Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was a writer, journalist, and political activist. He is best known for his satirical novel Gulliver’s Travel and the satirical essay on the Irish famine, “A Modest Proposal.” ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ is a book of fantasy, satire and political allegory, and it is very loved in all ages. He wrote Gulliver’s Travels in 1725, and it was published in 1726. The book was a great success throughout the British Empire and earned the author the titles of a writer and commentator of great quality and reputation. In this book, Gulliver’s journey, a surgeon on a merchant ship, to four imaginary countries is made. Thus, the book is divided into four parts. His first trip is to Lilliput, whose inhabitants are about six inches tall. His second visit is to Brobdingnag, the country of the giants. His third visit is to the Islands of Laputa and Legedo, inhabited by philosophers and scientists, who have a love for music and mathematics. His last visit is to the land of the Honyhnhnms and Yahoos. They are rational, civilized horses, and the Yahoos are unreasonable, bestial human beings, completely filthy.
Before talking about the symbols in his work, ‘Gulliver’s Travel’, we should know something about the literary term ‘symbol’. The word ‘Symbol’ is derived from the Late Latin word ‘Symbolum’ meaning symbol, sign, or emblem. It is, in fact, the ornament of literature. The author uses it to expose all the hidden things or the philosophy of working honestly to the readers as they may not have a hard time being understood. If such a thing happened, the work would not be interesting and useful to represent the time. It is evident that Jonathan Swift has used symbols to convey his ideas to readers making it easier with his help. Taking all things into account, we can say that a symbol is something that stands for something else. In Gulliver’s Travels, everything represents something else because it is written with the purpose of criticizing contemporary philosophies and customs. Almost every person in this book represents a historical figure or an idea.
Let’s examine the symbols used in his work, The Gulliver’s Travel’.
In the first book, Swift recounts Gulliver’s visit to the Lilliputians, the six-inch inhabitants. They represent the symbol of the extreme pride of humanity. The author ironically represents the race. He discovers that they are small creatures with small minds, but they are the repertoire of gossip and conspiracies; despite this, they are considered large. Gulliver falls under the spell of his vainglory and becomes gullible at his threats of punishment, even though the race has no real physical power over him. Gulliver learns more about the culture of the Lilliputians and the vast difference in size between him and the race. It is an explicit satire of the British government. Gulliver discovers that Lilliputian government officials are chosen for their ability to dance on ropes, which is recognized as arbitrary and ridiculous. It symbolizes the system of political appointments in England that is arbitrary. The difference in their sizes symbolizes the importance of physical power. Gulliver can crush the Lilliputians by walking carelessly, but they don’t realize their own insignificance which symbolizes their narrow-mindedness. They keep Gulliver on a leash, believing they can control him. Swift symbolizes humanity’s empty claim to power and meaning.
Swift is very careful in the case of her satire and use of symbols. The articles signed by Gulliver to obtain his freedom are in a smug and formal language that symbolizes a meaningless and contradictory piece of paper, because Gulliver is the symbol of great strength and power. He may breach all restraints for his own safety. The story of the conflict between Lilliput and Blefuscu is ridiculous. High heels and low heels symbolize the Whigs and Tories of English politics. Lilliput and Blefuscu symbolize England and France. The violent conflict between Big Endians and Little Endians symbolizes the Protestant Reformation and the centuries of war between Catholics and Protestants. So, European history is like a series of brutal wars over pointless and arbitrary disagreements. The conflict “how a person chooses to break an egg” is a symbol of silliness and triviality. It is ridiculous and unreasonable that one can conclude that there is no right or wrong way to worship. Swift suggests that the Christian Bible can be interpreted in more than one way. It’s ridiculous for people to fight over how to interpret it when you’re not sure if one’s interpretation is right and someone else’s is wrong.
The Lilliputian Emperor is the symbol of tyranny, cruelty, and corruption, and he is obsessed with the ceremony that displays an unchanging symbol of bad government. It is also a scathing satire on George I, King of England (1714-1727), for much of Swift’s career. He has no admiration for the king. The Lilliputian Empress represents Queen Anne, who blocked Swift’s advance into the Church of England, offended by some of his earlier satire. Gulliver’s urination in his room enacts Swift’s ‘A Tale of a Tub’. The Empress’s disgust at Gulliver’s urination is similar to Queen Anne’s criticism of Swift’s work and her efforts to limit his prospects in the Church of England. In reality, her urination symbolizes her ability to control the Lilliputians. She illustrates the importance of physical power. Gulliver disobeys the Emperor’s order to destroy Blefuscu’s fleet and signs the sentiments of his responsibility towards all beings. Gulliver is in a position to change the society of the Lilliputians forever. There is an army reference between Lilliput and Blefuscu symbolizing their patriotic glories with such a proud march of armies. The Lilliputian Emperor’s request for Gulliver to serve as a kind of makeshift triumphal arch for troops to pass through is a pathetic reminder that his grand parade is downright silly. The war with Blefuscu is the symbol of the absurd that comes out of wounded vanity. Hence the Lilliputians symbolize lost human pride and indicates Gulliver’s inability to diagnose it correctly.
In Book II (Part II), Jonathan Swift narrates Gulliver’s visit to the island of the giants. Here his gait is not a symbol of danger for the Borbdingnagians as it was on his visit to Lilliput because the situation is reversed. Borbdingnagians represent English forms. After a brief stint as a workaholic, Gulliver is rescued by the King and Queen, and lives a life of great comfort at court. He spends much of his time learning the language and talking to the king about life in England. The king emerges as a just and merciful ruler, a very understanding and humane man. Borbdingnagians symbolize the private, personal, and physical side of human beings, when examined closely. In the Lilliputians, Gulliver symbolized the power of a god, but here he is the symbol of the slave and the puppet to perform various tricks to pay off the spectators. Borbdingnagians do not symbolize negative human characteristics. The Borbdingnagians’ behavior is different and seems to be more civilized than Gulliver. The Queen’s goodwill towards Gulliver and common sense views are found. Their slavery is virtual which symbolizes the fundamental humanity of the Borbdingnagians. So it’s similar to Europeans who are happy to jump in quickly when the opportunity arises. He is a golden puppet in her hands, and is given a comfortable cradle with the protection of rats.
In this book, we find a dwarf who is unable to gain the power that usually accompanies great physical size, but gains a distinctive character that symbolizes the politics of those who attempt to achieve power not through physical force but through of its distinctive character that it is precisely immoral and normal. Ladies and their flaws symbolize imperfection examined through close enough scrutiny. Gulliver’s microscopic vision of flies and meat symbolizes the discovery of the microscope. The end of the 17th century saw the first publication of books containing enlarged images. Such microscope views knew levels of complexity and flaws. In his eyes, the diminutive size of Europeans corresponds to their moral weakness. Gulliver’s offer of gunpowder represents the imperfection of the British. The king’s refusal symbolizes this race, more humane than the other races. It means that, in this society, vices are minimized as much as possible. Although this career has made a great moral achievement, it is still not perfect.
Gulliver’s third visit is to Lupta showing Swift’s attack on science and abstract knowledge. The Laputans are the symbol of the stupidity of irrelevant theoretical knowledge for human life. During his voyage, his ship was attacked by pirates. He spoke to them in the Dutch language, but later his exposition of pagans more merciful than Christians symbolized Swift’s religious belief. In this visit, power is implemented not through physical size but through technology. The floating island is both a formidable weapon and an allegorical image that represents the symbol of the government and the people. In this visit, he narrates the rigid devotion of the Laputans for abstract theory, language, architecture and geography symbolize non-humanity. Scientists are engaged in extracting the sun’s rays from the cucumber and turning the droppings into food and turning ice into gunpowder. The architect undertook to design a way of building houses from the roof down that symbolized impossibility and purposelessness, representing the scientific society founded in 1660. Robert Boyle, Robert Hooke, and Isaac Newton were all Fellows of the Royal Society . His main task was to use the new techniques of science to improve the craft, etc. The theorist ruined a country by forcing its people to follow his new and totally useless methods.
Gulliver’s escape to Glubbdubdrib symbolizes Swift’s attempt to challenge the standards of abstract learning. In general, the ancient Greeks and Romans considered themselves truly virtuous, while the Europeans were somewhat degenerate. Furthermore, Luggnagg’s Struldburgs symbolize human desires. They seek eternal life and the first benefits of old age. Indeed, the wisdom of old age can be used to help humanity, but the Struldburg immortals only grow more prejudiced and selfish. The immense sadness of the struldbrugs and the emptiness of Gulliver’s desire to acquire wealth symbolize Swift’s condemnation of such self-absorbed goals as the state of small minds irrelevant to polite society.
Jonathan Swift narrates Gulliver’s fourth voyage to Honyhnhnms, representing an ideal of rational existence. Here, man is supposed to be yahoo, and is subject to animals. He represents that animals are more civilized or a model citizen. His society is safe from crime, poverty, disagreement and unhappiness. They are unaware of passion, joy and ecstatic love. The Honyhnhnms appeal to reason rather than any holy scripture as criteria for proper action. They do not use force, but only strong exhortations. All of Gulliver’s grievance suggests that they had an impact on him greater than any other society he has visited.
In fact, it is a bitter criticism of human beings. Jonathan Swift thinks of humanity on all three visits, but here he thinks of animals. In fact, the Honyhnhnms represent the misguided and ostentatious arrogance of man in the power of reason. Gulliver making canoes by sewing to gather the skins of hooligans to escape the island represents his rapid cynicism for humanity. If we discuss it further, it is the main weapon of the cynic or satirist to improve humanity because every satirist is a memory reformer.
In fact, it’s his book’s opinion in a nutshell. His work needs more attention and more time. It hides a great treasure from the corresponding era. It is recognized that his criticism is quick and harsh, but he has not used it to exploit the human being but to correct him by pointing out his follies.