Gulliver's Travels

A detailed Summary of Gulliver's Travels

Socrates stated, "The unexamined life is not worth living." From the beginning of a man's life, he looks for a purpose or a calling that he has been placed on the earth to fulfil or become. Authors throughout the ages, aware of this knowledge, write with the intent helping man search inside his self to examine the purpose of his existence. Swift uses many techniques to spark this analysis.

One technique Swift uses in Guliver's Travels is juxtaposition. An example of juxtaposition comes when Swift lands Gulliver on an island of giants. The comparison of the giants to Gulliver causes the reader to realize what small importance a single man has in the world. "...showing how diminutive, contemptible, and helpless an animal was man in his own nature..." (141). As Gulliver explains what he reads in an giant book, he explains how man cannot effectively protect himself from his surroundings. "...unable to defend himself from the inclemencies of the air, or the fury of wild beasts..." (152). Gulliver then reads that the author believes that man should have origina

Swift also uses a technique called shock value in Gulliver's Travels. When Gulliver gazed across the open field at forty foot stalks of corn, he stands amazed. Gulliver runs and hides at his first encounter with one of the giants. This shock factor the reader shares with Gulliver helps to enhance the idea of mans unimportance as an individual. Another shock the reader experiences occurs when Gulliver arrives in the land of the Houyhnhnms. The primary shock consists of the disbelief that horses could ever become civilized or develop their own language. Then, when the reader learns of the lifestyle of the Houyhnhnms, the sense of shock increases. The reader learns of the peaceful and tranquil world they live in and begin to see mankind as savage and inhumane. With this new knowledge of a different, and in many ways better, way of life, the reader begins to ponder if what he or she believes as normal is in fact the correct and/or most efficient/effective way of life.

Swift uses many techniques throughout the book to force man to examine his life. These techniques act a subtle tools in getting across id

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 755
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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Gulliver's Travels

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