Reflection on Gullivers Travels and Robinson Crusoe - Literature review Example

Gulliver’s Travels and Robinson Crusoe: A Reflection The concept of a voyage of self-discovery such asthat found in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and Daniel Defoe’s Robison Crusoe, is a commonly used theme throughout many forms of literature. In these types of stories, the main character frequently begins the story as an innocent, but gradually changes in accordance with their experiences. These changes are most often reflected in the way in which these characters are treated by, respond to and behave toward others. However, the novels referenced here also function as satires on major themes and issues of the author’s society. As such, they are intended to bring about a specific change or reform in addition to relating an enjoyable tale. A brief understanding of the journeys of Gulliver and Crusoe respectively illustrates the changes these characters undergo throughout the course of their stories, exposing the intended satire intertwined within the work and illuminating some of our fixed notions regarding British national identity. In each story, the travels undertaken by the main character have a great deal to do with the type of growth they experience. Gulliver, for example, makes four separate voyages, each time meeting a different kind of people. His first encounter is with the Lilliputians who, although they are very tiny compared to himself, nevertheless impress him with their technological achievements. Despite this, he soon realizes that outward appearances are not necessarily reflected on the inside as the Lilliputians squabble over such small matters as which side of an egg should be cracked or how high a heel should be worn. His second voyage takes him to the land of the Brobdingnag, who are giants compared to Gulliver. They treat him as a beast or, at best, a unique pet and, despite their size, Gulliver learns that bigger doesn’t always mean better, smarter or wiser when he gains the opportunities to see them at court and realizes not even the king has an understanding of politics. His third voyage takes him to Laputa. On this trip, he learns that highly educated doesn’t necessarily equate with sensible, historical figures were not always heroic and age does not always bring wisdom. Finally, on his fourth voyage, Gulliver loses the last of his innocent assumptions when he finds that men are the most base creatures of the land of the Houyhnhnms. Robinson Crusoe also goes through a series of events in which he is forced to learn more about himself and illuminates the British identity. The book begins with a quick summary of the events to follow as Crusoe is first involved in a shipwreck that requires him to focus on simple survival, then becomes a captive of ‘barbarian’ Moors as he struggles to overcome this in his own nature and finally manages to work with the forces of civilization represented by the Portuguese captain who rescues him and proves a tremendously loyal friend and benefactor regarding Crusoe’s Brazil interests. These life lessons are repeated in his adventure spent in near isolation on the island. Following his shipwreck, Crusoe must learn all over again how to support himself with what he can find on the island and what he can salvage from the ship. “In a word, I had nothing about me but a knife, a tobacco pipe, and a little tobacco in a box, this was all my provision” (Defoe, end of chapter 4). After provisioning himself and establishing a sustainable position within his limited resources, Crusoe must then face the prospect of barbarians again, this time in the form of cannibals. Rather than acting on his instinct to assume a lesser humanity as he had with the moors, this time Crusoe recognizes they are not less human but simply have different values and beliefs. Again he is seen to rescue another being from the clutches of the barbarians, this time in the form of Friday, and uses this character to cling to his more civilized nature. Finally, it is because of his ability to fully associate himself with the civilized world that he is able to return to the rest of the world in the end, a much wiser man. The satire involved in both stories is immediately evident to a knowledgeable reader. Gulliver’s trip to Lilliput, for example, and his time at the tiny court, illustrates the various intrigues and mismanagement Swift experienced in the real world. As the ambitious Lilliputians fought to gain approval for an office, they danced on a rope held off the floor or were forced to jump over or crawl under a stick to demonstrate their ability to quickly adjust to the whims and desires of the monarch. “For instance, we recognize the intrigues by means of which favors and promotions were obtained at Ann’s court” (Taralunga, 2003: 132). Satire against the warlike attitudes of England and the Europeans is threaded through Gulliver’s second voyage, in which the easily overpowering giants abhor war over all other things. Likewise, Gulliver’s adventures in Laputa illustrate Swift’s negative opinion of the general value of science produced by the Royal Society as the scientists and doctors of the floating city continuously spend their time involved in meaningless pursuits that bring benefit to no one. Finally, in his fourth voyage, Gulliver’s encounter with the Houyhnhnms creates a strong commentary on the true picture of human nature in which the conception of war has not even been considered, much less worked out to the fine science Gulliver describes to his astonished hosts. “Ironically Gulliver’s Travels, a book thought by most people as a charming book of adventure popular with children, is one of the most powerful attacks ever made against man’s wickedness and stupidity. Swift’s book is full of personal, literary and political allusions” (Taralunga, 2003: 135). Rather than heralding the British identity as the ultimate expression of human civility, Swift uses his story to expose the petty jealousies and meaningless customs of the British system and encourages more thoughtful future action. The satire found in Robinson Crusoe is critical less of the political structure of the British identity in order to focus more upon the religious pretensions of the Catholic attitudes that were prevalent at the time. “Defoe was a staunch believer in religious freedom and … he published several pamphlets protesting against the king’s policies” (About the Author, 2005). In terms of religion, Defoe allows Crusoe to learn from his past and begin adopting a more open-minded approach to others. Rather than insisting that his servant become Christian before he is released, Crusoe realizes that the cannibals that come to his island are simply operating on a different belief system than the one he subscribes to. While he doesn’t condone it, he realizes it doesn’t give him the right to commit murder. This reinforces Defoe’s philosophy regarding the middle road. “This philosophy was centered, first and foremost, on the idea of gaining and maintaining a permanent middle ground in all endeavors, for it is in this middle space, supposedly, that man feels happiest” (Newlin, : 30). Defoe’s philosophy is introduced early in the book through the words of Crusoe’s father as he tells his son how poverty always leaves want and riches come with responsibilities, so the middle road is the path to greatest happiness. It is referenced several times throughout the story as the narrator either finds want or wealth, but it is in Crusoe’s ability to start seeing things from another person’s eyes that the message finally begins to hit home that moderation is intended for all things, not just wealth or fame. Rather than concerning ourselves with lamenting over the past, or what cannot be had or in squabbling over petty arguments as was seen among the Lilliputians in Gulliver’s Travels, the path to true enlightenment and true self-knowledge is to remain beneficially employed at some task, to work for the betterment of others rather than oneself and to have an open mind for understanding and new ideas as is found in Robinson Crusoe. These ideas became part of the founding ideas of the enlightenment period itself. “By the time the Enlightenment reached its maturity … there was a rough consensus among its leading thinkers in regard to certain key themes: rejection of orthodox, scriptural Christianity …; conviction of the superiority of modern over ancient thought …; extension of this natural-scientific model to a host of new social sciences …; and a proto-liberal political program, aimed at protecting what were now seen as the equal natural rights of individuals” (Wright, 2007: 15). Through their characters and the experiences they allow these characters to have, both Swift and Defoe encouraged their readers to take a more active role in expanding their horizons. While they used the medium of travel to demonstrate the importance of exploration to the growth of the individual, they each demonstrated in their own way that exploration needs to occur internally as well as externally in order to be effective. In each case, the authors manage to point out elements of British society that could use improvement. Although British travelers were seen to embark on their journeys with a sense that the British way was the one true ‘correct’ way, novels such as Gulliver’s Travels and Robinson Crusoe revealed that there were several ways in which people might choose to organize their society. While it may be unfamiliar and often even childish to the traveler, returning home to view home politics, as Gulliver discovered, can reveal much of the same sort of thinking ridiculed elsewhere. Both authors also encourage the individual to engage in their own form of scientific questioning as they point out the importance of questioning the experiences they witness. Rather than simply attempting to interpret things from their internal, largely British perspective, these authors suggest through their writing that the only way to understand others is often to drop one’s own preconceived notions and try to see the reality of the situation. Although the British identity seems to have held that Britain was the most advanced civilization on the planet at the time, these authors suggest that there is still a great deal of room available for improvement. At the same time, they demonstrate that while other countries or civilizations may not adhere to the ‘proper’ standards of British society, they still manage to gain technological advances, amass great wealth, adhere to some standards of social behavior and can lead very civilized lives that are sometimes nearly indistinguishable from the lifestyles lived by the common Briton back at home. Works Cited “About the Author.” Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. CliffsNotes. New York: Wiley Publishing, 2005. Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. Bloomington, IL: Public School Publishing Compang, 1902. Newlin, Thomas. The Voice in the Garden: Andrei Bolotov and the Anxieties of Russian Pastoral, 1738-1833. Northwestern University Press, 2001. Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver’s Travels. New York: Penguin Books, 1726 (reprint 2003). Taralunga, Elena. “Jonathan Swift’s Satire and Irony.” The Economic Journal of Takasaki City University of Economics. Vol. 46, N. 3, (2003), pp. 129-135. Wright, Johnson Kent. Candide Voltaire and the Enlightenment. (2007). Yale Press. September 3, 2009 Read More