Post 3: GULLIVER'S TRAVELS & the Archives

Beatrice Adenigbagbe

English 460

Professor Nelson

08 March 2020

Gulliver, Politics, and Governance

In chapter 6 of part 3 of Gulliver’s Travels, Gulliver frames himself as a supporter of the English status quo and as an authority on politics and governance. In the first paragraph, Gulliver insinuates that the professors in the school of political projectors are “mad” for their visionary way of thinking. He complains of them, “Proposing schemes for persuading monarchs to choose favorites upon the score of their wisdom, capacity, and virtue,” (Swift part 3, chapter 6) and of them actually“teaching ministers to consult the public good” (Swift part 3, chapter 6). Even more interesting is Gulliver’s apparent confusion and even rejection of their idea to “reward merit, great abilities, eminent services,…and choose for employments persons qualified to exercise them…” (Swift part 3, chapter 6). He refers to all these things as “wild, impossible chimeras, that never entered before into the heart of man to conceive" (Swift part 3, chapter 6). His incredulous reaction to their seemingly reasonable and just ideas of how governments and societies should function prove that Gulliver is a firm supporter of adherence to the status quo of his homeland, where elitism, corruption, and classism run rampant. The idea of a society controlled by individuals who put the public's interests first absolutely baffles him, as is the idea of a society in which merit and wisdom take you farther than money or social status. It’s important to remember that Gulliver is an extremely well educated man, so he is more than well aware that the system proposed by the professors is one that has the potential to create an equitable society and system that benefits more than just a select few. However, Gulliver does not like this idea. Anything that deviates too far from the reality he's used to in his homeland is perceived by Gulliver to be wrong or unrealistic, most likely because he happily understands that his privilege as an educated man places him above others. This frames Gulliver in a very privileged and elitist light and calls into question his reliability in telling the truth regarding societies that deviate from what he perceives as the norm.

Works Cited:

Swift, Jonathan, and Laurence Sterne. Gulliver's Travels. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1952.