In the novel, Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift expresses his ideas about politics, society, and the presumed self-righteousness of human society. The effects of social darwinism are profound and are evident within the characters in the story. Throughout the story, the desire to rise to a higher social standard is the driving motive behind the character’s actions.
A main theme of the novel is how an individual can become distorted by their own thirst to climb up the social hierarchy. In her analysis, “Society Cannot be Flat”, Monica Jacobe states, “Gulliver proves an excellent translator in every complicated world in which he finds himself, but he continually seeks to improve his position in the hierarchy, to be on equal footing with the characters” (Jacobe, 1). Gulliver constantly finds himself in a …show more content…
When Gulliver meets the king of Lilliput, he was, “commanded to crawl upon my belly, and lick the floor as I advanced; but, on account of my being a stranger, care was taken to have it made so clean, that the dust was not offensive” (Swift, 207). This is an extreme example of giving in just to be welcomed in the presence of an authoritative figure. When speaking with the Master Horse about his culture, Gulliver says, “that my birth was of the lower sort, having been born of plain honest parents, who were just able to give me a tolerable education; that nobility, among us, was altogether a different thing from the idea he had of it” (Swift, 256). Gulliver and Swift are identical in their up bringing which is what he meant to illustrate. English society had been corrupted with the idea that anyone born out of the noble class was worthless to the progress of their agenda and to society as a whole. A person who is born in the lower or middle class must struggle and even beg at times just to climb the societal ladder by a single rung. Swift's religion
A main theme of the novel is how an individual can become distorted by their own thirst to climb up the social hierarchy. In her analysis, “Society Cannot be Flat”, Monica Jacobe states, “Gulliver proves an excellent translator in every complicated world in which he finds himself, but he continually seeks to improve his position in the hierarchy, to be on equal footing with the characters” (Jacobe, 1). Gulliver constantly finds himself in a …show more content…
When Gulliver meets the king of Lilliput, he was, “commanded to crawl upon my belly, and lick the floor as I advanced; but, on account of my being a stranger, care was taken to have it made so clean, that the dust was not offensive” (Swift, 207). This is an extreme example of giving in just to be welcomed in the presence of an authoritative figure. When speaking with the Master Horse about his culture, Gulliver says, “that my birth was of the lower sort, having been born of plain honest parents, who were just able to give me a tolerable education; that nobility, among us, was altogether a different thing from the idea he had of it” (Swift, 256). Gulliver and Swift are identical in their up bringing which is what he meant to illustrate. English society had been corrupted with the idea that anyone born out of the noble class was worthless to the progress of their agenda and to society as a whole. A person who is born in the lower or middle class must struggle and even beg at times just to climb the societal ladder by a single rung. Swift's religion