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Gulliver's Travels Author Info Swift was dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in
Dublin when his novel came out. Since in this book he wrote about and often
harpooned-prominent political figures, he published the book anonymously. While
most readers were trying like mad to find out who the author was. Swift's close
friends had fun keeping the secret. Londonwas stunned with thoughts about the
author's identity, as well as those of some of his characters. Swift's dying
years were a torment. He suffered awful bouts of dizziness, nausea, deafness,
and mental incapacity. In fact, Swift's harshest critics tried to discredit the
Travels on the grounds that the author was mad when he wrote it. But he wasn't.
The Travels were published in 1726- and Part IV, which raised the most
controversy, was written before Part III- and Swift didn't enter a mental
institution until 1742. He died in 1745. The Plot Gulliver's Travels is the
story about Lemuel Gulliver as he travels to the strange lands of Lilliput,
Brobdingnag, the kingdom of Laputa, and the land of the Houyhnhnms. In Lilliput
people are six inches high, and Gulliver, in comparison, is a giant, or a
Man-Mountain, as the little people call him. Gulliver becomes involved with the
domestic problems of the Lilliputian government. The government made to deal
with Gulliver. The document outlines the terms of his freedom. One of these
terms is that Gulliver must help the Lilliputians in their war against Blefuscu
. Gulliver steels the enemy's fleet and takes it across the harbor back to
Lilliput. For a short time he's a hero. But Gulliver intervenes in the peace
talks, and gets a more profitable treaty for the Blefuscudians than they would
have had gotten. After that it's downhill for Gulliver. When he pee's onto a
fire at the palace and there by saves the royal chambers, he is put on trial for
disobeying a law prohibiting public urination. This and some other charges
against Gulliver result in a conviction of high treason, punishable by blinding.
Gulliver doesn't feel like having that done so he escapes to Blefuscu. Part II,
which takes place in the land of Brobdingnag. This time Gulliver is extremely
small compared to the giant Brobdingnagians. After a short time as a working
freak. Gulliver is rescued by the king and queen and lives a life of comfort. He
spends much of his time learning the language and talking with the king about
life in England. The king turns out to be as a fair, merciful ruler and a very
sympathetic and humane man. Gulliver, in comparison seems petty, vindictive, and
cruel like the Lilliputians. One day while on an walk with the king and queen,
Gulliver's box/house is kidnapped by a bird with him inside and dropped in the
sea, and is then recovered by an English ship. Gulliver stays in England a while
with his family then goes back to sea. In Part III, where Gulliver goes to the
flying island of Laputa and some of its colonies nearby. His first stop is
Laputa, where the people have one eye turned inward and one eye turned up to the
sky. They're thinking always of their own thoughts (inward) and of other issues
like mathematics, astronomy and music (upward). They're so focused they need
flappers to hit them self's on the ear to let them know someone is talking to
them.
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