Themes, Motifs & Symbols---- Jonathan Swift: Gullivers Travels Themes Themes are the fundamental and often

universal ideas explored in a literary work. Might Versus Right ulliver!s Travels impli"itly poses the #uestion of whether physi"al power or moral ri$hteousness should be the $overnin$ fa"tor in so"ial life. ulliver experien"es the advanta$es of physi"al mi$ht both as one who has it, as a $iant in %illiput where he "an defeat the &lefus"udian navy by virtue of his immense si'e, and as one who does not have it, as a miniature visitor to &robdin$na$ where he is harassed by the hu$eness of everythin$ from inse"ts to household pets. (is first en"ounter with another so"iety is one of entrapment, when he is physi"ally tied down by the %illiputians) later, in &robdin$na$, he is enslaved by a farmer. (e also observes physi"al for"e used a$ainst others, as with the (ouyhnhnms! "hainin$ up of the *ahoos. &ut alon$side the use of physi"al for"e, there are also many "laims to power based on moral "orre"tness. The whole point of the e$$ "ontroversy that has set %illiput a$ainst &lefus"u is not merely a "ultural differen"e but, instead, a reli$ious and moral issue related to the proper interpretation of a passa$e in their holy book. This differen"e of opinion seems to +ustify, in their eyes at least, the warfare it has sparked. Similarly, the use of physi"al for"e a$ainst the *ahoos is +ustified for the (ouyhnhnms by their sense of moral superiority: they are "leaner, better behaved, and more rational. &ut overall, the novel tends to show that "laims to rule on the basis of moral ri$hteousness are often +ust as arbitrary as, and sometimes simply dis$uises for, simple physi"al sub+u$ation. The %aputans keep the lower land of &alnibarbi in "he"k throu$h for"e be"ause they believe themselves to be more rational, even thou$h we mi$ht see them as absurd and unpleasant. Similarly, the rulin$ elite of &alnibarbi believes itself to be in the ri$ht in drivin$ %ord Munodi from power, althou$h we per"eive that Munodi is the rational party. ,laims to moral superiority are, in the end, as hard to +ustify as the random use of physi"al for"e to dominate others. The Individual Versus Society %ike many narratives about voya$es to nonexistent lands, ulliver!s Travels explores the idea of utopia-an ima$inary model of the ideal "ommunity. The idea of a utopia is an an"ient one, $oin$ ba"k at least as far as the des"ription in .lato!s /epubli" of a "ity-state $overned by the wise and expressed most famously in 0n$lish by Thomas More!s 1topia. Swift nods to both works in his own narrative, thou$h his attitude toward utopia is mu"h more skepti"al, and one of the main aspe"ts he points out about famous histori"al utopias is the tenden"y to privile$e the "olle"tive $roup over the individual. The "hildren of .lato!s /epubli" are raised "ommunally, with no knowled$e of their biolo$i"al parents, in the understandin$ that this system enhan"es so"ial fairness. Swift has the %illiputians similarly raise their offsprin$ "olle"tively, but its results are not exa"tly utopian, sin"e %illiput is torn by "onspira"ies, +ealousies, and ba"kstabbin$. The (ouyhnhnms also pra"ti"e stri"t family plannin$, di"tatin$ that the parents of two females should ex"han$e a "hild with a family of two males, so that the male-tofemale ratio is perfe"tly maintained. 2ndeed, they "ome "loser to the utopian ideal than the %illiputians in their wisdom and rational simpli"ity. &ut there is somethin$ unsettlin$ about the (ouyhnhnms! indistin"t personalities and about how they are the only so"ial

$roup that ulliver en"ounters who do not have proper names. 3espite minor physi"al differen"es, they are all so $ood and rational that they are more or less inter"han$eable, without individual identities. 2n their absolute fusion with their so"iety and la"k of individuality, they are in a sense the exa"t opposite of ulliver, who has hardly any sense of belon$in$ to his native so"iety and exists only as an individual eternally wanderin$ the seas. ulliver!s intense $rief when for"ed to leave the (ouyhnhnms may have somethin$ to do with his lon$in$ for union with a "ommunity in whi"h he "an lose his human identity. 2n any "ase, su"h a union is impossible for him, sin"e he is not a horse, and all the other so"ieties he visits make him feel alienated as well. ulliver!s Travels "ould in fa"t be des"ribed as one of the first novels of modern alienation, fo"usin$ on an individual!s repeated failures to inte$rate into so"ieties to whi"h he does not belon$. 0n$land itself is not mu"h of a homeland for ulliver, and, with his sur$eon!s business unprofitable and his father!s estate insuffi"ient to support him, he may be ri$ht to feel alienated from it. (e never speaks fondly or nostal$i"ally about 0n$land, and every time he returns home, he is #ui"k to leave a$ain. ulliver never "omplains expli"itly about feelin$ lonely, but the embittered and antiso"ial misanthrope we see at the end of the novel is "learly a profoundly isolated individual. Thus, if Swift!s satire mo"ks the ex"esses of "ommunal life, it may also mo"k the ex"esses of individualism in its portrait of a miserable and lonely ulliver talkin$ to his horses at home in 0n$land. The Limits of Human Understanding The idea that humans are not meant to know everythin$ and that all understandin$ has a natural limit is important in ulliver!s Travels. Swift sin$les out theoreti"al knowled$e in parti"ular for atta"k: his portrait of the disa$reeable and self-"entered %aputans, who show blatant "ontempt for those who are not sunk in private theori'in$, is a "lear satire a$ainst those who pride themselves on knowled$e above all else. .ra"ti"al knowled$e is also satiri'ed when it does not produ"e results, as in the a"ademy of &alnibarbi, where the experiments for extra"tin$ sunbeams from "u"umbers amount to nothin$. Swift insists that there is a realm of understandin$ into whi"h humans are simply not supposed to venture. Thus his depi"tions of rational so"ieties, like &robdin$na$ and (ouyhnhnmland, emphasi'e not these people!s knowled$e or understandin$ of abstra"t ideas but their ability to live their lives in a wise and steady way. The &robdin$na$ian kin$ knows sho"kin$ly little about the abstra"tions of politi"al s"ien"e, yet his "ountry seems prosperous and well $overned. Similarly, the (ouyhnhnms know little about ar"ane sub+e"ts like astronomy, thou$h they know how lon$ a month is by observin$ the moon, sin"e that knowled$e has a pra"ti"al effe"t on their well-bein$. 4spirin$ to hi$her fields of knowled$e would be meanin$less to them and would interfere with their happiness. 2n su"h "ontexts, it appears that livin$ a happy and well-ordered life seems to be the very thin$ for whi"h Swift thinks knowled$e is useful. Swift also emphasi'es the importan"e of self-understandin$. ulliver is initially remarkably la"kin$ in self-refle"tion and self-awareness. (e makes no mention of his emotions, passions, dreams, or aspirations, and he shows no interest in des"ribin$ his own psy"holo$y to us. 4""ordin$ly, he may strike us as frustratin$ly hollow or empty, thou$h it is likely that his personal emptiness is part of the overall meanin$ of the novel. &y the end, he has "ome "lose to a kind of twisted self-knowled$e in his deran$ed belief

that he is a *ahoo. (is revulsion with the human "ondition, shown in his shabby treatment of the $enerous 3on .edro, extends to himself as well, so that he ends the novel in a thinly dis$uised state of self-hatred. Swift may thus be sayin$ that self-knowled$e has its ne"essary limits +ust as theoreti"al knowled$e does, and that if we look too "losely at ourselves we mi$ht not be able to "arry on livin$ happily. Motifs Motifs are re"urrin$ stru"tures, "ontrasts, or literary devi"es that "an help to develop and inform the text!s ma+or themes. Excrement 5hile it may seem a trivial or lau$hable motif, the re"urrent mention of ex"rement in ulliver!s Travels a"tually has a serious philosophi"al si$nifi"an"e in the narrative. 2t symboli'es everythin$ that is "rass and i$noble about the human body and about human existen"e in $eneral, and it obstru"ts any attempt to view humans as wholly spiritual or mentally trans"endent "reatures. Sin"e the 0nli$htenment "ulture of ei$hteenth-"entury 0n$land tended to view humans optimisti"ally as noble souls rather than vul$ar bodies, Swift!s emphasis on the "ommon filth of life is a slap in the fa"e of the philosophers of his day. Thus, when ulliver finds himself up to his waist in "ow dun$ in %illiput, or when &robdin$na$ian flies defe"ate on his meals, or when the s"ientist in %a$ado works to transform ex"rement ba"k into food, we are reminded how very little human reason has to do with everyday existen"e. Swift su$$ests that the human "ondition in $eneral is dirtier and lowlier than we mi$ht like to believe it is. oreign Languages ulliver appears to be a $ifted lin$uist, knowin$ at least the basi"s of several 0uropean lan$ua$es and even a fair amount of an"ient reek. This knowled$e serves him well, as he is able to dis$uise himself as a 3ut"hman in order to fa"ilitate his entry into Japan, whi"h at the time only admitted the 3ut"h. &ut even more important, his lin$uisti" $ifts allow him to learn the lan$ua$es of the exoti" lands he visits with a da''lin$ speed and, thus, $ain a""ess to their "ulture #ui"kly. (e learns the lan$ua$es of the %illiputians, the &robdin$na$ians, and even the nei$hin$ ton$ue of the (ouyhnhnms. (e is meti"ulous in re"ordin$ the details of lan$ua$e in his narrative, often $ivin$ the ori$inal as well as the translation. 6ne would expe"t that su"h detail would indi"ate a "ross-"ultural sensitivity, a kind of anthropolo$ist!s awareness of how thin$s vary from "ulture to "ulture. *et surprisin$ly, ulliver!s mastery of forei$n lan$ua$es $enerally does not "orrespond to any real interest in "ultural differen"es. (e "ompares any of the $overnments he visits to that of his native 0n$land, and he rarely even spe"ulates on how or why "ultures are different at all. Thus, his fa"ility for translation does not indi"ate a "ulturally "omparative mind, and we are perhaps meant to yearn for a narrator who is a bit less able to remember the &robdin$na$ian word for 7lark8 and better able to offer a more illuminatin$ kind of "ultural analysis. !lothing ,riti"s have noted the extraordinary attention that ulliver pays to "lothes throu$hout his +ourneys. 0very time he $ets a rip in his shirt or is for"ed to adopt some native $arment to repla"e one of his own, he re"ounts the "lothin$ details with $reat pre"ision. 5e are told how his pants are fallin$ apart in %illiput, so that as the army mar"hes between his le$s they $et #uite an eyeful. 5e are informed about the mouse skin he wears in &robdin$na$, and how the finest silks of the land are as thi"k as blankets on

him. 2n one sense, these des"riptions are obviously an easy narrative devi"e with whi"h Swift "an "hart his prota$onist!s pro$ression from one "ulture to another: the more ra$$ed his "lothes be"ome and the stran$er his new wardrobe, the farther he is from the "omforts and "onventions of 0n$land. (is +ourney to new lands is also thus a +ourney into new "lothes. 5hen he is pi"ked up by 3on .edro after his fourth voya$e and offered a new suit of "lothes, ulliver vehemently refuses, preferrin$ his wild animal skins. 5e sense that ulliver may well never fully reinte$rate into 0uropean so"iety. &ut the motif of "lothin$ "arries a deeper, more psy"holo$i"ally "omplex meanin$ as well. ulliver!s intense interest in the state of his "lothes may si$nal a deep-seated anxiety about his identity, or la"k thereof. (e does not seem to have mu"h selfhood: one "riti" has "alled him an 7abyss,8 a void where an individual "hara"ter should be. 2f "lothes make the man, then perhaps ulliver!s obsession with the state of his wardrobe may su$$est that he desperately needs to be fashioned as a personality. Si$nifi"antly, the two moments when he des"ribes bein$ naked in the novel are two deeply troublin$ or humiliatin$ experien"es: the first when he is the boy toy of the &robdin$na$ian maids who let him "avort nude on their mountainous breasts, and the se"ond when he is assaulted by an eleven-year-old *ahoo $irl as he bathes. &oth in"idents su$$est more than mere prudery. ulliver asso"iates nudity with extreme vulnerability, even when there is no real dan$er present-a pre-teen $irl is hardly a threat to a $rown man, at least in physi"al terms. The state of nudity may remind ulliver of how nonexistent he feels without the reassurin$ "over of "lothin$. Sym"ols Symbols are ob+e"ts, "hara"ters, fi$ures, or "olors used to represent abstra"t ideas or "on"epts. Lilli#utians The %illiputians symboli'e humankind!s wildly ex"essive pride in its own puny existen"e. Swift fully intends the irony of representin$ the tiniest ra"e visited by ulliver as by far the most vain$lorious and smu$, both "olle"tively and individually. There is surely no "hara"ter more odious in all of ulliver!s travels than the noxious Skyresh. There is more ba"kbitin$ and "onspira"y in %illiput than anywhere else, and more of the pettiness of small minds who ima$ine themselves to be $rand. ulliver is a na9ve "onsumer of the %illiputians! $randiose ima$inin$s: he is flattered by the attention of their royal family and "owed by their threats of punishment, for$ettin$ that they have no real physi"al power over him. Their formally worded "ondemnation of ulliver on $rounds of treason is a model of pompous and self-important verbia$e, but it works #uite effe"tively on the na9ve ulliver. The %illiputians show off not only to ulliver but to themselves as well. There is no mention of armies proudly mar"hin$ in any of the other so"ieties ulliver visits-only in %illiput and nei$hborin$ &lefus"u are the six-in"h inhabitants possessed of the need to show off their patrioti" $lories with su"h displays. 5hen the %illiputian emperor re#uests that ulliver serve as a kind of makeshift 4r"h of Triumph for the troops to pass under, it is a patheti" reminder that their $rand parade-in full view of ulliver!s nether re$ionsis supremely silly, a basi"ally absurd way to boost the "olle"tive e$o of the nation. 2ndeed, the war with &lefus"u is itself an absurdity sprin$in$ from wounded vanity, sin"e the "ause is not a material "on"ern like disputed territory but, rather, the proper interpretation of s"ripture by the emperor!s forebears and the hurt feelin$s resultin$ from

the disa$reement. 4ll in all, the %illiputians symboli'e mispla"ed human pride, and point out ulliver!s inability to dia$nose it "orre"tly. $ro"dingnagians The &robdin$na$ians symboli'e the private, personal, and physi"al side of humans when examined up "lose and in $reat detail. The philosophi"al era of the 0nli$htenment tended to overlook the routines of everyday life and the sordid or tedious little fa"ts of existen"e, but in &robdin$na$ su"h fa"ts be"ome very important for ulliver, sometimes matters of life and death. 4n ei$hteenth-"entury philosopher "ould afford to i$nore the fly bu''in$ around his head or the skin pores on his servant $irl, but in his shrunken state ulliver is for"ed to pay $reat attention to su"h thin$s. (e is for"ed take the domesti" sphere seriously as well. 2n other lands it is diffi"ult for ulliver, bein$ su"h an outsider, to $et $limpses of family relations or private affairs, but in &robdin$na$ he is treated as a doll or a playthin$, and thus is made privy to the urination of housemaids and the sexual lives of women. The &robdin$na$ians do not symboli'e a solely ne$ative human "hara"teristi", as the %aputans do. They are not merely ridi"ulous-some aspe"ts of them are dis$ustin$, like their $i$anti" sten"h and the ex"rement left by their inse"ts, but others are noble, like the #ueen!s $oodwill toward ulliver and the kin$!s "ommonsense views of politi"s. More than anythin$ else, the &robdin$na$ians symboli'e a dimension of human existen"e visible at "lose ran$e, under "lose s"rutiny. La#utans The %aputans represent the folly of theoreti"al knowled$e that has no relation to human life and no use in the a"tual world. 4s a profound "ultural "onservative, Swift was a "riti" of the newfan$led ideas sprin$in$ up around him at the dawn of the ei$hteenth"entury 0nli$htenment, a period of $reat intelle"tual experimentation and theori'ation. (e mu"h preferred the traditional knowled$e that had been tested over "enturies. %aputa symboli'es the absurdity of knowled$e that has never been tested or applied, the ludi"rous side of 0nli$htenment intelle"tualism. 0ven down below in &alnibarbi, where the lo"al a"ademy is more in"lined to pra"ti"al appli"ation, knowled$e is not made so"ially useful as Swift demands. 2ndeed, theoreti"al knowled$e there has proven positively disastrous, resultin$ in the ruin of a$ri"ulture and ar"hite"ture and the impoverishment of the population. 0ven up above, the pursuit of theoreti"al understandin$ has not improved the lot of the %aputans. They have few material worries, dependent as they are upon the &alnibarbians below. &ut they are tormented by worries about the tra+e"tories of "omets and other astronomi"al spe"ulations: their theories have not made them wise, but neuroti" and disa$reeable. The %aputans do not symboli'e reason itself but rather the pursuit of a form of knowled$e that is not dire"tly related to the improvement of human life. Houyhnhnms The (ouyhnhnms represent an ideal of rational existen"e, a life $overned by sense and moderation of whi"h philosophers sin"e .lato have lon$ dreamed. 2ndeed, there are e"hoes of .lato!s /epubli" in the (ouyhnhnms! re+e"tion of li$ht entertainment and vain displays of luxury, their appeal to reason rather than any holy writin$s as the "riterion for proper a"tion, and their "ommunal approa"h to family plannin$. 4s in .lato!s ideal "ommunity, the (ouyhnhnms have no need to lie nor any word for lyin$. They do not use for"e but only stron$ exhortation. Their sub+u$ation of the *ahoos

appears more ne"essary than "ruel and perhaps the best way to deal with an unfortunate blot on their otherwise ideal so"iety. 2n these ways and others, the (ouyhnhnms seem like model "iti'ens, and ulliver!s intense $rief when he is for"ed to leave them su$$ests that they have made an impa"t on him $reater than that of any other so"iety he has visited. (is deran$ement on 3on .edro!s ship, in whi"h he snubs the $enerous man as a *ahoo-like "reature, implies that he stron$ly identifies with the (ouyhnhnms. &ut we may be less ready than ulliver to take the (ouyhnhnms as ideals of human existen"e. They have no names in the narrative nor any need for names, sin"e they are virtually inter"han$eable, with little individual identity. Their lives seem harmonious and happy, althou$h #uite la"kin$ in vi$or, "hallen$e, and ex"itement. 2ndeed, this apparent ease may be why Swift "hooses to make them horses rather than human types like every other $roup in the novel. (e may be hintin$, to those more insi$htful than ulliver, that the (ouyhnhnms should not be "onsidered human ideals at all. 2n any "ase, they symboli'e a standard of rational existen"e to be either espoused or re+e"ted by both ulliver and us. England 4s the site of his father!s disappointin$ly 7small estate8 and ulliver!s failin$ business, 0n$land seems to symboli'e defi"ien"y or insuffi"ien"y, at least in the finan"ial sense that matters most to ulliver. 0n$land is passed over very #ui"kly in the first para$raph of ,hapter 2, as if to show that it is simply there as the startin$ point to be left #ui"kly behind. ulliver seems to have very few nationalisti" or patrioti" feelin$s about 0n$land, and he rarely mentions his homeland on his travels. 2n this sense, ulliver!s Travels is #uite unlike other travel narratives like the 6dyssey, in whi"h 6dysseus misses his homeland and laments his wanderin$s. 0n$land is where ulliver!s wife and family live, but they too are hardly mentioned. *et Swift "hooses to have ulliver return home after ea"h of his four +ourneys instead of havin$ him "ontinue on one lon$ trip to four different pla"es, so that 0n$land is kept "onstantly in the pi"ture and $iven a steady, unspoken importan"e. &y the end of the fourth +ourney, 0n$land is brou$ht more expli"itly into the fabri" of ulliver!s Travels when ulliver, in his neuroti" state, starts "onfusin$ (ouyhnhnmland with his homeland, referrin$ to 0n$lishmen as *ahoos. The distin"tion between native and forei$n thus unravels-the (ouyhnhnms and *ahoos are not +ust ra"es populatin$ a faraway land but rather types that ulliver pro+e"ts upon those around him. The possibility thus arises that all the ra"es ulliver en"ounters "ould be versions of the 0n$lish and that his travels merely allow him to see various aspe"ts of human nature more "learly.