Gulliver's Travels And Miguel Cervantes Analysis

Starting with Thomas More’s famous work Utopia, a wave of writers began publicly questioning the societies they live in and their own human nature. Anthropomorphism quickly became a popular technique of exposing flaws in these areas. Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and Miguel Cervantes’ The Dogs Colloquy each utilize the technique of anthropomorphism to educate their readers on certain morals or values they believe in. Each of these authors anthropomorphize different animals in their stories; Cervantes uses dogs and Swift uses horses. In each of their respective works, these authors select the animals they anthropomorphize for opposite reasons. Swift chooses horses because their qualities directly contradict the manner in which Swift employs them in his story, whereas Cervantes chooses dogs because their qualities …show more content…
However, both these works use their respective animals to best construct the necessary change in perspective to display the moral or value the author wishes to emphasize. This change in perspective, which the anthropomorphism reinforces, is the key in making the reader adjust his or her perspective while taking a step back and engaging in some critical self-analysis. By reversing the traditional roles man and beast play in society, it becomes easier for readers to understand the flaws inherent within themselves and their societies. Miguel Cervantes chose to anthropomorphize dogs in his The Dogs Colloquy because their qualities in real life perfectly correspond to their purpose in his story. Dogs represent loyalty, both now and in 16th century Europe. Dogs are