Gulliver’s Travels 1039to be as I say!” While Tom is a dutiful laborer on
Legree’s miserable plantation, he does not submit
his soul to Legree’s control and is met with relent-
less beatings. Yet even while he suffers, Tom offers
comfort to Legree’s other miserable slaves. In his
final sacrifice, Tom submits to the beating that kills
him rather than reveal the whereabouts of Cassey
and Emmeline, who are in the process of escaping
to freedom.
Other examples of the link between Christian
sympathy and antislavery can be found throughout
the novel. Emily Shelby’s care in educating Eliza
and personal interest in the well-being of the fam-
ily’s slaves comes from her duty as a “Christian
woman.” She describes her emotional distress over
the sale of Tom and Harry as “God’s curse on slav-
ery” and declares it “a sin to hold slaves under laws
like ours.” Mary Bird justifies her sheltering fugitive
slaves with the Bible, which teaches “that I must
feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and comfort the
desolate; and that Bible I mean to follow.” For Mrs.
Bird, fighting slavery is a religious act: “Obeying
God never brings on public evils. I know it can’t. It’s
always safest, all round, to do as He bids us.” At the
Quakers’ settlement, where Eliza, Harry, and George
Harris have found refuge, George learns to let go of
the bitterness and “atheistic doubt” that slavery bred
in him. From this experience of “simple, overflowing
kindness,” George feels “the belief in God, and trust
in His providence” encircle his heart.
Roger Hecht
SwiF T, JoNaTHaN Gulliver’s Travels
(1726, 1735)
Master satirist Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) cov-
ers most of mankind’s foibles and frivolities in his
tale of Lemuel Gulliver’s journeys in Gulliver’s
Travels, which was originally published in 1726
and amended in 1735. On these journeys, Gulliver
meets the Lilliputians, the Brobdingnagians, the
Houyhnhnms, the Yahoos, and the Laputans—each
of which allows Swift to criticize, however subtly or
openly, various members of the society in which he
lived. The Lilliputians represent those who choose
political leaders through foolish means and who
make many other illogical decisions. Continuing in
this area, Swift uses the Brobdingnagians to satirize
English rulers and political structures.
The contrast between the Houyhnhnms (rul-
ing horses) and the Yahoos (animal-like humans)
allows Swift to show his despair at the level to
which human beings can, and do, sink. Later, in
the narrator Gulliver’s description of Laputa and its
inhabitants, Swift manages to show another extreme
of humanity—those caught up in advancement,
whether scientific or philosophical, to the point
where they lose common sense and practicality.
Throughout these criticisms, Swift manages to
zero in on characteristics of individuals as well as
of society as a whole. Among the extensive satire
appearing in Gulliver’s Travels, one can definitely
take note of Swift’s views in three areas: the indi-
vidual and society, pride, and science and
technology.
Shirley ShumanIndIvIduaL and SocIety in Gulliver’s Travels
Jonathan Swift’s protagonist, Lemuel Gulliver, nar-
rates in detail his experiences among the societies
found in Gulliver’s Travels. In each, Gulliver quickly
recognizes that government officials see their society
representing the ideal, and he generally tries to adapt
to that ideal.
Gulliver first lands on the island of Lilliput,
inhabited by six-inch-tall individuals whose gov-
ernment officials quickly demonstrate a definite
distinction between the rights of the individual and
the expectations of society. After being shipwrecked,
Gulliver swims to land and, exhausted, immediately
enters a deep sleep. Upon awakening, he discovers
that he has been taken prisoner by “a human creature
not six inches high, with a bow and arrow in his hand”
along with “many more of the same kind.” Follow-
ing much discussion and ensuing maneuvers, these
diminutive individuals transport Gulliver to their
capital, where he resides until learning he is in grave
danger of being blinded because of his differences.
While on Lilliput, Gulliver notes many Lillipu-
tian practices as Swift begins developing the theme
of the individual versus society. This struggle first
appears as the inhabitants provide entertainment for
their prisoner-guest. Gulliver describes one “diver-
sion . . . practiced by those candidates for great