Gulliver's Travels Part 2, Chapters 1-4
Part 2, Chapters 1-4
Gulliver's restless soul allows him to remain at home for just two months, at which point he takes up a position on the ship, Adventure, bound for Surat. The initial journey until the Cape of Good Hope is pleasant, and the ship then winters there. The ship returns to its course in March but encounters strong winds after crossing the straits of Madagascar. The wind drives the ship, and one day it suddenly ceases. The captain warns the crew to prepare for a storm, which begins the very next day as the Southern monsoon sets it. The ship and its crew bravely bear the storm, but after its passage, they are driven East by a strong wind and into unknown waters. The ship is well provisioned so none of the sailors are worried about food, however, there is a shortage of drinking water. The topmast sights land not far off, but owing to the bulk of the ship, they are unable to bring it to the land. The captain sends a group of well-armed men in a longboat, and Gulliver requests permission to accompany them to discover the nature of the land.
Gulliver lands on the beach unable to sight any sign of habitation, he then takes a different direction from his companions who set out to look for a source of water. He finds nothing in his wanderings and begins to make his way toward the spot of landing. He suddenly perceives the men leaving with the longboat rowing for their life, as a gargantuan monster pursues them. Gulliver runs back the way he had come and finds himself on a steep hill. He sees that the countryside is fully cultivated and the shortest hay crops are several times his size. He takes what seems to be the high road but later learns is only a gravel path. Gulliver sees a man of gargantuan proportions appear, and he hails other giants, who are less well dressed than him. Gulliver hides in the field of corn and watches with horror as the giant farmer directs his labor to harvest the corn. The laborers advance with their huge scythes and begin to cut at the corn, the scythe coming perilously close to Gulliver. He decides to make himself known, as he fast thinks he is likely to die on the island.
Gulliver screams as loud as he can, and is discovered by a laborer. The laborer examines him closely and Gulliver behaves civilly and makes gestures of peace. He does so to prevent the laborer from merely smashing to the ground, as people are want to do with small and hateful creatures. The laborer takes him to the farmer, who inspects him with great interest. Gulliver does his best to appear docile and intelligent, and the farmer takes Gulliver home. There he shows Gulliver to his wife, who is at first greatly frightened by him, but Gulliver does his best to appear non-threatening. The lady soon grows very affectionate with Gulliver, and they all sit down to eat lunch. Gulliver is grabbed by the legs by the farmer's young son, and then nearly swallowed by the toddler. The cat and the dogs in the house don't seem very bothered by Gulliver and leave him alone. The farmer leaves, directs his wife to care for Gulliver, and she puts him to sleep as he mimes to her his tiredness. He wakes in two hours and has to battle two rats for his life as they attempt to eat him. Gulliver kills one of the beasts with his sword while the other flees. The lady finds Gulliver all bloody with the carcass of a dead rat.
Gulliver's master had a daughter of nine years, who became Gulliver's caretaker. She bore him a lot of affection, she made clothes of the softest materials for him and began to educate him in their language. Gulliver thoroughly enjoys his little nurse's affection and care. The family began to call him a mannequin in their language, while he affectionately referred to his caretaker as Glumdalclitch meaning little nurse. Gulliver's master began to tell his neighbors of Gulliver, and soon one of the neighboring farmers came to see the wonder himself. This miserly neighbor introduced the notion of making money by displaying him at the market fair. Gulliver learns of this scheme through his now crying caretaker, who is deathly afraid for Gulliver's well-being. Gulliver endeavors to bear the ordeal and he is first shown in a room of a nearby inn. Gulliver's Glumdalclitch accompanies him and stays by him to ensure his safety. Gulliver does a wonderful job of entertaining the crowd with his good manners, and perfect movements. However, he soon grows weary of having to perform the feat numerous times for the ever-increasing number of people willing to pay to view him.
The farmer began to receive requests for private audiences, which allowed him to make the same amount as he would earn by making Gulliver perform at a room in an inn. The farmer is always very careful to ensure Gulliver's safety and provides him a barricade for any rowdy members of the audience. The performances done at home are easier to bear for Gulliver as the most difficult part of the process lay in traveling. Soon, the farmer realizes that he must show Gulliver in the big cities to earn better, and puts into motion the plans to go to the cities. He takes along Gulliver's little nurse, and one other boy from the house. They arrive at an inn in the city and send out the usual message with the crier about Gulliver's performance at the inn.
Gulliver feels pushed to exhaustion by the repeated performances, and his health begins to deteriorate. The farmer suspects that Gulliver is soon going to die, and so tries to get all the money he can from him. The Queen hears of Gulliver's presence through the ladies of the court who had attended one of his performances. She summons the farmer to the palace for performance and manages to severely impress the Queen. She decides to purchase him from the farmer, who asks for a thousand gold pieces in exchange for Gulliver, and the sum is readily provided. Gulliver convinces the Queen to bring the farmer's daughter into her service, for she had cared for him very deeply. The queen assents and brings Gulliver's little nurse to the royal palace. The queen observes the cold farewell Gulliver bids the farmer, and questions him about his attitude. Gulliver passionately explains the maltreatment he had received at the hands of the farmer, and the queen is much impressed by his ability to express rational emotions and takes him to see the King. The king is a somber and intelligent man, who at first comes to believe that Gulliver is some clockwork but when he begins to speak, the King begins to suspect that he is some kind of animal that has been taught to repeat phrases by the farmer and his daughter. He summons the learned scholars of his court, who inspect him and conclude that Gulliver is a freak of nature. He dismisses the learned men, and speaks to the farmer in private, and concludes that Gulliver is indeed what he claims to be, a man from a country where people grow to his size.
The queen becomes very fond of Gulliver, and commissions workmen to craft for him living quarters appropriate for his size. Gulliver also receives clothes made of their finest materials, which to him are little better than the fabric of blankets. She enjoys having him on the table when she dines and places him on a table of his size right next to her. She enjoys watching him carve his meat so carefully, and with such good manners. Gulliver on the other hand has a difficult time not being disgusted at how the queen eats, for he sees her take mouthfuls of food that would serve as a farmer's whole meal. The king enjoys dining with Gulliver as well and asks him several questions about the politics and culture of his own country. He finds it amusing that creatures as small as Gulliver would contrive to play at politics of power in their little burrows. Gulliver is at first very offended, but being unable to repay any injuries, he considers his majesty's words and finds in comparison to the size of the people in this country, the people of his own country did indeed seem somewhat insignificant.
Gulliver develops a kind of rivalry with the Queen's dwarf, who is about 30 feet in height and is yet the smallest creature in all of the lands. The dwarf vexes him by throwing him into a saucer of cream and wedging him inside a bone emptied of its marrow. Eventually, the queen dismisses the hateful dwarf, and Gulliver never has to look at him again. Gulliver has a lot of trouble with flies, and wasps since they are several times their usual size. He is forced to defend himself with his sword several times, and the curious queen takes his behavior to indicate cowardice and wonders whether all the people in his land were such cowards. Gulliver kills some of the wasps that vex him and takes their sting from the carcasses, which he later gives to a college in England, and keeps one for himself.
Gulliver begins to describe the country of Brobdingnag, which is the name for that land of Giants. Gulliver explains that the map makers of Europe are mistaken in their claim that there only ocean lies between Japan and California. The kingdom of Giants stretches for miles around, and is shaped like a peninsula, one end of the island is blocked off by mountains as high as 30 miles, but impossible to surpass for they are all active volcanos, the scholars of the land are unaware whether there is any habitation on that side of the island or not. However, the island has no access to ocean ports for the seaside is lined with the sharpest of rocks that prevent the use of ships, but the rivers of the land are busy with ships.
Gulliver is only able to travel a little way around the metropolis of Lobrulgrud, as the queen only travels so far when she sets out with the king for his royal tours. Gulliver and his caretaker are given a coach to see the city, and his little nurse takes him out to see the city along with her governess. Gulliver at one time has his coach surrounded by beggars and is forced to confront the abhorrent details of their deformities, as well as the disgusting creatures like lice that infect them. The queen has another box crafted for Gulliver's benefit, given that his apartment is far too large to be carried around all the time. The ingenious craftsman creates a smaller box that allows Gulliver to look at the outside, while the box is strapped to either his little nurse's waist or that of a trusted servant. Gulliver's renown grows through the importance of his patrons, and several people request to meet him in person.
Gulliver has a deep desire to visit the temple, which is famed to have the tallest tower in all of the nations. However, the height of the tower fails to impress him, but the expert craftsmanship of the statutes and decorations leaves him in awe. He is further impressed by the sight of the king's army more than anything else.
Analysis
Reversal is an important motif that Johnathan swift employs in Gulliver's travels, as on his second voyage Gulliver learns what it is to be a tiny person. He now has to worry about being trampled rather than trampling someone as he had done in Lilliput. Earlier, he had made a fortune by taking livestock from Lilliput, and the farmer in Brobdingnag treats him in much the same way as he treated that livestock. Gulliver's experience with the giants of Brobdingnag is hardly positive for he's turned into a slave and forced to perform tricks for the enrichment of a farmer. In Lilliput, Gulliver was nearly a god and had turned the tide of a long war without much difficulty, but in Brobdingnag, he is little more than a slave. Over several instances in the novel, Johnathan swift satirizes expert knowledge that is showier than useful. In this section of the book, he pokes fun at sailors and travelers as he describes how the ship and its crew prepared for the storm. The whole section is filled with jargon that barely communicates and coming from the mouth of the simple Gulliver, this tirade is made all the more ridiculous.
Gulliver's interaction with the dwarf is particularly well written, and it serves to highlight an important moral lesson. The dwarf has found a way to the circle of powers through his distinctiveness in being the smallest, but that uniqueness is soon lost to Gulliver, who happens to be smaller and more perfectly formed than the Dwarf. It can be supposed that the moral lesson Swift meant to impart argued that those who sought power through their distinctiveness were just as immoral as the politicians that attempted to advance through the usually corrupt corridors of power.
