2.2. Hypostases
At the beginning of the novel, Gulliver is an everyman through whose eyes the reader sees the inhabitants of the places he visits. For most of the book, merely recounts his observations in deadpan mode. He appears to have no will or desires, but is led from land to land by fate. He gives his detailed descriptions without judgment, and without the capacity for reflection and distance that the reader possesses. He often fails to see the ludicrous, greedy, and morally depraved nature of the people around him, whereas this is all too clear to the reader. This gap between Gulliver's and the reader's perception of events leads to dramatic irony (a literary device in which the reader or audience of a work knows more than the character).
As a middle-of-the-road human being, Gulliver finds himself to be morally superior to the Lilliputians but morally inferior to the Brobdingnagians. In Brobdingnag, his weakness becomes clear. It is his pride in, and loyalty to, England, which leads him to lie to the Brobdingnagian king in order to paint his country in a favorable light.
As Gulliver's education progresses, he makes more direct judgments on the societies he visits, though at first these are understated. For example, in Part I, Chapter V, after the ministers have plotted to kill Gulliver in gruesome ways for trivial offenses, he notes for the first time that courts and ministers may not be perfect. By the end of his stay in Laputa, he is overtly despondent about the Laputans' shortcomings and the ruined society that they have sacrificed to theoretical thought.
Gulliver is somewhat more tranquil and less restless at the end of the story than he is at the beginning. In desiring first to stay with the Houyhnhnms, then to find an island on which he can live in exile, Gulliver shows that his adventures have taught him that a simple life, one without the complexities and weaknesses of human society, may be best. At the same time, his tranquility is superficial—lying not far below the surface is a deep distaste for humanity that is aroused as soon as the crew of Don Pedro de Mendez captures him. “From our point of view, after we have looked at the world through Gulliver’s eyes for much of the novel, Gulliver undergoes several interesting transformations: from the naive Englishman to the experienced but still open-minded world traveler of the first two voyages; then to the jaded island-hopper of the third voyage; and finally to the cynical, disillusioned, and somewhat insane misanthrope of the fourth voyage”[22].
Gulliver's stay in the land of the Houyhnhnms marks the complete loss of his objectivity and innocence. He finds himself midway between the rationality of the Houyhnhnms and the bestiality of the Yahoos. So impressed is he by the Houyhnhnms and so disgusted is he by the Yahoos that he becomes obsessed with trying to be like the Houyhnhnms, when he physically resembles the Yahoos far more. Finally, he gives way to an insanity in which he seems to believe himself to be a Houyhnhnm and rejects even the best of humankind because he believes them to be Yahoos. At the end of the book, Gulliver is still trying to re-acclimatize to life among humans. While condemning his fellow men for their pride, he fails to see that he himself has fallen victim to pride in his disgust at humanity. As a result, the reader ceases to look through his eyes to judge others and begins to look at him and judge him. He, too, becomes an object of satire.
Most of the time during his travels, Gulliver feels isolated from the societies he visits. He does not fit in anywhere, and even during his brief returns to England, he expresses no wish to stay and leaves as quickly as he can. This has led to some critics calling Gulliver's Travels the first novel of modern alienation.
The country of the Houyhnhnms is unique among the nations Gullliver visits because of its subjugation of the individual to the good of society as a whole, which leads to an orderly and well-run nation. The price is that there is little room for human-style individuality. Nobody can become attached to their children because they may be assigned to another family that has a shortage of children; mates are chosen not by individual preference, but for the good of the race; servanthood is genetically mandated. Only during his stay with the Houyhnhnms does Gulliver wish to assimilate into society. His attempts are ridiculous, leading to his taking on the gait and speech patterns of his horse hosts. More seriously, they are doomed to fail: the Houyhnhnms decide that he is not one of them and expel him. The only society to which Gulliver wishes to belong will not have him. Swift raises questions about the conflict between the individual and society, but does not resolve them.
In many ways, Gulliver’s role as a generic human is more important than any personal opinions or abilities he may have. Fate and circumstance conspire to lead him from place to place, while he never really asserts his own desires. By minimizing the importance of Gulliver as a specific person, Swift puts the focus on the social satire itself. At the same time, Gulliver himself becomes more and more a subject of satire as the story progresses. At the beginning, he is a standard issue European adventurer; by the end, he has become a misanthrope who totally rejects human society. It is in the fourth voyage that Gulliver becomes more than simply a pair of eyes through which we see a series of unusual societies. He is, instead, a jaded adventurer who has seen human follies—particularly that of pride—at their most extreme, and as a result has descended into what looks like, and probably is, a kind of madness.
Conclusions
After the researching of the novel “Gulliver’s Travels” by Johnatan Swift we can assert that the changing hypostases really took place in the behavior and morality of the protagonist. We were interested to see how the protagonist has changed both spiritually and physically. The physical changes lie on surface, we know that the main character changed his size, but to track the spiritual changes was more difficult. We can draw a conclusion that the travels of the main character have changed his inner world completely.
While some enjoy Gulliver's Travels as a diversionary story, it is clear that it was not written primarily for this purpose. There are many concepts and ideas within the novel that were clearly written to challenge and trouble. Swift accomplishes his aim very well through his use of humor and comments on society.
Swift vexed people with Gulliver's Travels by designing his imaginary societies to parallel his own. He thus created conflict between those with more power and those with less, the latter wanting change and the former wanting to prevent change. This may have troubled those who did not question the status quo, who may agree with the powerful people because they are happy with their life. However, Gulliver's Travels is a sincere comment on Swift's society that would garner both respect and ridicule. This novel is a very interesting political analysis and satire of various governments and societies. The author compares each land to the government and society of his native England.
We could notice that the author, through his descriptions, contemplates different types of governments. Many of the governments he describes are depictions of governments in existence at the time in which the author lived. The author's own discontent with the English government and European society is the focus of this novel. Through fanciful imaginings, the author depicts chaotic and ridiculous lands that closely resemble the European countries of his time. Many of the conflicts in the novel correspond to actual events. Numerous characters actually represent members of European society.
So it’s a well-known fact that the author uses this novel as a satire and criticism of English and European governments and societies. It is through this novel that the Author expresses his own political beliefs by favorable or disparaging descriptions of the different lands. Towards the conclusion of the novel, the Author describes his total rejection of European Government and society. He longs for an ideal country to exist like the one he had seen in the land of the Houyhnhnms. Swift was just one of the many Europeans who was unhappy with the political and social environment in Europe. This discontent was what caused many Europeans to leave and come to the New World, to America. This dissatisfaction is what founded our country today. The Land of the Houyhnhnms is what many of the unhappy Europeans hoped the New World to be.
The novel “Gulliver’s Travels” has made a profound impression on readers as well as on whole cultures. From its earliest days till nowadays, “Gulliver’s Travels” has received universal acclaim as a masterpiece of satirical prose.
Bibliography
1. Bullitt, John M. Jonathan Swift and the Anatomy of Satire: A Study of Satiric Technique. Cambridge: Harvard U P, 1953.
2. Crecicovschi Ecaterina” The Anthology of English Literature 17th-18th centuries” Chisinau, 2004
3. Dennis Nigel. Swift and Defoe // Swift J. Gulliver's Travels. An Authoritative Text. - N.Y., 1970.
4. Forster, John. The Life of Jonathan Swift. London: J. Murray, 1875.
5. Johnson, Samuel "Swift." The Lives of the English Poets: and a criticism on their works. Dublin
6. Nokes, David. Jonathan Swift, a Hypocrite Reversed: A Critical Biography. New York: Oxford, 1985.
7. Johnson, Samuel "Swift." The Lives of the English Poets: and a criticism on their works. Dublin, 1779-81.
8. Karl Frederick R. A Reader's Guide to the Development of the English Novel in the 18th Century. - L., 1975. 8. Lawlor, John. "The Evolution of Gulliver's Character." Essays and Studies. London: The English Association, 1956. 69-73.
9. H. L. Mencken, Introduction, Gulliver's Travels. New York 1925
10. Swift, Deane, 1707-1783. An Essay upon the Life, Writings, and Character, of Dr. Jonathan Swift. 1755. New York: Garland Pub., 1974.
11. Smith, Raymond J., Jr. "The `Character' of Lemuel Gulliver." Tennessee Studies in Literature 10 (1965).
12. Zimmerman, Lester F. "Lemuel Gulliver." Weathers, Jonathan Swift: Tercentenary Essays (1967) 61-73.
13. Watt Ian. The Rise of the Novel. - 1957.
14. Дубашинский И.А. «Путешествия Гулливера» Джонатан Свифт, Москва 1969
15. Уотт Айэн. Происхождение романа (1957). Пер. О.Ю. Анцыфаровой // Вестник МГУ. Серия 9. Филология. - 2001. - № 3. - С.147-173.
16. Урнов Д.М. Робинзон и Гулливер: Судьба двух литературных героев. - М., 1973.
[1] Crecicovschi Ecaterina” The Anthology of English Literature 17th-18th centuries” Chisinau, 2004 ( p193)
[2] The Tories were the political ancestors of the present-day Conservatives; the Whigs of the Liberals.
[3] The subject of Wooten’s fine poem
[4] Crecicovschi Ecaterina” The Anthology of English Literature 17th-18th centuries” Chisinau, 2004 ( p.168)
[5] Karl Frederick R. A Reader's Guide to the Development of the English Novel in the 18th Century. - L., 1975.
[6] Watt Ian. The Rise of the Novel. - 1957.
[7] Уотт Айэн. Происхождение романа (1957). Пер. О.Ю. Анцыфаровой // Вестник МГУ. Серия 9. Филология. - 2001. - № 3. - С.147.
[8] Sir Leslie Stephen
[9] Swift, Deane, 1707-1783. An Essay upon the Life, Writings, and Character, of Dr. Jonathan Swift. 1755. Swiftiana 14. New York: Garland Pub., 1974.
[10] Johnson, Samuel "Swift." The Lives of the English Poets: and a criticism on their works. Dublin, Whitestone, Williams, Colles, Wilson 1779-81.( p.155)
[11] Forster, John. The Life of Jonathan Swift. London: J. Murray, 1875. (p.48)
[12] Nokes, David. Jonathan Swift, a Hypocrite Reversed: A Critical Biography. New York: Oxford, 1985.
[13] Craik, Henry. LIFE OF SWIFT. Swift: Selections From His Works. Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 1892.
[14] H. L. Mencken, Introduction, Gulliver's Travels. New York, 1925
[15] Bullitt, John M. Jonathan Swift and the Anatomy of Satire: A Study of Satiric Technique. Cambridge 1953.
[16] Johnson, Samuel "Swift." The Lives of the English Poets: and a criticism on their works. Dublin, 1779-81.
[17] Lawlor, John. "The Evolution of Gulliver's Character." Essays and Studies. London: 1956.
[18] Урнов Д.М. Робинзон и Гулливер: Судьба двух литературных героев. - М., 1973.
[19] Smith, Raymond J., Jr. "The `Character' of Lemuel Gulliver." Tennessee Studies in Literature 10 (1965).
[20] Dennis Nigel. Swift and Defoe // Swift J. Gulliver's Travels. An Authoritative Text. - N.Y., 1970.
[21] Smith, Raymond J., Jr. "The `Character' of Lemuel Gulliver." Tennessee Studies in Literature 10 (1965).
[22] Smith, Raymond J., Jr. "The `Character' of Lemuel Gulliver." Tennessee Studies in Literature 10 (1965).
0 комментариев