I am curious, too, about his assertion that "your printer hath been so careless as to confound the times, and mistake the dates of my several voyages and returns; neither assigning the true year, or the true month....[A]nd I hear the original manuscript is all destroyed" (435). Gulliver's focus on the errors and the belief that the original is destroyed puts his tale into question--which parts are "true" and which parts are omissions, deletions, or errors? [168 words]
Swift seems to be both creating a comical, whimsical, and fantastical travel tale (don't we all exaggerate a bit when we tell about our adventures, especially if they happened in a faraway land?) that also speaks the truth about human nature and society. I think of it is as his way of criticizing society without taking a direct hit from those who feel he is criticizing them. He also takes his "power" of the pen (notice in my first quote his narrator speaks of the power that the publisher has usurped) and, through narrative conventions, gives his power away, or at least seems to, to those who were responsible for publishing the manuscript. [278 words]
Okay, now I am confused! :) Swift seems to be trying to confuse his reader on purpose--Is this a true story or not? If true, are there parts that are not true and who is responsible for them? And whether true or not, do they speak a truth about human nature? I think Swift wants us to see ourselves, correct errant behavior, and then not blame him for pointing it out. [The whole post is 350 words. Mine is a little long, but you get the picture--no need to count the words as I have; am just doing that for your benefit]
Whether it is true or not, it seems that Swift's use of satire is being used to fictionalize a truth so that we can correct it. The introduction to the Enlightenment section says, "satire calls attention to the powerful presence of the irrational...[a]s it chastises human beings for their eruptions of passion, urging resistance and control" (Lawall 300). Therefore, you may want to focus less on the confusion of fact and fiction and more on what truths Swift/Gulliver is trying to teach.
ReplyDelete“For Gulliver’s Travels (1726) Swift used the travel book, a form of hovering between fact and fiction, as his model (swift 431). I’m not entirely convinced that Swift isn’t using his Oxford education to toy with his audience. Not just the leisure readers but maybe other writers and historians. Maybe our friend is trying to encourage his colleagues to stop and look at some of the embellishing that they do in their writings.
ReplyDeleteEven though this work was published in the 1700’s doing his early years as a young student of higher learning, He had to question some of the literal writings of his time. As you and I do now CNN.com, Fox news report, to name a few. Could he be his modern day “wasp of Twickenham” (cool user name by the way LOL). Or maybe (in my Englishman voice) “was all in good humor old boy.”
If we look at the big picture it always helps.- Fall Guy
Gulliver has even the reader wondering what is true or false and even enjoys placing the blame on other things to cover up his ezaggerations. I enjoyed reading where he pretended to know exactly the right terms for sailing or Did he do that to make that writing more believable?
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