Gullivers Travels Essays (651 words) - Gullivers Travels

Gulliver's Travels Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels unleashes the blemishes of mankind. Along with mankind comes an unavoidable imperfection which ultimately lowers one's perception of man. The satiric story occurs in two imaginative lands called Lilliput, where all of the inhabitants are much smaller than Gulliver, the exhausted ship doctor who managed to swim to shore after a horrendous storm causes a ship wreck, and Brobdingnag, where the people tower over the puny Gulliver. Each land contrasts in its style of government which aids in the discovery of the faults of man. As depicted in Swift's Gulliver's Travels, mankind possesses foibles and vices which detract from his nobility. Mankind's faults often take away from how people perceive one another. Initially, the laziness of man allows others to view him as unworthy of nobility. Sleeping ?sounder than ever I[Gulliver] remember to have done in my life,?(508) Gulliver unknowingly allows others to perceive him as a lazy bum. Gulliver prefers that the secretary deliver Gulliver's duty to the emperor because Gulliver does not feel like doing so(512). Impatiently, mankind insists upon receiving the proper respect immediately. Once again, Gulliver illustrates his nonaristocratic traits by not allowing himself to sit still when he remains fully aware that he remains binded by the string (508). Gulliver, when in desperate need of nourishment, ?found the demands of nature so strong upon me[him], that I[he] could not forbear showing my[his] impatience,?(509) and immediately signaled for food by repeatedly sticking his finger inside of his mouth further portraying the demise of mankind. Ignorantly, man sets himself up f or tragedy which detracts from his dignity. Gulliver stumbles upon a civilization in which vacant positions exist in the government, and people may perform such acts as jumping high on a tight rope in order to obtain the position; however, these acts of stupidity ?are often attended with fatal accidents?(511). A war has occurred numerous times between Lilliput and Blefuscu over which end of the egg to slice when breaking eggs, and many people have ?suffered death, rather than submit to break their eggs at the smaller end,?(512) further illustrating the incompetence of man. More serious occurrences take place that threaten man's nobility. Severe vices exist which detract from mankind's worthiness. Cowardliness, for example, remains uncharacteristic of nobility. Gulliver cried in pain when the inhabitants of Lilliput shot him with hundreds of arrows which ?pricked me[him] like so many needles?(508). The queen of Brobdingnag ?frequently rallied....[Gulliver]....on account of my[his] fearfulness,?(515) which made Gulliver less aristocratic. Distracting from the worthiness of mankind, dishonesty lies as a harmful trap for man. Astonished with the ?historical account?(515) that Gulliver gave the king of Brobdingnag, the king refused to accept the tales. The king of Lilliput, unsure of how Gulliver would behave, ?mingled sleeping potion in the hogshead of wine,?(510) moreover taking away from the king's nobility by the king exhibiting his covertness. Deceitfulness and hatefulness, two tragic traits of mankind, lessen the amount of dignity a man possesses. One of the dwarfs constantly nagged Gulliver by catching flies and de liberately releasing them beneath Gulliver's nose to frighten Gulliver(515). The king of Brobdingnag rudely explains to Gulliver that ?the bulk of [his] natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth?(515). Mankind possesses flaws and blemishes which lessen his honor. Characteristics such as ignorance and impatience act as foibles of man. Also, the awful vices of man including cowardliness and deceitfulness detract from the nobility of man. These personal frailties take away from how one perceives man. The faults of man remain avoidable given that an effort by man is put forth in order to cease these negative occurrences. Ultimately, man creates his own demise by acquiring these poor characteristics that curb his dignity

Remember the Simple Days of Reading

Remember the Simple Days of Reading Reach back in your memories, and remember how you read books. As a chid, as a teen, as a young adult, then now. Which book, when you see the title again, springs a memory back to life, reminding you how intensely you fell into that story and didnt want to climb out? I built a tree house for my grandsons second birthday. Yeah, I know its a little over-the- top nuts, but I designed it and had it built so its a place hell retreat to long into college. Right now its all about climbing the stairs and peering at the tree limbs and over at the chickens. In a few years, itll be about Swiss Family Robinson, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, or something along the line of Maximum Ride. Im running power to it in the future so that, yes, he can drag his laptop up there and maybe even spend the night, maybe bring his friends along. While I have a selfish motive, that of having him around more, I did it because what kid hasnt wished for a tree house? On Facebook, I showed pictures of the house (see one at the top of this newsletter cool, huh?), and was dumbfounded at the 200+ responses from adults. Men and women who recalled their tree houses, or pined over never having one. So I asked them why theres such an attraction to tree houses? Privacy, a place to read, a place to write, a place to feel closer to nature. If we reach back again in those reading memories mentioned earlier, thats what we wanted from the time we could read Dick and Jane books. Its an escape into our deep, true selves, gifting ourselves with permission to reach far. That is what a book is supposed to do. Sometimes, in our frenzy to learn how to publish, or our yearning to make money, we forget that feeling were supposed to be offering to readers. Maybe we need to climb up into a tree house to remember.