Guliver Travels By Jonathan Swift

Gulliver's Travels is the story of the adventures of Lemuel Gulliver, the narrator and protagonist of the story. Gulliver is a married surgeon from Nottinghamshire, England, who has a taste for traveling. He works as a surgeon on ships and eventually becomes a ship captain.

Gulliver's Travels is Jonathan Swift's satiric masterpiece, the fantastic tale of the four voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, an English ship's surgeon. First, he is shipwrecked in the land of Lilliput, where the alarmed residents are only six inches tall. His second voyage takes him to the land of Brobdingnag, where the people are sixty feet tall. Further adventures bring Gulliver to an island that floats in the sky, and to a land where horses are endowed with reason and beasts are shaped like men.

On his first voyage a storm knocks his lifeboat over and he is the only one to make it to shore. There he is held captive by the Lilliputian people who are only around six inches tall. Eventually Gulliver makes friends and agrees to help them in exchange for his freedom. He takes down the rival town’s military and makes peace with them. The Lilliputian leader wants them killed and when Gulliver won’t do it he is accused of treason.

The next Island Gulliver ends up shipwrecked on is an island entirely occupied by Giants. He is taken by a farmer who ends up making him a sideshow for money until the queen of the giants comes and buys Gulliver for a lot of money. Gulliver has a mixed experience while staying in the castle. He is fed and cared for, but not seen as human and is constantly in danger. Gulliver also talks to the king about the politics from his homeland and the king just belittles him, saying how silly it all is. Eventually the box they keep him in is set adrift on accident and he is saved by a ship passing by.

The next Island Gulliver lands on is an island that floats, thanks to a giant magnet. The king of the island is from a race of people who are always caught up in their own thoughts, so much so that they need a servant to remind them to speak and listen. These people are caught up in learning and creating new sciences but never actually having a practical purpose, and most of the studies are actually contradicting themselves.

The fourth and final voyage takes Gulliver to the land of the Houyhnhnms, wise and dignified horses who rule over savage humans called Yahoos.  Gulliver identifies with the Houyhnhnms rather than the Yahoos, but they ultimately reject and expel him.  He is once again rescued and returned home.
Back in England, Gulliver is unable to fit into society, preferring to talk to horses. His eyes have been opened to the monstrosity of the human condition. He has experienced too much, both awesome and fearsome. It takes years for him to be able to enjoy the company of his wife and grown children. He writes his diary, Gulliver’s Travels, as a warning for all of humanity.