see or will not admit that he is powerless, that his submissiveness is not merely a temporary strategy. Taylor agrees: Through self-deception, or lack of self-knowledge, Gulliver gradually loses his sense of values throughout the voyages, at first not wholly comprehending human vice and folly, including his own, but finally coming in the course of his adventures to overestimate his own powers of observation of what he observes, and failing even more to assess his own folly. (9-10) Keesey suggests that Gulliver is naive, "gullible," because he is unable to see the hypocrisy of his situation (326). Whether Gulliver is naive or gullible, his judgment and its consequences concern the reader. In fact, we wonder if Gulliver believes his own words. It is difficult to imagine that Gulliver truly believes that he will obtain his liberty simply by thinking about freedom. Fearful at first of the Lilliputians' weapons and their bold, combative spirit, Gulliver finds many excuses not to free himself. Convincing himself that the Lilliputians may grant him his freedom if he is a passive and obedient guest, Gulliver denies the reality of his situation, declining 27 responsibility for his inaction.

Gulliver lies on the ground like a helpless child awaiting an adult's approval. Trying to show the Lilliputians that he has no intention of harming them, he remains still.

As an orator mounts a stage, Gulliver notices "many periods of threatenings, and others of promises, pity and kindness"

(Swift 18). Gulliver attempts to assure his captors of his docility while revealing that he is hungry and thirsty: "I answered in a few words, but in the most submissive manner, lifting up my left hand and both eyes to the sun, as calling him for a witness" (18). Trying to attain food and freedom,

Gulliver assumes a groveling posture. The Lilliputians accede to some of his requests, placing large amounts of food and drink into his mouth. Gulliver confesses: I was often tempted, while they were passing backwards and forwards on my body, to seize forty or fifty of the first that came in my reach, and dash them against the ground. But the remembrance of what I felt, which probably might not be the worst they could do, and the promise of honour I made them, for so I interpreted my submissive behaviour, soon drove out those imaginations. Besides, I now considered my self as bound by the laws of hospitality to a people who had treated me with so much expense and magnificence. (19)

Gulliver believes that the hospitality he has received is a sign of trust, kindness, and friendship. He judges that his only recourse is to show the Lilliputians that he is grateful for their hospitality. Feeling a false sense of security,

Gulliver "does not take up the opportunity to be a giant, even when the stature is forced upon him, but renders up his power 28 to tiny people who can only 'abuse' heroic potential in their demands" (Probyn 202). Unable to see the reality of his predicament, however, Gulliver glories in the flattery and attention he receives. John Ross describes the Gulliver of Voyage 1 as having "definite limitations of mind" (Tuveson

76). In fact, Gulliver's submissive interaction with

Lilliputian authority is foolish and self-destructive.

As the Lilliputians "seemingly" attempt to satisfy

Gulliver's needs yet continue to take advantage of him, it becomes apparent that Gulliver lacks "intellectual sophistication" and "perspicacity" (Sena 153). Although Gulliver tries to convince himself that the Lilliputians are more afraid of him than he is of them, he still "treats the

Lilliputians throughout [Voyage 1] with a deference and respect that borders at times on obsequiousness" ( 154) .

Fawning and obedient, "Gulliver assures the Lilliputians of his docility" and is reduced to bondage (149). Gulliver mentions his desire to destroy the Lilliputians, yet he always finds an excuse not to hurt them. He talks about how important it is for him to obtain his liberty, yet continues to pay them homage. Making decisions and threats, but incapable of carrying out his intentions, Gulliver loses narrative authority. Saying one thing and then doing another,

Gulliver's "words" become ironically perceived by the reader.

Gulliver's desire to be passive causes him to lose his credibility. Taylor writes: "Gulliver's self-delusion 29

increases, his vision, balance, and clarity decrease. Unable to see himself, who he really is, he becomes blind to all he sees outs ide himself" ( 10) . Looking and talking "big" but acting "small," agreeing to the Lilliputians' whims, following their rules and ignoring his own instincts, Gulliver attempts to win the little people's approval and acceptance. However, his "insistence on displaying passivity establishes for us early in the travels a pattern of

intellectual shallowness, a pattern in which Gulliver sees but does not understand, one which persists throughout Gulliver's Travels" (Sena 154). Whether Gulliver has intellectual limitations or is simply unwilling to take control of his situation by adhering to his convictions, he "too readily accepts Lilliputian standards" (Williams Compromise 165). Gulliver unhappily allows himself to be tied up and caged like an animal. He permits himself to be used to conquer enemies abroad (Blefuscu) and teaches military discipline to their horses and troops. Gulliver says, "I gave tokens to let them know that they might do with me what they pleased" (Swift 20). By adopting this servile attitude, Gulliver believes he will be treated more kindly and eventually obtain his liberty. It is apparent that Gulliver cannot see the reality of his situation.

What Gulliver perceives as hospitality early in Voyage 1, for instance, is actually a plan to drug him and keep him 30

content so that he will not attack Lilliput. In addition, his

being unconscious allows the Lilliputians time to build an

"engine" to transport Gulliver to his place of confinement: a

polluted temple. Hospitable and attentive, the Lilliputians make Gulliver feel important. Yet Gulliver is "the voyager whose judgment is easily corrupted either by his pleasure in

the strange or by his complacent condescension toward it"

(Price 95). The "bigger" Gulliver feels, the more

submissively he behaves. Gulliver hopes that his obedient behavior will give the Lilliputians a reason to trust him and consider him a friend. Gulliver's humility and loyalty, however, are actually submissive behavior that enables the Lilliputians to mistreat him. Taylor states, "He is the courtier playing for court approval just like the rope­ dancers, and without being aware of the weakness of his actual status, as, for example, the fact that real liberty cannot be his in Lilliput" (26}. Adopting the role of the obedient, honorable guest or traveler allows Gulliver to be abused, to be seen as a diversion, as a weapon, and eventually even as a traitor in Voyage 1. Lock suggests, however, that Voyage 1 is only the beginning: Gulliver is progressively isolated throughout the book and eventually is left alone (41).

As mentioned earlier, Gulliver talks about breaking loose or destroying the Lilliputians in order to attain his freedom but never follows his plans. Full of awe over the Emperor, the Empress, and the young princes, acting with clemency 31 toward the local rabble who shoot arrows at him, allowing the natives to view him and search him for weapons, Gulliver believes that the Lilliputians will see his humility and that he will soon be freed. Gulliver says, "I was ready to strip myself, and turn up my pockets before him. This I delivered part in words, and part in signs" (27). Kathleen Williams states, "Even in Lilliput, where he is seen to the best advantage, Gulliver too readily accepts Lilliputian standards"

(Compromise 164). It is obvious to everyone but Gulliver that the Lilliputians have no intention of freeing him. In fact, the Emperor and his court want to "use" Gulliver and then destroy him. Worried that Gulliver will break loose and destroy them or that Gulliver's enormous diet will cause famine, the court considers starving him or shooting him with poisonous arrows.

When Gulliver privately receives news of the eventual gruesome death the court has planned for him, he 11 is reluctant to be critical" (Taylor 27). At first Gulliver does not believe what he is told. Later, he believes but thinks he can stop the Emperor. Gulliver's words sound powerful and self­ assured, yet his actions are devoid of power. Instead of standing up to the Emperor and his court, Gulliver convinces himself that he must remain humble. Trying to convince himself that he is humble instead of weak, he spins a web of self-deception that will lead to self-destruction.

The fact that Gulliver cannot be searched by the Emperor 32 without Gulliver's permission should have informed Gulliver of his power. Yet "he willingly reverses their roles and pays homage to them" (Sena 154). Desperately trying to show the

Lilliputians that he will do whatever it takes to obtain his liberty, Gulliver allows two officers to search him. Taking an exact inventory of his belongings, they ask Gulliver to relinquish his weapons. Since he is armed with a razor, a knife, a sword, and two pocket-pistols, Gulliver can easily defend himself or destroy them. Yet he never attempts to use his various weapons and readily gives all of them to the

Emperor, leaving himself at the mercy of the court. Gulliver does not see his behavior in this light, however. He believes that "my gentleness and good behavior had gained so far on the

Emperor and his court, and indeed upon the army and the people in general, that I began to conceive hopes of getting my liberty in a short time. I took all favourable methods to cultivate this favourable disposition" (31). Gulliver follows the same submissive pattern over and over and expects a good result. The results, however, are never good. He does not obtain the Lilliputians' trust, friendship, or respect, and he is never liberated. Gulliver tries to be an honorable guest by allowing the natives to dance on his hand and play hide­ and-seek in his hair. He also learns their language, escorts the Emperor to country shows, and assists in military maneuvers. Gulliver says, "[The Emperor] desired I would stand 1 ike a colossus, with my legs as far asunder as I 33

conveniently could. He then commanded his general . . to

draw up the troops in close order, and march them under me"

(34). Blindly and naively Gulliver entertains and diverts the

Emperor, natives, and troops, hoping to attain his freedom.

Gulliver is unaware, however, of "the fact that real liberty

cannot be his in Lilliput" unless he fights for it (Taylor

2 6) •

Sending memorials and petitioning for his liberation,

Gulliver is told that he can have his freedom, though only

upon performance of the "nine articles." Thus, Gulliver is

actually never free. Gulliver states, "I swore and subscribed

to these articles with great cheerfulness and content,

although some of them were not so honourable as I could have

wished" (Swift 36). Unlocked and at full liberty, Gulliver

prostrates himself at the Emperor's feet. The Emperor then

tells Gulliver that "he hoped I should prove a useful servant,

and well deserve all the favours he had already conferred upon me, or might do for the future" (36). Finally, he is told

that he will remain free only as long as he helps the

Lilliputians fight "a violent faction at home" and "an enemy

from abroad" (38). Gulliver says, "I thought it would not

become me, who was a foreigner, to interfere with parties; but

I was ready, with the hazard of my life, to defend his person

and state against all invaders" (40).

Whether Gulliver entertains the court with many feats,

acts as a diversion for the king and his troops, or becomes a 34 military pawn to be exploited, Gulliver's honorable but submissive behavior places him in slavish predicaments. His liberty remains conditional. Gulliver says, "The first words I learnt were to express my desire that he would please to give me my liberty, which I every day repeated on my knees" (27). His obedience, however, does not get Gulliver what he wants. Desperately trying to prove that he is an honorable guest and traveler, Gulliver tries to be patient and discreet. He even helps the Lilliputians capture the Blefuscudian fleet. When Gulliver is told to swear a peace with the Emperor and his kingdom, Gulliver is promised that he will be "used with all kindness" (Swift 27). "Used" is a key word. It implies that Gulliver will be employed to please the Emperor. Gulliver tries to please the Emperor but quickly learns that he cannot. Told to reduce Blefuscu to a province, Gulliver says: "I endeavoured to divert him from this design .... I would never be an instrument of bringing a free and brave people into slavery" ( 42) . This is the first time that

Gulliver refuses to oblige the Emperor. Gulliver finally seems to see the seriousness of enslavement and the need for liberation. With resolve Gulliver uses his power of choice and stops allowing himself and others to be victimized. Gulliver infuriates the court with his decision, yet he refuses to agree to their demands. Gulliver says of the Emperor's anger, "Of so 1 i ttle weight are the greatest 35 services to princes, when put into the balance with a refusal to gratify their passions" ( 4 3) . At this point, Gulliver realizes that no matter what he does for the Emperor, it will never be enough. Even his discourse with the embassy from Blefuscu is viewed as showing "disaffection." Gulliver says, "This was the first time I began to conceive some imperfect idea of courts and ministers" (43). Unwilling to continue to follow the repressive "articles," realizing that his title of

"Nardac" is empty, receiving word of the "Articles of Impeachment," hearing about the court's plan to torture and blind him and the admiral's desire to see him dead, Gulliver considers leaving Lilliput but is deterred by feelings of loyalty. Gulliver wants to remain loyal to the Emperor, but he soon realizes that it is impossible both to remain loyal and to save his life: I sometimes thought of standing my trial, for although I could not deny the facts alleged in the several articles, yet I hoped they would admit some extenuations. . I was strongly bent upon resistance, for while I had liberty, the whole strength of that empire could hardly subdue me, and I might easily with stones pelt the metropolis to pieces; but I soon rejected that project with horror, by remembering the oath I had made to the Emperor, the favours I received from him, and the high title of "Nardac" he conferred upon me. Neither had I so soon learned the gratitude of courtiers, to persuade myself that his majesty's present severities acquitted me of all past obligations. (58)

Gulliver finally decides that being loyal to the Emperor is foolish. Therefore, he decides to accept an invitation to visit the neighboring island Blefuscu. When he arrives, the 36

King asks him to stay and help protect the country against

Lilliput. Gulliver remarks, "I resolved never more to put my

faith in princes or ministers. I humbly begged to be

excused" (61). Realizing that he is again being asked to be an

instrument of destruction, Gulliver decides that he does not want to be used and sails home. At this point, the reader begins to have a renewed faith

in Gulliver's ability to discern between freedom and servitude. However, our view of Gulliver quickly changes. In subsequent voyages, Gulliver continues to allow others to mistreat him; as many critics have noted, he does not seem to learn from his experiences. Instead, his obsequiousness grows. Disenchanted with Gulliver's fawning nature, we begin to see how "[Gulliver] had never examined himself, had never seen the truth in various situations and issues, or perceived his own role in them" (Taylor 17).

Gulliver sails home and remains there for the next two months, but then he returns to the sea. Voyage after voyage,

Gulliver goes back to the sea. Unable to find inner peace at home, he looks for happiness abroad. Gulliver sails with whatever ship will take him, continuing to relinquish his liberty. This pattern of voluntary victimization is the main focus of Swift's satiric attack on man and human nature. CHAPTER 5 GULLIVER IN VOYAGE 2: A LILLIPUTIAN AMONG GIANTS

In Voyage 2, Gulliver submits to power to protect himself, to communicate, and--as in Voyage 1--to show that he is an honorable guest and traveler. The tiny Gulliver of Voyage 2 is exploited as a commodity, toy, and diversion. He is treated inhumanely and willingly accepts cruelty while he readily relinquishes his liberty. Taylor suggests that Gulliver cannot discern what is happening to him or around him, and he often shows complicity, either outwardly or deep within himself, in his own oppression. Gulliver does not reject the Brobdingnagians' inappropriate treatment of himself; instead, he assumes an equivocal attitude (16). Gulliver's submissive interaction with these gigantic authority figures places him at their mercy. Submissiveness is a handicap for Gulliver, yet he cannot see its paralyzing effect. A puppet on a string, Gulliver foolishly follows any orders he is given. As Voyage 2 begins, Gulliver and a landing party in search of water go ashore on a strange island. Suddenly,

Gulliver sees the other men being chased by a giant. Running for safety, the crew swim to their boat. They escape unharmed

37 38 but Gulliver is left behind.

Surveying the surrounding area, Gulliver finds himself intimidated by the immense landscape. Feeling "fear and astonishment," Gulliver laments "my own folly and willfulness in attempting a second voyage against the advice of all my friends and relations" (70). Trying to hide amidst corn stalks, Gulliver nervously awaits the giants. As giant reapers approach him, Gulliver, overwhelmed by his new environment, again assumes submissiveness as the solution to his problem. Adopting a fawning attitude, Gulliver cries aloud, "Do with me what you will and I will obey." Gulliver says that "overcome by grief and despair, I lay down between the two ridges and heartily wished I might there end my days.

I bemoaned my desolate widow, and fatherless children" (70).

Disheartened to be in a strange land where he is small and at the mercy of giants, Gulliver reflects "what a mortification it must prove to me to appear as inconsiderable in this nation as one single Lilliputian would be among us" (70). Feeling small and insignificant, Gulliver adopts a negative attitude.

He knows very little about the giants, yet he imagines that they will destroy him. Even before encountering them, he is quick to admit defeat: "What could I expect but to be a morsel in the mouth of the first among these barbarians who should happen to seize me?" (70) Convincing himself that strength depends entirely upon size (a mistake he also made in

Lilliput), Gulliver decides he has no choice except surrender. 39

"Scared," "confounded," and about to be impaled on a reaping hook, Gulliver screams. Carefully picked up and observed by

the reaper, Gulliver remains quiet. Fearful of falling to the

ground or being crushed in the reaper's hand, Gulliver tries to appease the giant:

I resolved not to struggle in the least as he held me in the air above sixty foot from the ground .... All I ventured was to raise my eyes towards the sun, and place my hands together in a supplicating posture, and to speak some words in an humble melancholy tone, suitable to the condition I then was in. (71)

Gulliver presumes that bowing and falling to his knees shows humility and respect. Unable to understand Gulliver's gestures, however, the reaper drops Gulliver into his pocket and carries him to a farmer's house. Sena tells us

"Gulliver will acquiesce to all their wishes and will treat them with ... submission" (154).

Placing anyone who appears to be an authority figure on a pedestal, Gulliver keeps himself at a subordinate level.

This reveals Gulliver's "lack of dignity and self-respect"

(Cook 42) . Instead of fighting as the Lilliputians do in

Voyage 1, Gulliver's passivity encourages others to exploit him.

At the farmer's house, Gulliver is examined. Unable to determine what Gulliver is, the farmer places him on all fours and observes him. Gulliver immediately rises and parades around in an upright position. Gulliver tells us how he tries to please the farmer: 40

I got immediately up, and walked slowly backwards and forwards, to let those people see I had no intent to run away .... I pulled off my hat, and made a low bow towards the farmer. I fell on my knees, and lifted up my hands and eyes, and spoke several words as loud as I could: I took a purse of gold out of my pocket, and humbly presented it to him. (Swift 71)

Feeling threatened by his diminutive size and their gigantic stature, Gulliver convinces himself that fighting or running away is useless. Instead, he immediately places himself at the mercy of the giants and begins to refer to himself as an animal: "My master had found a strange animal in the field

[that] would come when it was called, do whatever it was bid"

(77). Desiring his liberty and uncertain how to act, Gulliver says, "I thought it my part to obey" ( 7 2) . Adopting an obsequiousness that allows others to control him, Gulliver continues a fawning pattern of interaction which will cause him to degenerate from the still human creature of early

Voyage 2 to the hermit of Voyage 4's conclusion.

In the farmer's house, Gulliver's harmful passivity increases. Fed by the farmer's wife, Gulliver bows and "in a most respectful manner drank to her ladyship's health" (72).

When the farmer's son grabs Gulliver, holding him high in the air, Gulliver begs the farmer to forgive his son: "I fell on my knees, and pointing to the boy, made my master understand, as well as I could, that I desired his son might be pardoned"

( 7 3) • Gulliver walks over to the son and "kisses his hand"

( 7 3) • Living at the farmer's home, Gulliver tries to communicate. Yet Gulliver only knows one way to communicate-- 41 by doing the will of the farmer's family and behaving as though these well-to-do farmers are his "lords" and "ladies."

As in Voyage 1, Gulliver is a prisoner in a foreign land in Brobdingnag. Caged like an animal and unable to do anything without assistance, Gulliver has no freedom. He tries to communicate by speaking loudly, yet the rooms are so far apart that he cannot be heard. Unable to leave his room, get off the bed by himself (it is 200 feet high and 20 yards wide), or even to urinate without assistance, Gulliver is at their mercy.

Gulliver's dependency permits others to treat him as insignificant. He is used as a pacifier for the farmer's baby and as a doll for the farmer's daughter Glumdalclich, who does not allow Gulliver to do anything without her assistance. She dresses and undresses him, sews his clothes and linens, teaches him their language, cooks his food, and carries him in a box wherever the farmer wants Gulliver to go. Gulliver praises Glumdalclich: "To her I chiefly owe my preservation in that country: we never parted while I was there" (77).

Gulliver not only entertains the farmer and his family but must entertain others as well, as when another farmer comes to see him. When he is introduced to the farmer

"submission occurs: Gulliver falls on his knees and 'lifted up

[his] Hands and Eyes' (72) to his host" (Sena 155). Gulliver says:

I was immediately produced, placed upon a table, where I walked as I was commanded, drew my hanger, 42 put it up again, made my reverence to my master's guest, asked him in his own language how he did, and told him he was welcome, just as my 1 i ttle nurse instructed me. (77) Cook sees Gulliver's self-abasement and groveling as a sign of his lack of dignity and self-respect (42).

Advised by the neighboring farmer to use Gulliver to perform in different towns, the farmer begins to display Gulliver as a curiosity. Although Gulliver describes the farmer's friend's advice as the advice of a "miser" and describes himself as "discomposed" and overworked as a freak,

Gulliver continues to perform without any hesitation, relishing the attention he receives even though he admits that he is "carried about [as] a monster" (Swift 78). Gulliver hopes to obtain his liberty by obeying the farmer and showing gratitude for his hospitality, yet no matter how many speeches he gives or how many tricks he performs, he is not rewarded with freedom. In fact, Gulliver allows himself to perform "the same fopperies, till I was half dead with weariness and vexation" (79). Yet he foolishly continues to perform and to remain loyal to the farmer.

Paulson suggests that in Voyages 1, 2, and 4, mankind

(Gulliver) is similar to a "proud slave" (120). Even though Gulliver realizes that the farmer is selfish and abusive

(exploiting him to make money), he does not try to stop this exploitation. Blind to the self-destructive effect of his submissive behavior, Gulliver is "almost reduced to a skeleton" (Swift 81). Falsely assuming that his submissive 43

behavior reveals humility, Gulliver chooses to destroy his

health to please and profit the gigantic farmer. Lacking

common sense, "Gulliver is apt to draw very wrong conclusions

from his experiences" (Williams Compromise 165). Fearful that

Gulliver, who is no longer marketable, will soon die, the

farmer decides to sell him to the Queen. This confirms his

status as slave.

When the Queen asks Gulliver if he would like to live at

court, Gulliver replies, "I bowed down my head to the board of

the table, and humbly answered that I was my master's slave,

but if I were at my own disposal, I should be proud to devote

my life to her majesty's service" (81). Immediately adopting

a fawning posture toward the Queen, Gulliver is viewed as an

object or an animal, not as a human being. Swearing his

allegiance to the Queen, he again renounces his freedom.

While it is difficult to believe that Gulliver wants to devote

his life to anyone, he again assumes a slave-like posture as he plays the role of the Queen's devoted servant and jester.

After the Queen purchases Gulliver, he reveals to her the

farmer's abuse:

The life I had since led was laborious enough to kill an animal of ten times my strength. That my health was much impaired by the continual drudgery of entertaining the rabble every hour of the day. (82)

Although Gulliver tells the Queen that he was mistreated by the farmer, he assures her that he has never complained. This masochistic pattern of behavior reveals Gulliver's weak 44 ethical perception, showing us how submissiveness is one of human nature's imperfections. Gulliver's inability to see that his submissiveness has allowed others to abuse him--that it will not help him attain his "liberty"--reveals Swift's protest against "man's naive acceptance of other men and institutions at face value" (Feinberg 7). When the Queen shows her husband her new toy, the King decides that Gulliver is a piece of clock-work, asking three of his scholars to examine Gulliver more closely. The scholars decide that Gulliver is either an embryo, an abortive birth, or a "joke of nature." He is never seen as a human being. Gulliver permits the King to stroke him like an animal and refer to him as a "diminutive insect" (86}. Gulliver believes that he "was not in a condition to resent injuries, so, upon mature thoughts, I began to doubt whether I were injured or no" (86}. Suppressing his frustration and continuing to obey, Gulliver helps perpetuate his pet-like and degraded existence. While Gulliver lives with the Queen and

King, he is treated with kindness but he is not treated like a human being.

At the court, Gulliver taunts the Queen's dwarf, causing the dwarf (who is much larger than Gulliver) to attack him.

First, the dwarf attempts to drown Gulliver in a bowl of cream. He wedges Gulliver inside one of the marrow bones on the Queen's plate and shakes a dwarf apple tree on Gulliver's head. Gulliver taunts the dwarf as he tries to regain a sense 45 of power. Feeling that it is beneath his dignity to scream, however, Gulliver remains silent as the dwarf seeks revenge.

While Gulliver is capable of killing flies and wasps with his hanger and bravely removing their stingers, or throwing a cudgel at a linnet, he is unable to stop people, even a very small person, from abusing him. He is, as the king states in

Voyage 2, "so impotent and groveling an insect" ( 108) .

Whether Gulliver is in Lilliput being attacked by little people or in Brobdingnag being treated by giants "without any matter of ceremony, like a creature who had no sort of consequence" (95), Gulliver always thinks it "more prudent to submit" (98). Gulliver's inability to take control of his situation, to stand up for himself, causes the reader to view him ironically. We judge that his passive obedience reflects a lack of courage and self-respect. He is a pretentious hypocrite--his words simply decorate the air.

It is difficult to take Gulliver seriously because he permits himself to degenerate both mentally and physically as he pursues a degrading pattern of submission. The more

Gulliver tries to be "humble," the more we realize his frailties and inadequacies. As "he constantly attempts to survive by adapting to alien surroundings," Gulliver reveals how submissive behavior is self-destructive (Mezciems 203).

Critical interpretations of Gulliver's submissiveness in

Voyage 2 vary. Sena states that "Gulliver's gestures are not isolated but a pattern of gestures of humility and submission 46 that Gulliver readily enacts throughout all four voyages"

( 158) . Sena also describes Gulliver as an "individual with little self-respect or self-esteem; one who willingly fawns before and submits to authority. Nor does his image improve during the course of the travels" (159). Gulliver's passivity reveals his "frailty, the vulnerability of humans to injury, pain, and destruction" (156). While Taylor believes that

"Gulliver actually has the necessary powers of reason if he would use them" (25), Gulliver seems incapable of evaluating experiences he encounters" (Elliot 214).

Swift allows Gulliver to look ridiculous in Voyage 1 and

Voyage 2, and Gulliver's passivity and the consequences of his obedience recur in Voyage 3. In Voyage 3, Gulliver is not so directly involved in the action, but he reports others' experiences and indicates that a passive existence causes people to lose their liberty, freedom of choice, self-respect, and identity. CHAPTER 6

GULLIVER IN VOYAGE 3: THE UNINVOLVED REPORTER

In Voyage 3, Gulliver spends five years and six months traveling from Laputa to Japan. In this voyage he is not always the submissive "dupe" the reader encounters in the first two voyages; he observes various cultures. He points out the destructive consequences of submissive behavior in

Laputa and Balnibarbi; and a major focus of the satire is the passivity of Lord Munodi. In Voyage 3, Gulliver encounters aristocratic wives and daughters who are forced to remain on the Flying Island called Laputa unless they obtain a license from the king that states they can visit the mainland, Balnibarbi. It is difficult to attain this license because the Laputan women seldom return after visiting the continent. Tired of feeling inconsequential, ignored by their overly philosophical mates, women flee to have a normal life. One court lady chooses a relationship with an abusive, deformed footman rather than remaining with her husband, a rich prime minister "always ..

rapt in speculation" (133). When her husband finally discovers she has fled, he brings her home, but she quickly returns to her abusive footman, who at least acknowledges her

47 48 existence.

Like the courtiers' wives, Lindalino (the second largest city in the kingdom) has also recently fought successfully for what it sees as its liberation. The ruling class on the

Flying Island are so uninterested in the common people that,

Gulliver reports, "It was eight months before the King had perfect notice that the Lindalinians were in rebellion" ( 139) .

During these months the rebels magnetize the top of each of four city towers, creating a magnet powerful enough to force the Flying Island down to their level, whereupon they plan to capture the King and start their own form of government with their own laws. Gulliver says: "This incident broke entirely the king's measures and ... he was forced to give the town their own conditions" (140). The natives of Lindalino, determined to free themselves, fight for control of their lives and to restore their self-respect. Passive resistance in the past has left them hopeless but fighting for freedom gives them hope, self-esteem, and liberation.

Gulliver travels next to the continent of Balnibarbi, where he visits Lord Munodi on the king's recommendation.

On their tour, Gulliver sees that the people appear busy in the streets and in the fields, but that the soil is uncultivated, the houses poorly constructed, and the people dejected. Lord Munodi explains that the eroded agriculture and buildings and the unhappiness of the people are a product of the Academy of Projectors. 49

Munodi tells Gulliver how the Projectors have begun to

establish new rules and methods of agriculture and building,

forcing the natives to comply with their projects. Munodi explains that his own estate has been disrupted:

He must throw down his houses in town and country, to rebuild them after the present mode, destroy all his plantations, and cast others into such a form as modern usage required, and give the same direction to all his tenants, unless he would submit to incur censure of pride, singularity, affectation, ignorance, caprice, and perhaps increase his Majesty's displeasure. (143)

Munodi also informs Gulliver that "none of these projects are yet brought to perfection, and in the mean time the whole

country lies miserably waste, the houses in ruins, and the people without food or clothes" (144).

Munodi shows Gulliver his mill--in ruins. Munodi explains that it once worked well but was destroyed to be replaced by a worthless new mill. Munodi tells Gulliver that he is viewed as having "bad character" and is regarded as a man "with an eye of contempt and ill will . . preferring

[his] own ease and sloth before the general improvement of

(the] country" (144). Munodi instructs Gulliver to view the

Grand Academy and see for himself the wastefulness, stupidity, and destructiveness of the Projectors and their foolish quest for novelty. Regardless of his ideals, Lord Munodi forces himself to follow the Projectors and their faulty schemes.

Feinberg remarks, "What interests the satirist is not the actions themselves but the hypocritical justifications which are offered for them" (26). Although he is displeased with 50

his situation, Munodi remains passive, accepting the destruction of his estate. Unlike the Lindalinians, he gives up and obeys. Gulliver informs Munodi that he, too, was once a projector. This statement reveals that Gulliver does not comprehend the bad consequences of the miscarried projects. Nor does he truly understand Munodi's contempt for the Projectors. Gulliver observes his environment, but he does not understand it. He does not realize that he is similar to Lord Munodi. First, both conform to standards that they do not

agree with, yet Mezciems suggests that "conformity, security, self-protection, tradition, and manners frequently require a behavior which is hypocritical" (28). Moreover, like Munodi,

Gulliver wants to "fit in" or be accepted, yet both remain outsiders because they do not fight for their rights.

Instead, they act pitiably humble in the face of unjust demands that force them to maintain subservient roles. Their submissive behavior causes them personal harm, as it allows them to be exploited. Like Munodi, Gulliver, writes Taylor,

"shows . . his propensity to dream, to imagine himself in

lofty positions of power and prominence" ( 4 7) . Yet like

Gulliver, Munodi does not take the appropriate action to make these dreams come true.

In Voyage 3, Gulliver remains passive throughout. In the beginning of the voyage, pirates seize Gulliver's ship. Gulliver immediately looks at the Japanese captain and makes 51

"a very low bow" (swift 124) . At the end of Voyage 3, Gulliver meets the King of Luggnag. He says, "I was commanded to crawl up on my belly and lick the floor as I advanced"

(165). He even strikes his forehead on the ground seven times to pay the King homage (166), a submissive gesture reminiscent of others throughout Gulliver 1 s Travels. Critics have debated the meaning of these passive gestures. Sena suggests that when Gulliver prostrates himself at the feet of Voyage l 1 s

Imperial Majesty, or kisses the ground before the King of

Brobdingnag in Voyage 2, or licks the floor in front of the

King of Luggnagg in Voyage 3, he shows a lack of self-respect

(159): "[These gestures] reveal an individual with little self-respect or self-esteem; one who willingly fawns before and submits to authority. Nor does his self-image improve during the course of his travels" (Sena 159}. Sena also suggests that kissing is a sign of respect, yet what and where one kisses is an indication of status. "The lower the site of the kiss, the lower the station of the individual who is kissing and the greater the obedience" (159).

Watching others unsuccessfully trying to balance personal liberty and respect for authority (Morrissey 45),

Gulliver in Voyage 3 gives us insight into the way human beings use or give up their freedom. More importantly, we are aware of Gulliver 1 s inability "to discern where and when there is a choice to be made and whether or not he has made the right choice" (Ward 175). 52

In Voyage 4, it is easy to question Gulliver's judgment. His assessment of his experiences is incorrect and he is no longer able to discern good from evil even theoretically. Gulliver again adopts the attitude of the country he is visiting rather than maintaining his own views. Gulliver's "choice" of passivity and eventually idolatry of the horses culminates in a loss of identity. CHAPTER 7 GULLIVER IN VOYAGE 4: A YAHOO AMONG HOUYHNHNMS

As Voyage 4 opens, Gulliver is captain of the "Adventure." Unfortunately, "rogues" form a conspiracy to get rid of Gulliver and seize his ship. He is set adrift. Once on land, Gulliver decides to "deliver myself to the first savages I should meet, and purchase my life from them" (180).

He meets what is later referred to as a Yahoo, whom he hits with his hanger. The Yahoo climbs a tree and beg ins to

"discharge his excrements" on Gulliver. Suddenly, the Yahoo disappears and Gulliver discovers two horses.

Gulliver finds their actions and behavior very impressive. The horses examine Gulliver's face and clothing, discomposing his hair and stroking his hand. Gulliver believes they are magicians, not brute animals. As the horses speak to one another, the "grey" horse gestures that Gulliver should precede him. Gulliver obeys in hopes of finding someone he can communicate with. After meeting a multi tude of horses, Gulliver is brought face to face with a Yahoo.

Although Gulliver finds the Yahoos detestable, he tolerates the horses' belief that he, too, is a Yahoo.

Hoping he will not be considered a Yahoo for long,

53 54

Gulliver tries to win the horses' respect and approval.

Whether Gulliver is asked to attend the horses, speak, or remove his gloves, he willingly submits. He learns their language, catches and cooks his own food, and makes his own clothes. Enjoying the Houyhnhnm culture and admiring their wisdom and rational behavior, Gulliver wants to remain in

Houyhnhnmland and become a Houyhnhnm.

Despite his obedience, however, Gulliver is referred to as a Yahoo. Gulliver is seen as a diversion for his master's company and viewed as an intelligent Yahoo but not as a

Houyhnhnm.

Gulliver lives happily amidst the Houyhnhnms for three years and is not willing to depart:

At first, indeed, I did not feel that natural awe which the Yahoos and all other animals bear towards them; but it grew upon me by degrees, much sooner than I imagined, and was mingled with a respectful love and gratitude. (224)

He decides that while he is no Yahoo, perhaps his countrymen are: "Only a little more civilized, and qualified with the gift of speech, but making no other use of reason than to improve and multiply those vices" (225). Gulliver then begins to believe he is a Yahoo and cannot endure the disgust he feels as he views his own reflection in a lake: "I turned away my face in horror and detestation on myself, and could better endure the sight of a common Yahoo than of my own person"

(225). Gulliver feels so much respect for the Houyhnhnm way of thought that he begins to "imitate their gait and gesture, 55

which has now grown into a habit" (225). Sena suggests,

"Instead of embracing their values, Gulliver has confused form with substance and wishes to be literally like a horse" (165).

Originally Gulliver states that he wants to be more like a

Houyhnhnm so that he can help mankind. By the end of the voyage, however, he has given up his humanity. He begins to

detest human beings: Yahoos. Like the Houyhnhnms, Gulliver is

ready to exterminate the Yahoos. In fact, Gulliver discusses how much better it would be to breed donkeys.

Instead of being submissive to Kings, Queens, and

Emperors, Gulliver in Voyage 4 is subservient to horses. He

adopts "the voice and manner of the Houyhnhnms" (Swift 225).

Even after Gulliver returns home, his friends comment on the

fact that he moves and whinnies like a horse.

Gulliver is too blind to see that he is not one of them

and never can be. Taylor writes: "In [Gulliver's) new environment he becomes more and more a placebo anxious to say the thing that will please" so that he can stay in

Houyhnhnmland (50). Gulliver, however, is not accepted as a

Houyhnhnm and is asked to return to his own country.

No matter how accommodating and diverting Gulliver is, he

is unable to remain with the Houyhnhnms. Although his Master

is willing to keep him, the Houyhnhnm council is determined to send him away. The Master tells Gulliver how the council feels:

It was to be feared, [Gulliver) might be able to seduce them into the woody and mountainous parts 56

of the country, and bring [Yahoos] in troops by night to destroy the Houyhnhnms' cattle, as being naturally of the ravenous kind, and averse from labor. (225)

Unable to accept his situation, Gulliver continues to

generate irony. Imitating the horses makes him appear foolish, and it becomes difficult to watch him deteriorate,

losing his mind as his obsequiousness grows. Gulliver also

tells us that he "fell into a swoon at his [master's] feet" when asked to leave Houyhnhnmland ( 2 2 6) . Gulliver should

realize that the Houyhnhnms are saving him from extermination,

"the only debate that ever happened in their country" (218).

Yet Gulliver cannot see the self-destructive consequences of

his submissiveness. Instead, Gulliver feels his life is over: "How could I think with temper of passing my days among

Yahoos, and relapsing into my old corruptions, for want of

examples to lead and keep me within the paths of virtue?"

( 226)

Gulliver believes that the Houyhnhnms are perfect and that life offers nothing without them. Gulliver sees the

Houyhnhnms as his lifeline to inner peace. He does not realize, however, that living among the Houyhnhnms has

left him culturally, spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally impoverished. He even has adopted the Houyhnhnms' callousness, blindly planning for the Yahoos' extinction--and his own.

Gulliver's loyalty to the Houyhnhnms comes from his need to be accepted "rather than from any intrinsic enlightenment 57 of his own" (Taylor 36). Gulliver therefore surrenders his humanity to them, believing that virtue cannot exist elsewhere. "His delusion about the Houyhnhnms constitutes his worst error in judgment; he perceives no faults in them and invariably sets them against mankind in an essentially false and misguided contrast" (Taylor 55). Expelled from Houyhnhnmland (adrift again at sea in a small boat), Gulliver decides to live alone on a small island.

When a passing ship sends out a longboat to get fresh water, the crew "rescues" the reluctant Gulliver. On the long boat, Gulliver immediately assumes a groveling posture, falling to his knees and asking for his freedom. His actions are so crazy that the sailors deny Gulliver his freedom. They tie him up with cords and force him onto another ship. Although the captain, Pedro de Mendez, is very kind to Gulliver, Gulliver is so disgusted with mankind and himself that he remains "silent and sullen" (Swift 231}. He is so self- deluded that he is unable to see "good" in any Yahoo. He assumes an "anti-human" attitude (Taylor 44) . Moreover,

Gulliver tells us he feels faint from the smell of the captain and his men. The captain gives him a clean bed, clean sheets, and clean clothes, but Gulliver smells a Yahoo stench and attempts to jump off the ship. Unable to trust Gulliver's judgment, the crew chain him in his room.

When the captain attempts to talk to him, Gulliver responds by treating him like an animal. Wallowing in 58 self-pity and feeling disgust for all Yahoos, Gulliver airs out Don Pedro's clothes for twenty-four hours before he wears them and stops up his nose with rue and tobacco so that he cannot smell the others. Gulliver isolates himself from his fellow men.

When Gulliver returns home, he tells us:

During the first year I could not endure my wife or children in my presence, the very smell of them was intolerable, much less could I suffer to eat in the same room. To this hour they dare not presume to touch my bread, or drink out of the same cup. (234)

Blindly accepting the Houyhnhnm master's condemnation of

Yahoos, Gulliver, too, sees himself and everyone around him as a Yahoo. Gulliver reveals his madness and despair as he surrenders his humanity to imitate the Houyhnhnms. Moreover, at home his only friends are the two horses he buys and keeps in his stables. Falsely assessing his experiences, failing to discern the positive attributes of such kindly Yahoos as de

Mendez, Gulliver assumes erratic practices which make him seem grotesque. Gulliver, confusing form with substance, has not embraced some or all of the Houyhnhnm values, but has decided to be a horse. CHAPTER 8 CONCLUSION

As Lock writes: "Swift by no means endorses his protagonist's behaviour." He uses Gulliver to make people more aware of their shortcomings by exaggerating Gulliver's foolishness and his final failure. The reader finally is able to "view Gulliver critically and be aware of his folly" (42-

43) • In addition, Zimmerman adds, "The story of Gulliver's misunderstanding of himself is superimposed on the story of his understanding of mankind" (138}. Seeing everyone as a Yahoo in Voyage 4, and unable to see Captain de Mendez as a virtuous man, Gulliver shows us that his thinking cannot be trusted: "In Brobdingnag Gulliver is anxious to retain his humanity; in Houyhnhnmland he offers no resistance, and accepts totally his hosts' opinion" (Lock 38). It is evident that Gulliver is a satiric device to expose

Swift's anger and disappointment at humanity's passive acceptance of oppression. We have choices but our failure to make the correct choices leads to self-enslavement. As

Williams writes, "The standard for man is not easy to find or follow. In Gulliver's Travels, as in life itself, we must work out our solutions, not denying but wrestling with the

59 60 chaos we are born to, and refusing any of the tempting

simplifications which prove, as in Gulliver's own case, so dangerous" (Compromise 206). Monk also summari zes this issue: Gulliver's Travels "expressed savage indignation at the

follies, vices, and stupidities of men, and everywhere implicit in the book as a whole is the awareness of man's tragic insufficiency" (112). No critic, however, has yet called attention to the satire's exaggeration of obedience in the character of Lemuel

Gulliver, who represents man and mankind. This tragic obedience exposes the self-destructive consequences of

submissive behavior. swift himself offers support for this interpretation in a letter to Varina: This fully convinces me of what we are told, that the miseries of man's life are all beaten out of his own anvil. Why was I so foolish to put my hopes and fears into the power or management of another? Liberty is doubtless the most valuable blessing of life; yet we are fond to fling it away on those who have been 5000 years using us ill. Philosophy advises us to keep our desires and prospects of happiness as much as we can in our own breasts, and independent of anything without. He that sends them abroad is likely to have as little quiet as a merchant whose stock depends upon winds, and waves, and pirates, or upon the words and faith of creditors, every whit as dangerous and inconstant as the other. (Scott 15: 250) Although Gulliver's Travels was published in 1726, over two-hundred and fifty years ago, its issues are relevant today. We must always be willing to fight to retain our 61 freedom and to make appropriate choices. Swift's writing gives us the opportunity to examine closely our motives and behavior and to maintain our integrity. Swift has given us paradigms of submissive behavior, enjoining us to heed his warning by liberating ourselves. WORKS CITED

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