Lecture 9 – Voyage Two
We continue with Gulliver's problem of trying to prove himself\ male identity\
identity as a rational human being. In the second voyage, he has this feeling of
inferiority because he is at disadvantage because of his size. It is quite evident that he
looks up to these people and realizes that he is nothing. The more he tries to prove
himself, the more he makes himself look ridiculous.
Example: Page 114:
Comment:
- He actually tries to prove to the Queen that he is skilful as a sailor, so he tries to show
off his navigational expertise.
Q: Does he succeed in doing that? And how does he do it?
A: The Queen has asked her worker to make a miniature boat for him, to fill a tub with
water and to blow some wind for him.
At one time, Gulliver has to fight the frog (for him the frog is like a monster\ very
threatening).
At another he has almost lost his life accidently when his clothes got stuck in one of
the pins wore by one of the ladies; otherwise he could have just lost his life. we can
see how very insignificant he is \ he is almost like a cartoon character who could
easily\accidently lose his life.
The irony is that he asked to have this event in order to prove that he was courageous
enough\ that he was efficient as a sailor\ that he has navigational expertise. But in the
end, Q: Does he impress them\ achieve his goal?
A: No, he did not.
All the time, he is trying to prove himself worthy of admiration\ respect (the more he
tries, the more he does not achieve his goal.
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There is another incident here involving the monkey. For him, this is even more
humiliating.
Q: Why is it humiliating? (Page 116)
A: What happens here is that the monkey finds himself attracted (this is humiliating) to
Gulliver as if he can see resemblance in Gulliver as the same species. The monkey
mistaken Gulliver (, for he is baby), grabs him and goes up to a high building (that puts
Gulliver in danger. Then the monkey tries to feed him with some very disgusting kind of
food which actually makes him sick later on. The monkey tries to force food into his
mouth. That it not just life threatening for Gulliver, but it is also humiliating because of
the resemblance the monkey could perceive with Gulliver as a species. As a result,
Gulliver becomes the laughing-stock of the whole court. They rescue him (of course), but
he becomes an object of laughter. They find it very amusing whereas for Gulliver, it is
very humiliating.
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Page 117: "When I attend the King...manner of feeding"
Comment:
Q: What he is doing here?
A: He is really making fun of him (asking him about whether the food is delicious\
acceptable.
"He desired to know...to attack me"
Comment:
Gulliver tells the king that in Europe, they do not have monkeys except for those are
brought from Africa. He says that if he is attacked by a monkey like that (in his
country), he could easily finish him off\ kill him. He is trying to prove that he is
courageous\ manly\ he can deal with this very easily because it would be relevant to
his own size.
Page 118: "This I delivered...persons of the kingdom"
Comment:
The attitude of Gulliver: He says this in a firm\ confident tone thinking that his
courage is questioned.
Gulliver is a very pathetic and ridiculous figure. It is not because Swift wants to make
fun of\ ridicule him, but he wants to make fun of human pride\ human pretensions.
Gulliver is almost like representing man\ his glorification of himself.
Although that the King is trying to make the rest of the court not laugh at Gulliver,
they could not contain their laughter. This baby reflects how vain and attempt it is for
a man to endeavour doing himself honour among those who are out of all degree of
equality or comparison with him. This made Gulliver think of how vain man is
especially when he is trying to put himself at the same level with other people who
are superior to him (he feels inferior and that these people are superior to him).
He says that even when he went back to England, he would remember this incident
and how vain it is for someone who is so contemptible\ inferior.
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This chapter ends with another humiliating incident: This time, Gulliver tries to show
off his athletic skills. He took upon himself the challenge to run and jump over a cow-
dung, but his jump is too short and he found himself in the middle of the cow-dung.
He was picked up and cleaned by one the people. Then, when he returned back home,
he had to wash himself several times to get rid of the smell.
"Where the Queen...at my expense"
Comment: (Gulliver's reaction & Swift)
Again, he becomes a subject of laughter\ joke. This is very humiliating because he
finds himself in a very ridiculous situation where he was very dirty\ smelly. This
incident does not undermine Gulliver only, but also human pride.
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Chapter Six
Chapter 6 and 7 are both very important because they make us compare between the
institutions in Brobdingnag, Lilliput and Europe. In addition, there is a lot to say about
Gulliver's attitude.
Page 121: "The king who..."
Comment:
"Excellent understanding": Gulliver praises the king because he looks up to him\ he
finds him admirable despite the fact that the King sometimes intentionally makes
Gulliver feel embarrassed\ inferior (this does not stop Gulliver from praising the
King).
Q: Compare the King of Brobdingnag to the King of Lilliput?
A: The King of Brobdingnag is more understanding, kind, generous, democratic (in his
willingness to listen to people\ in his willingness to improve his country by getting more
information about the experience of other people). This is exact his attitude here towards
Gulliver when he questions him about his country\ Europe\ institution they have in his
country. Why is he doing that? He is doing that in order to see if their is something is
worth imitating\ adopting in his own country (and this is quite different from the king of
Lilliput who never actually questions Gulliver about his country). There are two different
systems in Lilliput and Brobdingnag. Lilliput: This over self-confidence and pride with
their national institutions becomes ridiculous towards the end\ there is a lot of corruption\
this is typical of totalitarian regimes (who can not see beyond their own experience\ are
not really interested in other countries because of this feeling that they are perfect). The
fact is that this human nature (If you are willing to listen to other people's experience, it
only shows that you are more understanding\ you are more inclined to improve yourself).
But, if you believe that you are self-virtuous\ you believe that everything you do is right,
there is no need to know about other people (then you are so narrow minded).
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Page 121: "I one day…of more industry"
Comment:
Size has nothing to do with intelligence\ wisdom.
He wants to say: Don't underestimate me because of my small size. You should have
no contempt towards Europeans\ Europe. Simply because all of size. He's putting it
politely to the king by telling him: A person like you with great understanding\ great
intelligence should not underestimate other nations simply because of size (and he
tells him that bees and ants are known to be more for industry\ they are known to be
hard working or to be wise). Whereas the bigger animals, have less all these qualities.
Q: Does actually Gulliver contradict himself here?
Q: What did you say about size, before, especially when he was first picked up in the corn
field? (Relating size to morality, intelligence and wisdom)
Theme = any idea that develops.
A: In Lilliput: Gulliver as a giant has all the moral integrity. And, these people do have
intelligence, but they have no morality.
In Brobdingnag: When Gulliver was picked up in the cornfield, he says that the greater the
size, the more a person is barbaric. He says: I could only just make a morsel in their mouth
(because he was frightened\ he was in danger, he assumed that the greater the size, the more
monstrous and fierce these people could be).
Here: He tells the King: It doesn't mean because we have this small size that we are not
intelligent\ wise. The smaller the size, the more intelligent, wise and hardworking you are.
Q: Why does Gulliver criticize the giants in this country while he was a giant himself in
Lilliput? (Fear of losing his life)
In Lilliput, he was a giant, so because he has all the power\ strength, he can afford to
behave graciously. But, when he is at a disadvantage because of his size, all the time
he can assume that these people can threaten his life.
Here, size is related to intelligence and wisdom. It is because Gulliver is trying to
assert his identity and to show that he is worthy of respect\ he's trying to impress the
king (that he tells him: it's not because we are diminutive people that we are not
intelligent\ wise\ hardworking. Please have some consideration for us as intelligent
people even though we are diminutive. Look bees or ants, they are communities that
are very hardworking\ intelligent\ wise). It is like telling the King: please give me an
odd expression\ give me the benefit of the doubt and the King has no problem.
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Page 121: "He desired I would give him an exact an account …"
Comment:
He wants the fact.
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Page 121: "He should be glad to hear…"
Comment:
The king is going to question him\ to give Gulliver a chance to make a presentation
about his country and different institutions\ civilization that he comes from.
Q: Why is he going to do that?
A: To see if there is anything deserves imitation\ something that he can probably use in
his own country.
Q: What does that tell you about the king?
A: He's very considerate\ responsible\ willing to improve his own country in every way\
to listen to people (all these are to his credit).
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Q: Is Gulliver going to give him a factual and exact account of the state of affairs in
England (For example)?
Page 121: "Imagine with thyself…"
Comment:
- Gulliver to the readers.
- Orators: They are specialized in the art of oratory فن الخطابة.
- At this moment he wished he had the tongue of the classical orators.
- We can see the discrepancy. The King wants an exact account (facts). Gulliver will
not tell him facts, but wants to give him an eloquent speech, so he wished he had the
tongue of an orator to praise his country.
- So in other words,
Q: Is this going to be truthful?
A: He will lie to the King. He's trying to assert his national pride and his patriotism. He is
telling to the readers that he really wants to praise his country. But at the same time, Swift is
making fun of people who assume fake national pride\ he's trying to make fun of people who
use foolish patriotic rhetoric (that has nothing to do with the reality). It is not just making
fun of human pride, but he's making fun of human pride in their national identity (and here it
seems to be very foolish). Gulliver, all the time, is going to lie\ is going to try to evade يراوغ
the King's questions especially when he gets to be exposing certain elements of corruption.
There is nothing factual about this. In fact, he is simply posting to the king about how they
have different institutions of government\ how they have this constitution\ they have this
judicial system in the courts of justice\ how they have political parties\ how they are
organized (If you feel that you are at a disadvantage you keep boasting about your
civilization). Gulliver is going to make a fool of himself because he's not really talking
factually. It's going to a whole presentation\ a whole speech simply to praise his country
(when you praise someone, you don't expose the defects\ you are not talking in order to try
and improve anything). Swift is not just making fun of Gulliver, he's making fun of us as
human beings and how we sometimes use false or fake national rhetoric. He's making fun of
empty patriotism.
We are all fond of our nationality especially when you are encountering stranger\ when you
think of yourself as a foreigner and you go abroad (it is part of any human nature when you
find yourself all the time justifying a lot of things in your country which you yourself
disapprove of\ fake patriotic rhetoric).
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Page 122 – 123:
Comment:
- Gulliver talks about the English constitution (and how proud he is about it).
- He talks about the two houses of parliament which still exist until today:
1. The House of Peers = مجلس الشورىthe House of Lords (currently): It is
made up of people who are the main landowners. These are people who are not
elected\ these are the people who belong to the nobility (England is a monarchy
and this goes back to the feudal system )النظام االقطاعي.
2. The House of Commons مجلس النواب: These people are of course elected to
represent the people.
- He talks about what he calls the priesthood (the religious institution in England).
- He talks about the courts of justice.
Page 122:
Comment:
- It is about the courts of justice(t h e judicial system) Lookup t h eword .
- He talks about\ praises\ brags about having different political parties \األحزاب
different religious sects المذاهب الدينية.
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Page 123: "This conversation…ask me"
Comment:
They had several sessions which Gulliver was given a chance to talk about the institutions
in England and the king heard the whole with great attention\ he is a very attentive
person. So all the time, he's taking notes\ he's not interrupting him\ Gulliver is given a
chance to make a full presentation what he wants. Remember, he is primarily educated in
philosophy and mathematics and he often has these philosophical remarks.
"When I had to put an end…of their lives"
Comment:
- The King does not take everything for granted. He starts questioning Gulliver (he
has whole different questions) and the questions only show he doubt about the
efficiency of these governmental institutions. It shows that he can see through the
defects of the system\ he can see that there is a lot of corruption that Gulliver is
trying to hide. We can use this as an example to show his intelligence\ he is not the
person that you can fool very easily. We have seen this before the one when the
scientists were trying to give their report about what kind of creature Gulliver is
and the king did not take it for granted. (The character of the King and giving
evidence for what his character is like)
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P.S: You can just choose only 2 or 3 questions about each system such as the lawyers and the
education of the nobility (The most important 2 questions that explain your idea).
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