Moral Touchstones

615 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Gulliver's travels as a moral tale

Morality is a code of conduct, or a set of beliefs in classifying between right and wrong behaviours. In the novel, Gulliver’s Travels, Swift used a moral touchstone in each adventure that Gulliver has traveled too. In each travel Gulliver has journeyed too, there is only one set of characters that depicts the morals of society and how mankind are currently viewed.

Gulliver’s first and second travel, were the most similar because it viewed the insignificance of size amongst the human race. The moral of these two travels were that you shouldn’t underestimate the size of your enemies, or anyone in particular, because though insignificant in size – you can’t fully have knowledge of who they are. For example, the Lilliputians are six-inch-tall people whom Gulliver met in his first travel, but though they may seem small and appear harmless to his giant form, the Lilliputians were savage and had a thirst for war thus representing the pettiness in the human race. In contrast to the Lilliputians, in the second travel, Gulliver has encountered the Brobdingnagians, who are a race of giants. ...

Show More
Related

  • Goodness And Morality In Cormac Mccarthy's The Road

    1681 Words  | 4 Pages

    Morality is a culturally based idea of right and wrong. In The Road, due to the aftermath of the unspecified cataclysm, the land was left desolate and the survivors are desperate. The world no longer has any remnants of the past thus culture and ethics do not exist. As a result, the remaining majority trivializes the use of morals due to desperation and in an attempt to survive. However, the protagonists are able to find solace in the goodness of each other. They

    Read More

  • Free Gulliver's Travels Essays: Hypocrisy in Government Exposed

    2962 Words  | 6 Pages

    The first voyage of Gulliver takes him to the isle of Lilliput. There, he must play to a petty and ineffectual government. Swift uses several devices to highlight the Lilliputian stupidity. First, they are physically agile and graceful in comparison to Gulliver, who is portrayed as cumbersome and brutish.

    Read More

  • Military Persuasive Essay

    1088 Words  | 3 Pages

    What is morality? Merriam-Webster dictionary states that morality is/are the beliefs about what right behavior is and what wrong behavior is

    Read More

  • Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels

    1486 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gulliver’s first adventure takes place in Lilliput. Gulliver swims to a foreign shore after his boat and rowboat capsize due to a fierce storm. Washed upon the shore, Gulliver finds himself tied to the grass surrounded by little bodied people called the Lilliputians. The Lilliputians stood no more than six inches high. During this time Swift recognized that England was also a kind of six inch being that had great influence in Europe. Swift wrote Gulliver’s Travel’s during a time when Europe was the worlds most dominant and influential force. England, despite its small size, had the potential to defeat any nation that might try to conquer them. Swift relates this phenomenon to the small stature of the Lilliputians. They stood a mere six inches high but had the power to siege the mammoth Gulliver. The capability of a nation consisting of miniature people, who are able to capture someone ten-times their size can be seen as reinforcing the capability of a small nation, such as England, becoming and remaining a great power. Even though this is true, Swift entices a condescending tone to Gulliver’s portrayal of the small Lilliputians, who easily fit into the hands of Gulliver, yet still manage to threaten his life.

    Read More

  • Gulliver's change throughout Gulliver's Travels

    922 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout these two parts, we see Gulliver as an adventurous man who wants to see everything that has been created in the world. During his second adventure Gulliver sees the opposite side of the spectrum and has to fend for his life because of his small size, which causes him to lose his view of human size when he goes back to England. In addition, he starts to defend England in his talks, which is totally opposite of how he started. In part four we see the biggest change in Gulliver, he has lost a grip on reality and no longer wants to accept the fact that he is what he is and looks like a Yahoo. In part two and four of Gulliver’s Travels, we see changes within Gulliver.

    Read More

  • Gulliver's Travels – Innocent Nature

    611 Words  | 2 Pages

    On the island of Lilliput, in Jonathan Swift's book, Gulliver's Travels, Gulliver's innocent nature satirize the story. Upon arriving mysteriously on Lilliput, Gulliver was tied down and his weapons taken away. To his surprise his captors were only six inches tall. Gulliver's pacifist attitude allowed him to befriend the Lilliputians,...

    Read More

  • Examples Of Moral Compass

    593 Words  | 2 Pages

    Moral compass is an internalized set of values and objectives that guide a person about ethical behavior, decision making and to judge what is right and wrong. Meaning we individuals each create our own and unique moral compass. Our moral compass is composed with our values, religious, beliefs, parents, government and other. For example, if I were to ask myself how to do I currently see the world I am living in? My answer would be I live my life by day to day passing. Meaning I do not take nothing or anyone for granted I enjoy and make sure I value my loved ones on daily basis. Also, I do not use government or authority figures as my guides. Why? For example, when trump was running for president and winning everyone was angry and upset. Well me of course I wasn’t a fan of trump wining

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Gulliver's Travels

    724 Words  | 2 Pages

    Using the popular style of a travelogue, Jonathan Swift, through the point of view of Gulliver, an English seamen, satirizes human nature and English society in Gulliver’s Travels. As a result of a series of unfortunate events, Gulliver is taken on four voyages to curious lands that defy the laws of nature. The uniqueness of each land provides not only a captivating tale, but a metaphor that highlights Swift’s satire. Swift exemplifies the use of these metaphors through the parallels of Gulliver’s first voyage to Lilliput, a land of people no more than six inches tall (Swift 17), and his second voyage to Brobdingnag, a land inhabited by sixty-foot giants (Swift 79). In these first two voyages, Swift uses the size of the human creatures Gulliver

    Read More

  • Lilliputians In Gulliver's Travels

    325 Words  | 1 Pages

    At the start of the book, the Lilliputians looked at Gulliver like he was an enemy.

    Read More

  • Changing Perspective in Gulliver’s Travels

    578 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, Gulliver learns that experiencing different lifestyles he thought were better than his own actually makes him appreciate his own life with a more meaningful disposition through his journeys to Lilliput, Brobdingnag, and the Country of the Houyhnhnms. Gulliver’s journey to Lilliput effectuated forlorn feelings of his home. Likewise, Gulliver’s trek to Brobdingnag assists in his realization that changing perspectives also alter his attitude towards his homeland. Finally, Gulliver’s expedition to the Country of Houyhnhnms, where horses act civilized on and people act like wild animals. Gulliver soon learns that through his mystical journeys that changing the perspective in which he views the world reverses feelings of gratefulness towards his home. Gulliver’s first journey set sail to the Lilliputians on May 4th, 1699.

    Read More

  • Criticism In Gulliver's Travels

    1895 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ses these little changes to convey his satire through the use of fantasy and travelogue genre. After the first journey, Gulliver’s image of humankind is a bit changed, similarly his view declines through the second and third voyage, until he meets the Yahoos on his fourth journey. This way Swift was able to insert his own interpretation of the human condition. When one analyzes the human condition, many tragic flaws can be discovered, but because of our ability to reason, human beings are capable of changing for the better. Nonetheless, flaws of pride keep us from gaining the ideal qualities that are personified in Houyhnhnm reason and Brobdingnaggian morality. Through the analysis of Swift’s satire, fantasy, and travelogue adventure genre it is notable to say that Gulliver’s Travels is Swift’s greatest satirical attempt to bring perspective and truth to the table.

    Read More

  • Teaching Moral Values to Children

    1167 Words  | 3 Pages

    Morals are defined as expressing or teaching a conception of either behaviour. Teaching moral values to a child are usually the responsibility of the parents. A parent influences a child at a young age, although as they mature they have the ability to accept or reject their traits. In the play, A Taste of Honey, author Shelegh Delaney illustrates the impact a parent has on a child, and how their decisions can affect the way in which they control their lives. Children are influenced by their parents and this is reflected in their behaviour, which is dependent on the morals instilled in them from birth.

    Read More

  • Political Allegory in Gulliver's Travels

    415 Words  | 1 Pages

    Gulliver's Travels is a great novel written by Jonthan Swift. It is about voyages of Gulliver-main character-to different countries. Gulliver's Travels is a political allegory of England at Swift's time. the word allegory means a simple that can be objects, characters, figures or colors used to represent an abstract idea or concepts. Swift uses this novel to criticize the political condition of England at the 18th century and to make a satire of the royal court of George 1 . Gulliver's Travels has established itself as a classic for young people. Its appeal to young minds is due to the fact that it is, on the surface, an adventure story of strange wonderful lands. As a matter of fact, it is taken by the mature reader as an allegory work of England at Swift's time.

    Read More

  • Morality In Gulliver's Travels

    735 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gulliver first travels to Lilliput and he learns about the misconduct and pettiness of humans and these emotions lead them to agony. People of Lilliput started to adjust to Gulliver as he starts to adjust into their way of life. Lilliput has a lot of disadvantages in their moral character for instance to earn a place in the government is not by having and qualifications but instead people would perform tricks on a rope. Gulliver starts seeing the similarities between the people of Lilliput and England. For example, Gulliver knows the argument between the Big-Endies and Little-Endies, which was about what side to crack open the egg, the big or the small end. It reminded Gulliver

    Read More

  • Many Contemporary Issues Tackled in Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

    886 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Gulliver, "Undoubtably philosophers are right when they tell us that nothing is great or small than by comparison." In the novel Jonathan Swift tackles many of the contemporary issues of his day. His portrayal of English society alludes to the fact that he perceived many evils in the structure of society. In the novel Swift puts focus on the issues of economy, government, war, mankind and plictic. As a result of his insightful perspective into the fabric of society, Gulliver’s Travels, is regarded by many as being one of the greatest satires in modern history.

    Read More

More about Moral Touchstones

Open Document