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Book for youngsters?!? A classic of children's literature?? What?!?!
"Gulliver's Travels" is anything but a children's book. Don't be offended, kids, but at 10 years old it's difficult to grasp the scope and the real message of this book. I never read it in my childhood; in fact, the first (and so far only) time I read it was less than a month ago and it immediately struck me.
I was expecting a "Robinson Crusoe" part 2, and instead, what does dear Jonathan Swift do? He writes a parodic and satirical book. Parodic because, indeed, it picks up and somehow ridicules (albeit very, very subtly) the adventure books of the era. Satirical because the work is a harsh critique of English society (and, more broadly, European) of the 1700s. The author, writing under the pseudonym of the protagonist Lemuel Gulliver, divides his most famous effort into four parts:
1. A Voyage to Lilliput
2. A Voyage to Brobdingnag
3. A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan
4. A Voyage to the Land of the Houyhnhnms
In each of these places, the unlucky Lemuel Gulliver encounters fantastic populations that, however, have at least one aspect reminiscent of human nature. In the first voyage, the protagonist meets the inhabitants of Lilliput, who are 6 inches tall (about 15 centimeters). After an initial confrontation, Gulliver is accepted into society and, after learning the local language, becomes a favorite of the king and the court. Gulliver helps the kingdom of Lilliput in the war against the enemies of the state of Blefuscu, identified by critics as the French state at war with the English (the Lilliputians). It should be noted that the rivalry between the two peoples is due to two different ways of breaking eggs: this futile reason is probably an allegory of wars fought for the most trivial reasons (often used as a pretext) and in particular for the clashes between Anglicans and Catholic English. Over time, Gulliver's presence becomes a burden for the state of Lilliput, and the author is forced to flee to Blefuscu (where he had established diplomatic relations after the battle) and from there return home.
The second voyage leads the protagonist to shipwreck in Brobdingnag, where people are about 22 meters tall (the scale of Lilliput is 1:12, this 12:1). Here too, he becomes a favorite at court and often discusses European ordinances with the king. The king does not understand how men can kill each other, often for trivial reasons. Here too, Swift intelligently criticizes war and its futility. Over time, Gulliver begins to feel homesick and, by chance, one day ends up at sea and is picked up by a ship, with which he returns again to England.
He leaves again a few months later and ends up, after being captured by pirates, in the realm of Laputa, composed of a territory above which a floating island containing the capital travels. The island lowers to ground level only to crush mainland cities that dare to rebel. Despite the people living in misery, the scholars on the floating island (who study only math and music) cannot apply their knowledge to real situations. Subsequently, Gulliver is brought to Balnibarbi, where the inhabitants dedicate themselves to inventions, often entirely useless. This is (like the previous) a strong critique of the scholars who, indifferent to the world's suffering, pursue a knowledge for its own sake that does not help the people. In this realm, the protagonist also encounters immortals, who are the unhappiest of all: they are not eternally young and suffer from being unable to die. Swift therefore sees death as a completely natural and somewhat just event. The lands known to the protagonist in this voyage are the least appreciated by him, so much so that he can't wait to return to England, which he does at the first opportunity, passing through Japan.
Gulliver's fourth voyage takes him to the land of the Houyhnhnms, beings very similar to horses, but endowed with a reason in many ways superior to that of humans. This people have subjugated the Yahoos, almost identical to humans, yet they possess an animal nature and are guided by instinct. The protagonist fits in perfectly in this land and, despite being considered belonging to a new type of Yahoo inexplicably endowed with reason, he has many conversations and exchanges of ideas with the Houyhnhnms who host him. They do not know deceit and lies, war, and violence, and Gulliver finds much difficulty in explaining their meaning. Human reason and that of this imaginary people are therefore very different because man uses his primarily to do harm, a concept that does not exist in the world of the Houyhnhnms, who, in fact, have no words to express it, thus being forced to add the word "yahoo" to the corresponding positive meaning. Here's another particularity that signals the disdain the people, and by reflection Gulliver who is now fully integrated, feel for the Yahoos. However, the Supreme Council banishes Gulliver, not admitting that a being similar to the Yahoos lives on equal terms, and the unfortunate traveler is forced to return home against his will. Once in England, Gulliver cannot stand the sight and especially the smell of other men, and he retires to live in the stable, in the company of those horses that so remind him of the Houyhnhnms.
"Gulliver's Travels" is a very relevant book because its critiques of society, which in many ways remains the same as it was in the 1700s, are still relevant. And it is absolutely not a children's book, I strongly reaffirm it. This is a book that should be read from ages 16-17 and up, and if you did so in your childhood, I highly recommend picking it up again and reading it with a new mindset.
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