Who wrote "Gulliver" you may have such a question if you graduated from school a long time ago, because every student knows its author.

And schoolchildren are interested in summary"Gulliver"by chapters, after all, there is not always the time and desire to read a book in its entirety.

"Gulliver" chapter summary

Part 1. Travel to Lilliput

The ship's doctor Lemuel Gulliver finds himself in the country of Lilliputia, in which little, twelve times less people, people live. (In the original, Lilliput - Lilliput - is the name of the country itself, and its inhabitants are called "Lilliputians" - Lilliputians). They capture Gulliver, later the local king takes a vassal oath from him with the promise of obedience and frees him.

In this part of the tetralogy, Swift sarcastically describes the exorbitant conceit of the Lilliputians and their morals, which caricaturely copy human ones. Many episodes here, as in other parts of the book, satirically allude to events contemporary to Swift. There is, for example, a specific satire on King George I (deleted by the editor in the first edition) and Walpole's premier; political parties of the Tories and Whigs ("high-heeled" and "low-heeled") were also bred. Religious disagreements between Catholics and Protestants are depicted in the famous allegory of the senseless war of "pointed" and "dumb", arguing from which end to break boiled eggs.

At the end of Part I, Gulliver gets involved in a war between Lilliput and the neighboring state of Blefuscu, inhabited by the same race (commentators believe that France is meant, although there is a hypothesis that Swift meant Ireland). Gulliver captures the entire enemy fleet and decides the war in favor of Lilliput. However, due to court intrigues, Gulliver is sentenced to blindness, and he is forced to flee Lilliput. Sometimes one sees here a hint of the biography of the statesman and philosopher Viscount Bolingbroke, a close friend of Swift, accused of treason by George I and fled to France.

Because of this (most popular) part of the tetralogy in modern language, the word "Gulliver" is often used as a synonym for a giant, although in fact Gulliver is an ordinary person of normal height who only ends up in the land of dwarfs. In the next book, Gulliver finds himself in the land of giants, and there he himself looks like a dwarf.

Part 2. Travel to Brobdingneg (Land of Giants)

While exploring a new country, Gulliver was abandoned by his companions and was found by a giant farmer, 22 meters tall (in Lilliput, all sizes are 12 times smaller than ours, in Brobdingnag - 12 times larger). The farmer treats him like a curiosity and shows him for money. After a series of unpleasant and humiliating adventures, Gulliver is bought by the Queen of Brobdingneg and left at court as a funny intelligent toy.

Between small but life-threatening adventures - such as fighting giant wasps, jumping on the roof in the paws of a monkey, etc. - he discusses European politics with the king, who ironically comments on his stories. Here, as in Part I, human and social mores are satirically criticized, but not allegorically (under the guise of Lilliputians), but directly, through the mouth of the king of giants.

My brief historical account of our country over the past century has plunged the king into utter amazement. He announced that, in his opinion, this story is nothing more than a bunch of conspiracies, unrest, murders, beatings, revolutions and deportations, which are the worst result of greed, partisanship, hypocrisy, treachery, cruelty, fury, insanity, hatred, envy. , voluptuousness, anger and ambition ... Then, taking me in his arms and gently caressing me, he turned to me with the following words, which I will never forget, just as I will not forget the tone in which they were said:

“My little friend Grildrig, you have uttered an astonishing eulogy to your country; you have clearly proved that ignorance, laziness and vice are sometimes the only qualities inherent in the legislator; that the laws are best explained, interpreted and applied in practice by those who are most interested and able to pervert, confuse and circumvent them ... From what you have said, it is not clear that in order to occupy your high position, possession of any virtues was required; even less is it seen that people complained of high ranks on the basis of their virtues, that the clergy were promoted for their piety or scholarship, the military for their bravery and noble behavior, judges for their incorruptibility, senators for love of the country and state advisers for your wisdom. As for you yourself (continued the king), who spent most of your life traveling, I am disposed to think that you have thus far managed to avoid many of the vices of your country. But the facts that I noted in your story, as well as the answers that I managed to squeeze out and pull out of you with such difficulty, cannot but lead me to the conclusion that most of your compatriots are a breed of little disgusting reptiles, the most harmful of all, which when - or crawled along the earth's surface. "

The Giant King is one of the few noble characters in Swift's book. He is kind, perceptive, skillfully and justly governs his country. He indignantly rejected Gulliver's proposal to use gunpowder for wars of conquest and forbade, on pain of death, any mention of this diabolical invention. In Chapter VII, the king says the famous phrase: "Anyone who, instead of one ear or one stalk of grass, manages to grow two in the same field, will do humanity and his homeland a greater service than all politicians taken together."

The land of giants has some features of utopia.

The knowledge of this people is very insufficient; they are limited to morality, history, poetry and mathematics, but in these areas, justice must be given, they have achieved great perfection. As for mathematics, it has a purely applied character here and is aimed at improving agriculture and various branches of technology, so that in our country it would receive a low rating ...

In this country it is not permitted to formulate a single law with more words than the number of letters of the alphabet, and in it there are only twenty-two; but very few laws even reach this length. All of them are expressed in the clearest and simplest terms, and these people do not differ in such resourcefulness of mind as to discover several meanings in the law; it is considered a great crime to write a commentary on any law.

The last paragraph brings to mind the "People's Agreement" discussed almost a century earlier, the political project of the levellers during the English Revolution, which stated:

The number of laws must be reduced in order for all laws to fit into one volume. Laws must be written in English so that every Englishman can understand them.

During a trip to the coast, a box made specifically for his stay on the way is captured by a giant eagle, which later drops it into the sea, where Gulliver is picked up by sailors and returned to England.

Part 3. Travel to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glabbdobdrib and Japan

Gulliver finds himself on the flying island of Laputa, then on the mainland of the country Balnibarbi, whose capital is Laputa. All the noble inhabitants of Laputa are too keen on mathematics and music, therefore they are utterly scattered, ugly and not arranged in everyday life. Only the mob and women are sane and can maintain a normal conversation. On the mainland there is the Academy of Projectors, where they try to implement various ridiculous pseudoscientific endeavors. The Balnibarbi authorities connive at aggressive projectors who are introducing improvements everywhere, which leaves the country in dire decline. This part of the book contains a caustic satire on the speculative scientific theories of his time. Waiting for the arrival of the ship, Gulliver makes a trip to the island of Glabbdobdrib, meets the caste of sorcerers who can summon the shadows of the dead, and converses with legendary figures of ancient history, comparing ancestors and contemporaries, convinces himself of the degeneration of the nobility and humanity.

Then Swift continues to debunk the unjustified self-conceit of humanity. Gulliver comes to the country of Luggnagg, where he recognizes the prostruldbrugs - immortal people doomed to eternal powerless old age, full of suffering and disease.

At the end of the story, Gulliver finds himself from fictitious countries to quite real Japan, at that time practically closed from Europe (of all Europeans then only the Dutch were allowed there, and then only to the port of Nagasaki). Then he returns to his homeland. This is the only journey from which Gulliver returns, having an idea of ​​the direction of the return journey.

Part 4. Travel to the country of the Guygnhnms

Gulliver finds himself in the land of reasonable and virtuous horses - the Huegnhnms. There are also animal people in this country, disgusting yehu. In Gulliver, despite his tricks, they recognize yehu, but, recognizing his high mental and cultural development for yehu, they are kept separately as an honorary prisoner rather than a slave. The Guignnm society is described in the most enthusiastic terms, and the mores of the yehu are a satirical allegory of human vices.

In the end, Gulliver, to his deep chagrin, is expelled from this Utopia, and he returns to his family in England.

Gulliver's Travels was first published by Swift in 1726. The work is a classic of moral and political satirical literature. In the novel, the author exposes and ridicules social and human vices on the example of the states of Lilliputians and giants, the island of Laputa, the kingdom of Balnibarbi. The concentration of human vices in the work is ape-like creatures yehu.

main characters

Lemuel Gulliver- the main character, traveler, surgeon; the novel is narrated from him.

King of Lilliput- the monarch, wanted to use Gulliver for his own purposes.

Glumdalklich- the daughter of a giant farmer, Gulliver's "nanny".

Gray horse in apples- Guignnm, with whom Gulliver lived.

Other characters

Skyresh Bolgolam and Flimnap- Gulliver's ill-wishers in Lilliput.

Reldresel- Secretary of State in Lilliput

Giant Farmer- showed Gulliver at fairs for money.

King of Brobdingneg- a wise ruler who was alien to the mores of the British.

Queen of Brobdingneg- bought Gulliver from a farmer.

Mundi- a dignitary in Balnibarbi, who ran his household according to the old rules.

Part I. Lilliputia

Chapter 1

Gulliver's family lived on a small estate in Nottinghamshire. The boy was the third of five sons. Gulliver received his medical education, after which he worked as a ship surgeon, visited different countries. Returning to England, he married Miss Mary Burton. Soon he made several trips to the East and West Indies.

In May 1669, Gulliver set off on another voyage on the ship "Antelope". The ship was wrecked. Gulliver was the only one who managed to escape and get out onto land.

When Gulliver woke up, he realized that he was tied with many thin strings. Lilliputians, armed with bows and spears, ran around. Gulliver showed with signs that he would submit to any of their decisions and asked for a drink. By order of the king, the prisoner was fed. The food was very small, so he swallowed several portions at once.

On a specially made platform, Gulliver was taken to the capital. The prisoner was placed in a huge temple, with many miniature chains chained to his left leg.

Chapter 2

The King of Lilliput ordered to appoint Gulliver "a staff of six hundred servants." They sewed a bedding from Lilliputian mattresses, a sheet and a blanket to the prisoner, and made a local costume. In Lilliput, Gulliver was called Queenbus Flestrin - "The Man of the Mountain."

By order of the king, Gulliver was searched. Among his belongings were a rusted saber, two pistols, gunpowder and a pocket watch. The king was especially interested in the watch. Gulliver managed to hide his glasses and a telescope.

Chapter 3

Soon Gulliver began to speak rather passably in the Lilliputian language. To entertain the Mountain Man, the king organized a colorful fairground party. In Lilliput there was an unusual tradition - the most skilled tightrope walkers were appointed to government positions. Gulliver also pulled a handkerchief over the hammered sticks, making a parade ground for cavalry battles. During the parade, horse and infantry troops passed between the legs of the Man of the Mountain, as if through a large arch.

The king freed Gulliver. Only Galbet Skayresh Bolgolam, admiral of the Royal Navy, was against this decision.

Chapter 4

Gulliver talked a lot with Secretary of State Reldresel. He told the Woe Man that there are two warring parties in the kingdom. "The party of the tremexens has united supporters of high heels, while the slemexens have declared themselves adherents of low heels." Wearing high heels is prohibited by the Constitution, since their king is an adherent of low ones.

Lilliputia is also at war with its neighbor - the empire of Blefuscu. The reason was that the king's father ordered to break eggs only from the sharp end. Dissatisfied citizens formed a party of "blunt-tips", started a revolution, were expelled and took refuge in the empire of Blefuscu. After that, the states began to feud.

It became known that Blefuscu was equipping the fleet and was going to attack. The king asked Gulliver for help.

Chapter 5

Lilliputia occupies part of the continent, Blefuscu was an island. The two countries are separated by a wide strait. Gulliver for the cables dragged the enemy ships to the side of Lilliput across the strait. For this he was awarded the title of Nardak, the most honorable in the kingdom.

Soon the king of Lilliput demanded that Gulliver help him completely disarm the enemy, but he refused, which caused the monarch's disfavor.

Chapter 6

Chief Treasurer Flimnap was jealous of his wife for Gulliver and envied his high title, so he began to weave against the giant of intrigue. He informed the king that the upkeep of the Man of the Mountain had cost them "one and a half million sprugs" (the largest gold coin of Lilliput), so he should be sent out of the country.

Chapter 7

A noble courtier came to Gulliver. He said that at the advice of the king, at the suggestion of Reldresel, it was decided to gouge out both eyes of the Woe Man. Gulliver hastened to Blefuscu.

Chapter 8

Gulliver discovered a large boat and decided to leave the Lilliputians. Emperor Blefuscu helped him prepare to sail. Gulliver took with him "six live cows, two bulls and the same number of sheep and rams."

Soon Gulliver noticed an English ship at sea, on which he safely reached England. After spending no more than three months with his family, Gulliver boarded the merchant ship Adventure.

Part II. Brobdingnag

Chapter 1

When the ship passed the Strait of Madagascar, a storm began. They were carried far to the east. Seeing the land, the sailors decided to inspect it and collect fresh water. Gulliver moved away from the others. When he returned, he saw that his comrades had abandoned him, sailing away in a boat from a huge giant. The frightened man ran inland.

Gulliver ran out to a large field where giant workers were cutting barley with sickles. One of them heard Gulliver's screams and took the little man to the owner-farmer. The giant tried to talk to him, but they did not understand each other. During lunch, Gulliver was fed beef and bread. Because of his height, he immediately got into trouble - first the owner's son lifted him upside down, and then the baby took him for a toy and tried to put it in his mouth.

Chapter 2

The farmer's nine-year-old daughter made a bed for Gulliver, sewed clothes for him, taught the language of the giants. The girl gave Gulliver the name Grildrig, which in translation means "little man", "dwarf". He called her Glumdalklich, that is, the nanny.

Gulliver piqued the interest of other giants, so the farmer began to show him at the fair for money. The farmer took Gulliver to the capital of the kingdom of giants, called Lorbrulgrud, that is, "Pride of the Universe."

Chapter 3

Frequent performances undermined Gulliver's health. The farmer decided that he would soon die and happily sold the little man to the queen. Gulliver asked to hire his nanny Glumdalklich.

Gulliver talked frequently with the king. The monarch loved to hear about European customs, religion, education, laws and government, the parties of the Whigs and Tories.

Gulliver suffered greatly from the palace dwarf. He constantly arranged nasty things - he thrust the little man into an empty marrow bone, trotted an apple tree over him, and once even threw him into a jug of cream.

Chapter 4

Gulliver often accompanied the Queen on her travels. A special travel box was made for him.

The land of giants was located on a peninsula and separated from the mainland by a high mountain range. On three other sides, the kingdom was surrounded by an ocean.

Chapter 5

Gulliver's life was generally happy, but because of his growth, he often got into trouble. He fell under the hail, the gardener's lapdog grabbed him, the kite almost carried him away, and somehow he even "tripped over the shell of a snail, fell and dislocated his leg."

One day, the chef's monkey grabbed Gulliver and began to rock like a cub, and then dragged him to the roof. When people began to climb the cover, the monkey threw Gulliver off - fortunately, he managed to catch on to the shingles.

Chapter 6

From the hairs of the king's beard, Gulliver made a comb. A purse was woven from the queen's hair, as well as a back and a seat for small chairs.

Once, listening to Gulliver's stories about England, the king concluded: “Your hundred-year history is nothing but an endless chain of conspiracies, troubles, murders, revolutions, executions and exiles! And it is generated by greed, hypocrisy, treachery, cruelty, hatred, envy, debauchery and ambition. "

Chapter 7

Gulliver showed the king gunpowder and explained its destructive power. Gulliver offered to train local arms-makers, but to his surprise, the king refused in horror.

In schools, the giants studied only history, mathematics, poetry and ethics. Typography has existed here for a long time, but books were not very popular. The army consisted of merchants and farmers, commanded by nobles and nobles.

Chapter 8

Once Gulliver, along with the royal family, went to the south coast. The servant brought the box with Gulliver to the sea. A sea eagle flying by grabbed the ring on the top of the box with its beak. At some point, the bird released the box, and the captive was in the open sea. Gulliver barely managed to open the top hatch, he started shouting and waving his handkerchief. He was spotted from the ship and helped to get out. He returned to England nine months later.

Part III. Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glabbdobdrib and Japan

Chapter 1

A couple of months after arriving home, Gulliver again set off on a voyage on the Good Hope ship. On the way, they were attacked by Dutch and Japanese pirates. Gulliver fell out of favor with their Dutch captain and was sent alone in a boat "to the will of the waves and winds."

While exploring the nearest islands, Gulliver noticed a flying island above him. The man drew attention to himself and was lifted upstairs.

Chapter 2

The inhabitants of the island were distinguished by strange figures. "The heads of all were tilted to the right or left, one eye turned inward, and the other was directed towards the zenith." The servants, klaimenoli or flappers, "carried short sticks with inflated bull bladders tied to them." They slapped their masters with bubbles on their lips or ears, distracting them from their thoughts.

Gulliver was taken to the king, they began to teach the language of the inhabitants of Laputa - "the flying island". The capital of Laputa was the city of Lagado, located on the ground.

All the thoughts of the Laput people constantly revolve around lines and figures. They consider applied geometry to be "the lot of artisans", so their houses are very poorly built. Laputa women despise their husbands, have a penchant for foreigners. Men, on the other hand, treat foreigners with disdain.

Chapter 3

The entire bottom surface of the flying island is a solid diamond slab. The main attraction of Laputa is a huge magnet with which "the island can rise, fall and move from place to place." If the ruler of Laputa wants to punish his subjects on the continent, he stops the island over their city, thereby depriving the inhabitants of the rays of the sun and rain moisture.

The Laputyans have well-developed astronomy, they "discovered two satellites orbiting Mars", in which they were far ahead of the Europeans.

Chapter 4

Soon Gulliver went to the continent ruled by the monarch of the flying island - to the kingdom of Balnibarbi. The traveler was received by a local dignitary - a former governor by the name of Munodi.

All the houses of Lagado looked dilapidated, and the people were dressed in rags. Outside the city, the peasants toiled in empty fields. In the village estate of Munodi, everything was the other way around - here "fenced fields, vineyards, orchards and meadows were visible." Munody explained that he was running the farm according to the old rules, so his compatriots despised him.

The dignitary said that about 40 years ago, some residents of the capital went to Laputa. Back on earth, they decided to change everything and created the Academy of Projectors.

Chapters 5 - 6

Gulliver visited the Academy of Projectors, visited various scientists. One was engaged in a "project of distilling cucumbers in order to extract the sun's rays from them." The second is "the problem of converting human excrement into nutrients." A certain architect came up with "a new way of building buildings, starting from the roof." Scientists also proposed to abandon words in the language, and so that political opponents could reach an agreement, they suggested that they cut and change parts of the brain. Gulliver visited many more offices and laboratories, but all the scientists were working on meaningless things.

Chapters 7-8

Gulliver went to the main port of the kingdom - Maldonada. He was offered to visit Glabbdobdrib - "the island of sorcerers and magicians." The island was ruled by the oldest magician living on the island. He could bring the dead back to life for 24 hours. The revived dead served in the palace of the ruler.

The ruler offered to bring back to life some historical figures. Gulliver asked to revive Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Julius Caesar, Gnaeus Pompey, Descartes, Gassendi, Aristotle and other famous personalities.

Chapter 9

Gulliver sets sail for Luggnagg. He is arrested and taken to Trildrogdrib - the residence of the king. According to the rules of the kingdom, Gulliver had to crawl on his belly and lick the dust at the foot of the throne.

Chapter 10

One noble gentleman said that "in Luggnagg, children are born with a red speck on their foreheads" - immortal struldbrugs. Having reached the age of eighty, the struldbrugs suffer from all the ailments and infirmities inherent in deep old people. "The immortals are incapable of friendship," "envy and powerless desires are constantly gnawing at them."

Chapter 11

Leaving the king's residence, Gulliver went to the royal port of Glangvenstald, from where he sailed to Japan by ship. In the Japanese port city of Nagasaki, Gulliver met Dutch sailors. With them he sailed to Amsterdam, from where he soon returned to England.

Part IV. In the land of the huynghnms

Chapter 1

Gulliver spent about 5 months with his wife and children, but the craving for travel turned out to be stronger. Taking command of the merchant ship "Adventurer", he set sail. On the way, he had to take new people to Barbados. They turned out to be pirates, hijacked the ship and put Gulliver ashore.

Heading inland, Gulliver saw disgusting-looking ape-like creatures. They surrounded Gulliver, but noticing the approaching gray horse in the apples, they immediately fled. The horse examined Gulliver with interest. Soon another horse came up. They discussed something among themselves, and then taught Gulliver two words - "yehu" and "guignnm".

Chapter 2

A gray horse led Gulliver to a building, inside of which a manger with hay stretched along the wall and other horses were stationed. Outwardly, Gulliver was not much different from the local yehu. He was offered food yehu (rotten meat), but he refused, asking for milk in signs. After dinner, Gulliver baked bread from oats, which also surprised the horse.

Horses used the yehu as livestock and harnessed them to carts.

Chapter 3

Gulliver began to actively study the language of the Guignnms. In their language, the words "lie" and "deception" did not exist, they had no idea about ships, states, they did not have writing and literature.

Chapter 4

Gulliver described how horses are treated in England. Especially the gray horse was outraged by the fact that people ride Guygnhnmah on horseback.

Chapters 5 - 6

Gulliver told the horse in detail about history, revolution, wars, about law and law, the conduct of court cases, what is money, what is the value of precious metals.

Chapters 7-8

Gulliver was so imbued with love and respect for the Guygnhnms that he decided never to return to people again.

Gulliver describes that yehu are very difficult to train. "They are stubborn, vicious, treacherous, vindictive and completely devoid of the seeds of nobility and generosity." The Huyhnhnms, on the other hand, are “gifted with a good heart and have not the slightest idea of ​​evil; the main rule of their life is a rational and harmonious existence. "

Chapter 9

Every fourth year, a Council of Representatives meets in the country, where "the situation in the districts into which all this land is divided" is discussed. At one of them, Gulliver was secretly present and heard that the Guignnms considered the yehu useless. After the Council, it was decided that Gulliver, as a yehu, should be sent out of their region.

Gulliver built something like Indian pies, said goodbye to the Guignnmas, and set sail.

Chapter 10

Gulliver wanted to build a hut on a nearby island and settle alone. But he was picked up by the sailors of the Portuguese ship. They decided that Gulliver had lost his mind, so he did not want to return home and was telling tales about intelligent horses.

After a while, Gulliver returned to his family, but the children annoyed him, and his wife seemed a stranger. Soon he bought two foals and talked to them for several hours a day.

Conclusion

Gulliver's travels took 16 years and 7 months. In conclusion, he notes that he wrote about his travels not for the sake of fame, but "for the sake of correcting morals." Gulliver tries to apply the lessons learned from the Guyhnhnms. He calls his family members yehu and hopes to reeducate them. Gulliver still loathes his fellow tribesmen, admiring horses. He is especially irritated by human pride.

Conclusion

"The Adventures of Gulliver" is traditionally referred to as a fantastic satirical and philosophical novel. In the book, Swift examines the issues of human self-identification, his search for his place in the world, touches on the problem of depravity, immorality of society, depicting human vices using the example of various heroes.

The novel "The Adventures of Gulliver" has been translated into many languages, more than ten times filmed.

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Title of the piece: Gulliver's Travels

Year of writing: 1727

Genre of the work: novel

Main characters: Lemuel Gulliver- the son of a landowner, a surgeon on a ship, a traveler.

Plot

Lemuel Gulliver is a good surgeon. Works on the ship. But one day a tragedy happened - because of the fog, the ship crashes on stones. The surviving hero finds himself on land in the land of Lilliputia, where very small people live. There he begins to study the local language, makes friends with the emperor. The hero learns about the enmity with the neighbors of Blefuscu. But in the end, on various charges, he faces death, or torture, so he runs away. The next destination is Brobdingneg. This land is inhabited by giants. The farmer shows the guest for money. Lumuel meets the royal family, but here, too, dangers lie in wait. Then he visits the flying island of Laputa, where residents are interested in mathematics and music. Immortal people live in Luggnag, but they suffer from it, get sick and sad. The last trip was to the country of Guyhnhnms, which is inhabited by horses. Gulliver has traveled for over 16 years.

Conclusion (my opinion)

In the novel, Swift denounces pride and arrogance. He was worried about the decline of morality in society. He also condemns the illogical laws of England, hard life. Having delved into deep images, you can see the people around you in the fantastic characters.

This work of Swift can be attributed to several genres at once: narrative novel, travel novel, pamphlet, and at the same time it contains features of dystopia (and at the end of the book, utopia), and also contains elements of fiction. But most importantly, this novel can actually be considered prophetic, since all the human oddities that it describes with a murderous and merciless Swift satire, not only did not go away with those whom Swift ridiculed, but, unfortunately, is extremely relevant today.

The book consists of four parts, corresponding to the hero's four journeys, with a total duration of 16 years and 7 months. Each time he sails out of a concrete, real port city, and ends up in completely outlandish, non-existent countries. Where he gets acquainted with the customs, way of life, way of life, traditions and laws that exist there and, in turn, tells those residents about England. And the first such place for the hero of Swift is the country of Lilliputia. Now about the hero: on the one hand, Swift put into him many features and qualities that belong to himself (i.e., this is his kind of self-portrait), and on the other, he put wisdom in him, combined with innocence, which help the hero every time he finds himself in a new place to catch the most important feature inherent in a new place. At the same time, a certain aloofness and calm irony is always felt in the hero's intonation, as if he is not talking about his adventures, but looking at everything from the outside. He kind of laughs at us, at himself, at all nature and human morals, which he sees as unchanging. The novel written by Swift seems to belong to the literature of the "absurd" characteristic of the writers of the second half of the twentieth century, so Swift seems to us a modern writer.

Let's go back to Gulliver's first stop - the country of Lilliputia, inhabited by very small people. From the very beginning, the author managed to convey (in this and other parts of the novel) from the point of view of psychology absolutely exactly the feelings of a person who fell into a society of people (or creatures) completely different from himself: these are feelings of loneliness, inner lack of freedom and abandonment due to the fact that around you - everything and everyone else, not like you.
With secret and amazing humor, Gulliver slowly talks about the absurdities and absurdities that he encounters in Lilliput.

Lilliputians are at first very friendly to the Grief Man (as they called Gulliver): he is given housing, special laws are passed to streamline the hero's communication with local residents, to ensure safety, he is fed, despite the fact that he eats as many as 1,728 midgets! The emperor himself is friendly to him (Gulliver provided invaluable assistance to the state - he brought the entire fleet of the neighboring, hostile state to Blefusk on a rope), he was granted the highest title of state. Gulliver is initiated into the customs of the country, and he takes an oath of allegiance to the state of Lilliputia. In the text, special attention should be paid to the first part, which lists the numerous titles of the emperor (the most powerful, horror and joy of the entire universe)! Considering the size of this midget with the epithets that were given to him ... it is impossible to compare with anything. Then Gulliver is introduced to the country's political system: in Lilliput there is a bipartisan system, parties are at war with each other and are called Tremeksen and Slemeksen, they are distinguished from each other by the fact that one stands for low heels, and the other for high heels. It is because of this insignificant issue that "the most severe discord" occurs between them. This kind of question (from which end to break eggs from a blunt or sharp one) led to war two great empires - Lilliput and Blefuscu. By this, Swift alluded to his modern England, which was divided into Tory and Whig supporters. This confrontation has now become history, and the allegory invented by Sfift is still alive today. After all, it's not about the Whigs and Tories, but about a particular country in a particular era - Swift's allegory turned out to be "for all time."

The situations described by Swift, human weakness and state order sound very modern, however, like some textual passages. For example: the language of the Blefuskans was different from the language of the Lilliputians, just as the languages ​​of any two peoples of Europe differ from each other. And each nationality is proud of the beauty, antiquity and expressiveness of its own language. So in the book, the emperor, taking advantage of his position (thanks to the capture of the enemy fleet), demanded that the [Blefuskans] embassy negotiate in the Lilliputian language.

Although the narration comes from the person of Gulliver, but in his voice, one can hear the voice of Swift - a utopian and idealist. He likes Lilliputian laws that put morality above mental merit, and laws that imply denunciations and fraud are much more serious crimes than theft. And the law, which considers ingratitude as a criminal offense, clearly manifested the utopian dreams of Swift, who, through his own experience, knew the price of ingratitude - both personally and on a national scale.

However, some of the emperor's advisers do not share his enthusiasm for the Man of the Mountain, many do not like his rise (literally and figuratively). They organize the prosecution, turning all the good deeds shown by Gulliver into crimes. These advisers demand the death of Gulliver, and the most cruel methods are proposed for this. Only the chief secretary of the "secret affairs" Reldresel, who is considered Gulliver's "true friend", is truly humane to him: he offers to gouge out both of Gulliver's eyes. Justifying this by the fact that such a measure will lead the whole world to admiration, as it will be a demonstration of the monarch's true meekness, and the nobility and generosity of his advisers. In fact, he thinks more about state interests, which may still be useful for Gulliver's physical strength, and this will not suffer with the loss of eyes. Inimitable Swift's sarcasm in this episode.

Another example of Swift's foresight in this work: he describes the custom established by this emperor of the Lilliputians: if the court sentenced someone to please the vindictiveness of the monarch or his favorite to severe punishment, then the emperor at a meeting of the council of state delivers a speech in which he extols his greatest mercy and kindness as all recognized and well-known qualities. This speech is read out at the same hour throughout the empire, which incredibly frightens the people. Since the people have already established that the more extensive and intricate these glorifications of the emperor's mercy, the more inhuman punishment will be, and the sacrifice will be more innocent. Doesn't this look like the examples we know from life? ..

Gulliver is forced to flee to Blefuscu. Here history repeats itself, everyone is happy with him, but at the same time, they are glad to get rid of him as soon as possible. Gulliver is forced to secretly build a boat and sail away from these unfriendly peoples (taking with him miniature sheep, which, according to him, quickly multiplied), then he accidentally meets an English ship and returns home to England.
The second strange state, where Gulliver accidentally falls - Brobdingneg - the country of giants, where Gulliver already resembles a kind of midget. Each time, Swift's hero finds himself in a different reality, in a kind of "looking glass", and in a matter of days or hours. That is, the real and the surreal coexist very close, you just have to want to get there.

In this part, Gulliver and the locals, in comparison with the previous part, seem to be changing roles. And the treatment of the local population with Gulliver exactly corresponds to his behavior towards the Lilliputians, which Swift writes out in detail and in detail. As an example of his hero, he shows the ability of a person to adapt to any circumstances and any, even the most fantastic and incredible life situation, which are deprived of those fictional, mythological creatures that Gulliver comes to visit.

Gulliver, finding himself in a fantasy world, realizes the relativity of our ideas about the world in which we live. The Swift hero has the ability to accept the circumstances in which he finds himself, i.e. possesses the "tolerance" for which Voltaire advocated several decades before Swift.
In the new country, Gulliver turns out to be less than just a dwarf, he finds himself on a variety of adventures, and as a result, he again finds himself at the court of the king, and becomes the beloved interlocutor of “his majesty”. In one of these conversations, Gulliver talks about his homeland. (These stories are repeated in every country where the hero goes, and each time Gulliver's interlocutors are amazed at what he tells them.) For Gulliver's inexperienced interlocutors, all his stories seem to be real absurdity and delirium, and often they innocently consider them a lie or fiction. At the end of this conversation, Gulliver (or perhaps Swift) concludes that the short story about the country's history for the last century surprised the king indescribably. The king made his conclusion: this story is a bunch of conspiracies, murders, troubles, beatings, expulsions and revolutions, which are the worst result of greed, hypocrisy, partisanship, treachery, rage, cruelty, madness, envy, hatred, voluptuousness, ambition and malice!

Why, if not sarcasm, do the words of Gulliver himself sound that he was forced to calmly listen to this insulting characterization of his beloved fatherland ... And at the same time, he says that one cannot demand too much of a king who is cut off from the rest of the world and therefore cannot without certain prejudices to judge the mores and customs of other peoples. In this episode, Swift's obvious mockery is extremely obvious, and transparent, which does not require comment.
And yet Gulliver, even in the company of such a good interlocutor as the king of giants, feels all the humiliation of his position: a midget among giants. He again rushes home, to his relatives. And having returned home, he cannot adapt in any way: everything seems to him ... very small.

In the third part, Gulliver first finds himself on the flying island of Laputu. Again, everything that he observes and describes is the height of absurdity, and Gulliver's (Swift's) intonation is again imperturbably significant and openly ironic. And again, everything that he describes is easily recognizable: both the Laput people’s addiction to news and politics, and the constant fear that has settled in their minds, which constantly keeps Laput people in such anxiety that they are not able to sleep normally or enjoy life. The apparent embodiment of the absurd, representing the basis of life on the island - clappers, designed to make the listeners (interlocutors) focus all their attention on what they are being told at the moment. And when Gulliver descends from the island to the "continent" and finds himself in the capital (the city of Lagado), he is shocked by the combination of boundless ruin and poverty, striking all around, and peculiar oases of order (remaining, as it turned out, from a past, normal life). The so-called "projectors" led to ruin, who after a trip to the island (ie abroad in our opinion) began to draw up projects for reworking everything in a new way. The Academy of Projectors appeared first in the capital, and then in all cities and towns of the country. Gulliver describes his visit to the Academy and conversations with scholars with incomparable sarcasm, combined with contempt (for those, first of all, who allow themselves to be fooled).

Tired of all the "miracles", Gulliver decides to return to England, but on his way home first appears the island of Glubbdobdrib, and then the kingdom of Luggnagg. It should be noted that with Gulliver's move from an unusual country to another, Swift's fantasy becomes more and more violent, and his poisonous contempt becomes more merciless and merciless. This is precisely the description of manners at the court of King Luggnagg.

The final part of the novel is devoted to Gulliver's journey to the country of the guignnms (horses). It is in the guignnmas that Gulliver finally finds those human traits that he (Swift) would probably like to observe in people. And evil and disgusting disgusting creatures serve the guignnmas - ehu, who, like two drops of water, are like a man devoid of the cover of civilization, therefore, they seem to be real savages next to highly moral, well-mannered, respectable horses-guignnmas, in which honor and nobility, dignity and modesty live, as well as the habit of abstinence ...

Once again, Gulliver talks about his country with its customs, morals, political structure, traditions - and once again his story meets first with distrust, and then - bewilderment turning into indignation: how can you live in contradiction with the laws of nature? The organization of the community of horses-Guygnhnms is a version of the utopia of Swift, an old writer who has already lost faith in human nature. Swift was not "simple-minded", so his utopia looks utopian even for himself. This is manifested in the fact that these respectable and handsome Hueygnhnmas drive away the stranger, Gulliver, who has wedged into their "herd". Too much he turned out to be like an ex, and they do not care that this similarity is only in the structure of the body. Since he is an ehu, then let him live next to an ehu, and not in the society of "decent horses." He is expelled and Gulliver ends his wanderings, returning home for the umpteenth time. In England he retires to his little garden at Redriff, where he indulges in meditation and puts into practice the lessons of virtue he has learned.

Please note that this is only a summary of the literary work "Gulliver's Travels". Many important points and quotes are missing in this summary.

The remarkable work of Gulliver's Travels was written by Jonathan Sweet. This work was even filmed, so those who do not like to read were able to get acquainted with the plot, which introduces us to the hero of Swift and his travels.

Gulliver characterization of the hero

Having got acquainted with the work, you can immediately highlight the main character of Gulliver's Travels and what he liked, as well as, using Gulliver's quotation characteristics, answer many questions that relate to the novel and the main character. Gulliver for grade 4, will help schoolchildren to recreate the image of the hero, which is why we propose to get acquainted with a brief description of Gulliver.

If we talk about Gulliver and the characteristics of this hero, then he is a doctor, a surgeon by training, the father of a family, a man who loved to travel by sea. Gulliver is a purposeful person who strived for knowledge and had a great desire to learn. He was interested in everything related to navigation and he constantly dreams of travels, which he did. At first, Gulliver traveled by sea as a ship's doctor, and later as a captain of several ships. In all four parts of the novel, Gulliver is the main character, and in each of the parts he finds himself in a new world, crazy, incredible, and here the hero of the work will be revealed from different sides. So from the characterization of Gulliver in the land of the Lilliputians, Gulliver evokes respect, because he could kill and crush all the Lilliputians, but he did not, because they were weaker, and he does not harm the weak. Gulliver is inquisitive and tries to study the structure and foundations of government in this small country. At the same time, we see that he is also a good diplomat.

Each of his travels was informative and his wanderings lead to the fact that Gulliver realizes how unattractive and ugly England is with its statutes and rulers. Moreover, with each trip, this awareness became stronger and brighter. A particularly strong change in consciousness occurred after a visit to the fourth country, a country where clever horses ruled, and here Gulliver was even ashamed of the fact that he belonged to the human race, to the yeh family - the feral descendants of people who were famous for their gluttony, laziness, lust, malice and stupidity ... He was so impressed and at the same time disappointed that he did not even want to return home, to the world of the same Yehu, as the hero of the work later called people.

In general, the hero of Jonah Swift's work evokes positive emotions in me.

Characteristics of the heroes based on the novel "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift: Lemuel Gulliver

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