The Knowledge That The Laputians Possess May

     Jonathan Swift is one of the best known satirists in the history of literature. When one reads his works, especially something like Gulliver’s Travels, it is easy for one to spot the misanthropic themes, which emerge within his characterization. Lamuel Gulliver is an excellent protagonist: a keen observer, and a good representative of his native England, but one who loses faith in mankind as his story progresses. He ends up in remote areas of the world all by accidents in his voyages. In each trip, he is shipwrecked and mysteriously arrives to lands never before seen by men. This forms an interesting rhythm in the novel: as Gulliver is given more and more responsibility, he tends to be less

Lee Sigelman once informedly wrote about the emotional effect knowledge has on human beings. Sigelman proves the notion “Ignorance is bliss” to be inaccurate evidenced by recent scientific studies. Lee expresses that ignorance can often be the cause of feelings of discontent and suffering. This can be proven wrong in the plays, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Both works show that knowledge has the power to make people feel unhappy and can be the reason people take drastic measures.

The book starts out with an intricate explanation of the analytical mind. As that is our introduction; it floats into our narrator recounting his acquaintance with another named: C. Auguste Dupin, whom our narrator recalls was very fond of books; having met him at an obscure library in the Rue Montmartre, they were searching for the same unique text. This accidental meeting brought them closer together, seeing each other frequently. Our narrator is fascinated with his new friend 's’ family history, which he was told many times. And is enthralled by Dupin’s love of literature. It is then detailed how our narrator gives himself up to Dupin’s ‘flights of fancy,’ letting himself be sucked into a vortex of fey dreams. Prone to prowling the streets at night, conversing amongst themselves. He then praises his friend’s analytical inclination, his skills of observation proved by a little chat about a play and a fruiterer.

“The use of knowledge in our sex, besides the amusement of solitude, is to moderate the passions, and learn to be contented with a small expense...it may be preferable even to that fame which men have engrossed themselves, and will not suffer us to share.”

Gulliver’s Travels, published in 1726, by Jonathan Swift, is a travel narrative about Lemuel Gulliver. Europe, around the time Swift published his novel, was dominated with ideas of Enlightenment which privileged rational thought and reason. Man during this time believed to be superior to all creatures, based on his ability to reason. Gulliver’s Travels satirically relates bodily functions and physical attributes to social issues as well as the Enlightenment Theory. Through the voyages of Gulliver, Swift breaks down the exalted notions which were associated with the age of the Enlightenment. Swift also uses graphic representations of the body and its functions, to reveal to the reader that greatness is

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift is a story about a man named Gulliver who travels to many different islands in his quest to get home. His first encounter is with the Lilliputians on their island of Lilliput. The Lilliputians seemed rational and reasonable at first, but in reality they are not rational at all. They are revealed to be irrational because they have a corrupt court, wierd laws, and blatant discrimination.

We as humans tend to have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. We look for knowledge about everybody and everything that surrounds us from our day-to-day life. Sadly though, we must accept that in the grand scheme of life we (as a society) tend to put pleasure above our quest for knowledge. The pursuit of knowledge tends to take time and energy, two things we call invaluable, and it also shows us things that might depress us. Contrastingly, ignorance takes no time and energy. Also, (as the common saying goes) ignorance is bliss. It keeps ugly truths away from us. But that is no reason to forsake knowledge for ignorance. In the early 1900’s, two books were published that would eventually be referred to the pinnacle of classical literature.

The unknown knowledge is what scares Montag’s society, and when aware of the unknown they are afraid of it and against it. Everyone in Montag's society believes what they are told. They have no background knowledge or even knowledge in general. They all believe that they are living in a world full of fun, unaware of what is going on around them “To one another! for the world, which seems To lie before us like a land of dreams” (Bradbury 96).

Knowledge is bad according to the creatures opinion. The more the creature discovers the more fascinated he gets but the further he knows about it the more depress he gets. When the creature learns everything about man he is in such agony that he "tried to dispel them, but sorrow only increased with knowledge."(135) The creature even compares knowledge by saying that it clings to the mind like a lichen on a rock. Moreover, once the creature acknowledge the fact that he is nothing like man he compares himself to them and says that his "stature far exceeded theirs"(135) by this the creature clarifies that he is even better than mankind. Next, the creature is trying to state that a man is respected with only one acquisition but without it a man

At first Gulliver’s travels comes off as a fantasy/adventure, but in actuality it’s a satirical commentary on society in Johnathan Swift. It starts off with Gulliver talking about himself. Later he gets shipwrecked and ends up in Lilliput, where the people are 6 inches tall. At first they think Gulliver is an enemy, but then realize he is no threat. He is taken to the palace and housed in a cursed temple. Gulliver is amazed at how silly the government’s rules are, for example to gain entry to the court the candidates must petition to the emperor. After the emperor gets 5 or 6 petitions he sets up a competition in which the candidates must do the Dance on the Rope, whoever jumps the highest without falling gets the job. The Lilliputians

With Gulliver's next travel, we find him in Brobdingnag. His voyage showed us the filthily mental and physical characteristics of man. Here, Gulliver was confronted with an adult nurse who repulsively revealed her breasts to Gulliver. This reminded him of how the Lilliputians found his skin full of craterlike pores and stumps of

These people take all of his possessions for inspection, for they are in awe and fear of his great size. They feed him, and soon untie him but still keep him in confinement. While in his confinement, he is visited by the emperor who likes Gulliver. Gulliver learns there language and the customs of the people of Lilliput. In this book Swift, by describing the ludicrous system that Lilliput's government fashions in, is satirizing the English system of governing. He uses parallels that seem absurd at first glance but make more senses when looked at carefully.

We as a culture have become entirely numb to the beauty that comes with living a simple and observant life. The saying that ignorance is bliss does come from very real sentiment, some of which our dynamic society could benefit from. Since the birth of capitalism and enlightenment, which were well enough intentioned at the start, mankind has isolated itself from life as much as it has tried to control and understand it. In a superficial mission to become closer to the earth and better enjoy life, we have lost its true meaning. Instead of simply taking delight in the wonders of the world, we have mathematized its essence and extracted the mystery that makes the human experience so rewarding. Although the knowledge gained over the past 400 years has been profitable and constructive, with all the progress comes a greater evil. Congruent to Vico’s concerns with this new found urgency for advancement, I find that the knowledge that we hold dear and fight so passionately for brings such pain and anger. One must wonder if we are better off living peacefully in the dark than scrambling through chaos grasping for fleeting

In fact, in response to the King’s refusal Gulliver exclaims, “A strange Effect of narrow Principles and short Views!”(Swift 124) The values and ideology of imperial England are too deeply ingrained in Gulliver which causes bias that distances the reader. In book 4 when Gulliver first encounters the Houyhnhnms, rational and philosophical horses with near human intelligence, he says, “they must needs be Magicians.”(Swift 218) This wild statement proves that Gulliver, by book 4, has become an unreliable narrator comparable to Frankenstein. His absurd and irrational way of thinking causes the reader is to be completely distanced from Gulliver. This mirrors the author-narrator gap that Jonathan Swift stated in the beginning of the book by labelling “Le’Muel Gulliver” as the author not himself. Gulliver’s love for travel transforms him into a man who rejects humanity and is repulsed by even his own family and Frankenstein is changed into a madman by his scientific endeavours.

The novel, Gulliver’s Travels, is just that, a novel about the main character, Gulliver who goes on many journeys. The part of this book that brings out the reader’s interest is Gulliver’s character and the ways his character changes as the story progresses. He begins as a naïve Englishman and by the end of the book he has a strong hatred for the human race. Gulliver shows that his adventures have taught him that a simple life, one without the complexities and weaknesses of human society, may be best, but the simple life he longed for should not have been the route he took.