Educated vs Ignorant

The word educated as well as ignorant are very strong words. It depends on how people interpret and use them. Jonathan Swift portraits Gulliver as an educated traveler, who was on top of his game. He was a Captain of a ship, searching for an unknowing land. The Indians that he took on his ship to replace his men were also on top of their game, giving the story an unpredictable twist. In the beginning of Chapter 1, Gulliver portrays the Indians of the south as dishonest, knavish people who, “debauched my other men, and they all formed a conspiracy to seize the ship and secure me; which they did one morning, and binding me hand and foot, threatening to throw me overboard, if I offered to stir.” (Swift, Pg. 438) Gulliver planned to have the Indians work for him in place of the men he lost, but he underestimated the Indians. Not only did the Indians refuse to work for him, they also took government of the ship.
Throughout Gulliver’s experiences in his adventure, he often refers to himself as the traveler; a humble English man who thanks to his bad luck, ended up in the shores of this new and mysterious country. Gulliver very well makes the point that he is an educated man, with knowledge of the world, when he compared the pronunciation of the Houyhnhnm language to that of the High Dutch or German: “In speaking, they pronounce through the nose and throat, and their language approaches nearest to the High Dutch or German, of any I know in Europe; but is much graceful and significant.” (Swift, Pg 445) Gulliver even goes on to say that, “The Emperor Charles V made almost the same observation, when he said, that if he were to speak to his horse, it should be in High Dutch.” (Swift, Page 445) With this last remark he was letting the reader know that he knew what someone as the Emperor Charles V would joke about, giving more credibility to his education and knowledge of the world.