Department of English

Motifs:
Bodies
Variations in physical form are used to illustrate larger differences in cultural 
philosophy between the different nations Gulliver visits. Bodily functions and 
sickness, and how different cultures deal with these issues, also provide a 
telling glimpse at their ways of thinking.
Language
Gulliver has a great facility with languages, which serves him well as he visits 
new lands. The language barrier allows Gulliver and his hosts to discover one 
another more slowly and drives conflict, but the learning of languages also 
bridges the divides between cultures.
Reversal
Reversals of the normal order of things drive the changes in perspective that 
allow Gulliver to learn from his travel experiences and experience growth. 
Reversals are driven by differences in physical size, as in the lands of Lilliput 
and Brobdingnag, and by intellectual differences, as seen in Laputa and 
Balnibarbi. Gulliver's time with the Houyhnhnm reverses the established order 
between man (Yahoo) and horse (Houyhnhnm). 

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English Hons. SEM – II PAPER – CC3 # 
Gulliver's Travels 
(Krishna Mahali) 
31
Suggested Reading 
 
Damrosch, Leo.
Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World
. New Haven: Yale UP, 
2013. Print.
Higgitt, Rebeka. "Gulliver's Travels in Science and Satire." The Guardian, N.p. 
14 March 2013. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.
Jan, K.M, and Shabnam Firdaus.
Perspectives on Gulliver's Travels
. New Delhi: 
Atlantic, 2004. Print.
Orwell, George. "Politics vs. Literature: An Examination of Gulliver's Travels."
Fifty Orwell Essays. N.p.: Oxford City, 2010. 469-87. Print.