Book One

Nina Page & Lexie Werner (GROUP E)

Ethnocentrism and Size:

In Book I, Gulliver is deified by the Liliputians because of his ginormous size. His physicality operates as a representative literary device for devised importance. Gulliver's experiences in Lilliput are comical and amusing to him, even as he exists as a prisoner at the mercy of the Lilliputians, writing in Chapter II, "I looked about me, and must confess I never beheld a more entertaining prospect."* Gulliver's opinion of himself and his homeland informs his perception of the Lilliputians, to the extent where even as he praises their advanced mathematical talents, he fails to view Lilliputian skill as on par with that of England. The satirical narration Swift employs as a divergence from the typical travel narrative in Gulliver's interactions speaks to the vapid ethnocentricity characteristic of the period. There is evidence of such throughout the book, and below we extracted a few glaring examples of Swift's attitude towards colonialism and ethnocentrism through the perspective of Gulliver.

Relevant Passages:

CHAPTER I

"These people are most excellent mathematicians, and arrived to a great perfection in mechanics, by the countenance and encouragement of the emperor, who is a renowned patron of learning."*

CHAPTER V

"The heat I had contracted by coming very near the flames, and by labouring to quench them, made the wine begin to operate by urine; which I voided in such a quantity, and applied so well to the proper places, that in three minutes the fire was wholly extinguished, and the rest of that noble pile, which had cost so many ages in erecting, preserved from destruction."*

"[…]the empress, conceiving the greatest abhorrence of what I had done, removed to the most distant side of the court, firmly resolved that those buildings should never be repaired for her use: and, in the presence of her chief confidents could not forbear vowing revenge."

Gulliver's ethnocentricity and its ties to colonialist ideology is blatantly represented in his actions during the above passages regarding the palace fire. In an attempt to alleviate a dire situation, Gulliver does what he thinks a proper response to emergency in an attempt to extinguish the flames. Yet his actions have simultaneously cured the dire situation and created a permanent inhabitable portion of the royal Lilliputian palace.

*I don't have page numbers, I use the online version so everything is chaos.