A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift | Themes, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Jonathan Swift was known for his brutal satires that he wrote to comment on and criticize the social, political, and economic ills of his time. One such satirical work written by him is A Modest Proposal which was published in 1729. it was a year when Ireland was suffering from religious, political, and social strife as well as famine. The poor were extremely poor, often having to beg for food or money in the streets. The poorest of the lot were the Irish Catholics or Papists. Catholics were already suffering biases and discrimination throughout England. Catholic kids were not allowed to attend any school or University. Even Alexander Pope failed to get any formal education because of that. The famine further created issues for the Irish Catholics because of the irrational economic intervention of the British government in Irish matters. At such a time, many so-called economists and philosophers published papers suggesting various ideas to solve the economic problems of Ireland, most of which were unfeasible and some were ridiculous. Jonathan Swift wrote an acidic Juvenalian satire to criticize and lampoon the British government’s intervention and the various economic ideas offered by others as a solution for Irish problems while highlighting the stressful situations of Irish people. Since it was a scathing satire against the powerful bodies, Jonathan Swift published it anonymously.

The full title of this satire was “A Modest Proposal For Preventing The Children of Poor People From Being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country, and For Making Them Beneficial to the Public.”

Themes of A Modest Proposal: Jonathan Swift uses verbal irony in this satire to express the ills of British society and the way the plight of Poor Irish people was being ignored. He proposes an extremely bizarre and repulsive idea in a cool, rational, and self-righteous manner and this offers a deep sense of humor. The Bizarre idea that he proposes is to raise the infant children of Irish people as livestock that can be slaughtered after breeding and can be used as tasty food delicacies by the rich British people. The idea is so repulsive that irrespective of his political allegiance, the reader will be forced to search for the hidden meaning and message of the proposal. There is a certain irony, the discrepancy between saying and meaning. Catholic Ireland was no better than other English colonies of the past. This essay criticizes and lampoons the colonial wealthy, educated, English, Protestant ruling class. Jonathan Swit himself belonged to the same class, yet he chose to criticize the ill. The author clearly shows how greedy and inhuman the colonialist mindset can be. While Swift criticized the wealthy British rulers, he also satirized the journalists and authors who often used the Irish famine and conundrum to publish their own propaganda for making quick money. In addition, he satirizes the process of social engineering and the inhumanity behind it. Another major theme is prejudice against poor people. Swift also attacked the English cultural arrogance by satirically mentioning, Irish, Americans, and people of other colonies as savages. He satirically suggests that all people who could be classified as “other” are potentially dangerous to the English, and need to be tamed.

The term ‘Modest’ in the title of this essay is to satirize the habit of publishing pamphlets on the topic of various social issues with no meaningful message in them. The author continues to use ‘modest’ and ‘humbly

Summary of A Modest Proposal:

Jonathan Swift begins his satirical essay by giving an account of the impoverished state of the Irish people. He expresses his sympathy and suggests that there is an urgent need to find an immediate solution to this economic problem. He then mentions that because of extreme poverty, many Irish women are forced to abort their unborn children because they cannot afford them and the children are proving to be a burden on their parents. He then says that his proposal will certainly reduce the number of abortions performed by poor mothers.

Like a professional economist, the author then calculates and presents the data of how many infants are birth in Ireland in a period and then asks what should be done with them because they are not useful for society. They cannot be employed, they cannot be used as labor, furthermore, they take time off their parents and render them of their work too. These infants cannot become thieves too. Furthermore, no merchant will buy them because they have no skills. Since these infants are of no value, the author says that it would be a good idea if the Irish people start eating these infants when they reach the age of one, especially because famine has caused an acute shortage of food in Ireland. The writer then offers an account of the probable weight of a year-old infant and what food items and delicacies can be prepared by the flesh of the infant. He proposes various ways of preparing such dishes artistically. And suggests that professional chefs can then invent new ways of preparing much better dishes. The author suggests that at the age of a year, the infant will be plenty of flesh and even the discarded skin of such an infant can be used for making fancy items like a lady’s gloves or a bag. The author then says that one of his friends has already discussed this idea and suggested that children of fourteen years too can be used to produce delicious food. However, the author says that he rejected that suggestion because he says that the flesh of a fourteen-year-old boy is too lean while a fourteen-year-old girl may become a breeder of infants herself, and using her for food will break the supply chain. He then says that his friend saw such practices followed by some savages in Asia. The author then says that although the situations of those adults who are ill, disabled, too old, or starving, are no better he is not concerned about them because he cannot think of any such idea that can make them useful.

The author then supports his idea as a viable solution to the Irish problem and lists six reasons why it should be accepted. Firstly, the author says that it will decrease the population of dangerous abhorrent Catholics, secondly, by selling their infants, the poor will get some property and this will improve their conditions. Thirdly, the writer says that this proposal will increase the overall wealth of the nation as these newly found food delicacies will be a new wealth. The fourth reason is that mothers will not be expected to raise their infants to adulthood. They will be freed after a year as they will sell their infant to the right buyer. Thus, they will have time to do other work or breed again. The fifth reason that the writer offers is that the life of taverns and culinary circles is becoming tedious but these new food delicacies made of the flesh of Irish infants will bring new excitement and enthusiasm and that will increase the business. The sixth and last reason the author gives in support of his proposal is that it will help improve the overall societal structure because that proposal will strengthen the institution of marriage. Women will be more dedicated to the care and upbringing of their infants as they will have potential wealth for them. The men will also be more honest and caring towards their wives so that their wives may create more babies to sell.

The author then counters his own proposal and says that there can be a negative effect because this proposal if accepted will reduce the population of Ireland. But then he says that it will not be an issue for Britain and that not too many infants will be killed by this proposal because it is not easy to preserve the flesh of infants and hence they cannot be exported.

The author then declares that he considers his proposal as the best possible remedy to the Irish problem and he is not ready to listen to any other solutions like thrift, or virtues. In the last section, the author says that he is open to any other suggestions anyone may have on this question. He declares that he has no economical stake in this proposal as he has no infants that he can sell to be eaten, and thus, he cannot make any profit out of this proposal.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus by William Carlos Williams | Structure, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Landscape with the Fall of Icarus is a modernist imagist poem written by William Carlos Williams that was first published in the year 1960 and then was added to his poetic collection Pictures from Brueghel and Other Poems in 1962. The poem is a prime example of “Ekphrasis,” a specific f
orm of a poem in which the poet describes and reflects upon a work of visual art. The poem describes the famous painting ‘Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the Dutch painter of the 16^th century. The title of William’s poem and its first line is a direct allusion to this work of Bruegel.

Themes of Landscape with the Fall of Icarus:

The painting describes the story of Icarus from Ovid’s Metamorphosis and thus, the poem in itself is an allusion to Ovid’s Metamorphosis and the Greek myth of Icarus. Icarus was the son of Daedalus. Icarus and his father were exiled and imprisoned in Crete. Daedalus was a miraculous sculptor. He created artificial wings of wax and gave power of flying to those. He offered those wings to his son so that he may escape and bring help. However, he warned Icarus that though the ability to fly will tempt him to achieve greater heights, he must resist going near the sun as it will melt his wings. He further requested him to remain away from the sea because if his wings get wet, he won’t be able to fly. Icarus promised to keep these requests in mind and flew away. However, as he reached the sky, he was exhilarated by the sudden freedom and the ability to fly. Nonchalantly, he kept going high and high and forgot that he must not go near the sun. As he kept going up, the heat started waning out his wax feathers and they started melting. Icarus was unable to manage those melting wings. Furthermore, he was so high that he didn’t notice that he is flying just above the sea. As a result of the melting of his feathers, he fell down into the sea, and that further worsen the predicament because the wet feathers were useless. Thus, Icarus fell and drowned in the sea for not heading any of his father’s pieces of advice. He drowned because of his attitude of indifference towards his father’s requests and this is the main theme of William’s poem. The poet takes the reference to the mythological character Icarus to talk about the human tendency to indifference. When Icarus fell from the sky, it was spring and a farmer was plowing his field. Similarly, the edge of the sea was concerned with itself. Furthermore, the sun too had no pity upon Icarus. Nobody liked to hear the splash of Icarus drowning. A farmer sees Icarus drowning but he has no interest in that as he keeps continuing his work in the field. The poem establishes a theme of growing selfishness and individualism among mankind. As Icarus falls and dies, it makes no difference.

Structure of the Poem:

It is a short poem with seven stanzas of three lines each. There is no set rhyming scheme and the poem is written in free verse with extensive use of enjambment. Williams has used imagery, allusion, alliteration, consonance, metaphor, symbolism, and Onomatopoeia.

Summary of Landscape with the Fall of Icarus:

1^st Stanza (Lines 1-3)

“According to Brueghel
when Icarus fell
it was spring”

The poet declares that his poem is an Ekphrasis of Pieter Bruguel’s painting depicting the fall of Icarus. The poet alludes to Brueghel’s painting and says that the picture shows that Icarus fell during Spring. There is end random rhyming in ‘Brueghel’ and ‘fell.’

2^nd Stanza (Lines 4-6)

“a farmer was ploughing
his field
the whole pageantry”

In the second stanza, the poet confirms that it was certainly the season of spring as shown in the picture. Spring is associated with youth, life, birth, and natural beauty. It is generally the time when farmers prepare their fields for new crops. The poet says that the picture shows a farmer ploughing his field which suggests that it is a depiction of spring. Furthermore, the whole ‘pageantry’ the whole of the beautiful picture suggests it is spring.

3rd Stanza (Lines 7-9)

“of the year was
awake tingling
near”

The poet continues to describe the spring season shown in the picture and says that the picture is holistic and it shows the liveliness of spring. In the 8^th line, the poet used the Juxtaposition of iamb (awake) and torchee (tingling). Furthermore, the end sound (k) of awake, and starting sound (t) of tingling are consonant stops.

4th Stanza (Lines 10-12)

“the edge of the sea
concerned
with itself”

In the fourth stanza, the poet develops the theme of his poem and suggests that while such a major incident was happening, Icarus was falling, the whole landscape up to the sea was unaware and unconcerned, and the whole edge or shore of the sea was concerned by itself. The farmer was busy ploughing, and the shepherd was gazing at the sky indifferent to the fall of Icarus. The fishermen were busy with fish, everybody was concerned with their own jobs, and nobody cared for the falling man.

5th Stanza (Lines 13-15)

“sweating in the sun
that melted
the wings' wax”

While everyone was busy with their jobs, Icarus suffered a jolt as the heat of the sun overpowered his will to fly and his wings of wax melt down. The whole of the actions shown in the picture suggests it was a hot spring day. The farmer was sweating, and so were the fishermen and the shepherd. It was so hot that the wings of wax began to melt.

6^th Stanza (Lines 16-18)

“unsignificantly
off the coast
there was”

No doubt the incidence of the fall of Icarus was an important one but when it happened, as shown in the figure, nobody was concerned. Icarus was insignificant and so was his fall. Everybody was busy with their own business. While the painting is titled the fall of Icarus which it certainly depicts, it depicts a whole range of other actions too, and in the pageantry, the mere fall of Icarus appears insignificant. It appears that Icarus neglected his father’s pieces of advice, and his fall was also ignored by everyone else. Icarus got carried away by his whims and he suffered since nobody cared for his fall, men continue to fall because of their irrational whims.

7^th Stanza (Lines 9-21)

“a splash quite unnoticed
this was
Icarus drowning”

As Icarus fell on the seabed, it must have caused the sound of splash but it disturbed no one, it remained unnoticed, and that was Icarus drowning. And since it remained unnoticed, nobody learned anything from his fall. As if his fall achieved nothing for humankind which continues to fall.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

The Nowhere Man by Kamala Markandaya | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Nowhere Man is a novel written by Kamala Markandaya that was first published in the year 1972. Kamala Markandaya was an Indian expatriate living in London and all of her literary works are marked with a deep sense of Indianness and nostalgia thus, it is considered a prime example of Diasporic literature. The Nowhere Man is the only novel by Kamala Markandaya that is set in London, Britain. Yet, the story of this novel too is deeply connected with her Diasporic Indian roots. The novel tells the tragic story of the alienation, and exploitation of Srinivas, an Indian man who left India for his business in 1948 and made London his base city. However, he was never accepted as a British and had to face racism, marginalism, and alienation. Another major theme of the novel is the clash of Eastern and Western cultures and sensibilities.

Characters of The Nowhere Man:

Srinivas is an elderly Brahmin living in London at Bunglaw No.5. He came to Britain in 1919 for his business of spices. It is 1968 and throughout his life, he kept suffering alienation, ostracization, and racial hatred. Now it is becoming extreme because Srinivas is suffering from Leprosy. His doctor Mr. Radcliff suggests he shall not visit any public places. Marjorie is Dr. Radcliff’s wife. Vasantha was his wife who died of tuberculosis. He had two sons Laxman and Seshu who both fought for Britain during Second World War but only Laxman returned as Seshu died during the German Blitz. Laxman is also living in London but he has his family and he doesn’t keep much contact with Srinivas. Pat is Laxman’s wife. Mrs. Pickering is an impoverished divorcee who makes friends with Srinivas and they start living together at No.5. Fred Fletcher is the son of Sriniva’s neighbor who recently returned from Australia after the failure of his business. He is unemployed and frustrated. Fred starts blaming immigrants for his own failure and thus becomes a racial bigot. He specifically hates Srinivas, who is his neighbor.

Summary of The Nowhere Man:

Srinivas is a young South Indian Brahmin guy who is a brilliant scholar. However, he faces racial discrimination and imperial oppression during his years at University in India. He actively participates in the non-violent protest marches against the atrocities of the British government and hence faces the consequences of that too. Despite that, he continues to outperform all others in his studies and wins a gold medal. Soon his family arranges his marriage with Vasantha, a beautiful and sensitive young Brahmin girl. Because of his academic excellence, Srinivas gets an offer to go to England to pursue higher education. Srinivas is not interested to go but he sees no future in India and thus, he decides to go to England with his wife in 1919. He settles in London and since he is not only a good scholar but also a brilliant entrepreneur, he succeeds in establishing a successful venture of Indian spices in London. His hard work and acumen pay off and he buys a home, Bungalow No. 5 in a posh area of London. Despite all his success, excellent academic skills, benevolent nature, and deeply ingrained principles in non-violence, he and his wife were made to realize again and again by the host society that they are Indian. They faced the situation of in-betweenness and non-belongingness. However, he continues to bear all the racial slurs and discrimination patiently while believing that England is his chosen nation. Time passes by and his wife gives birth to two sons Laxman and Seshu. Both are born Britishers and they join the British army during the Second World War. However, only Laxman returns from the war front and Seshu loses his life during the German Blitz. Seshu’s death breaks Vasantha and she falls ill with tuberculosis and dies. After cremating her, Srinivas decides to release her ashes in the river Thames. However, he was about to be arrested for throwing her ashes into the Thames. “The river’s not the place for rubbish,” a policeman told him. But Srinivas said that it is not rubbish, but his loving wife. Despite being harsh and racist, the policeman feels a moment of compassion and lets Srinivas go and perform the last rites. After his wife’s death, Srinivas suffers acute loneliness. When his son returns from the war, he settles with his wife Pat somewhere else in London. Laxman doesn’t live his father’s typical Indian attitude and still continues to follow traditional Indian ways of living. His wife Pat does try to bridge the gap between her husband and father-in-law but ultimately, they settle away from Srinivas’s house and Laxman keeps minimal contact with him.

His younger son’s and wife’s death makes Srinivas delineate who doesn’t care much for his business, his health, and his physical condition. Srinivas briefly considers returning to India but finally concludes, “He had no notion of where to go to in India, or what to do when he got there.” He knows that the country has changed. He also thinks to himself, “This is my country now.” He has already spent more than 40 years in London. Both his sons were born in London and he let go of Vasantha’s ashes in the river Thames. In some ways, he has become more English than the English around him.

During such time, he meets Mrs. Pickering who is an impoverished divorcee. Both develop a friendly relationship and then Mrs. Pickering decides to live with him at his home No.5. She starts taking care of him and his neighbors too feel good as now his home and the surrounding area appear better managed. While Mrs. Pickering and Srinivas admire and compliment each other, they do face troubles because of the differences between their cultural roots. While Srinivas is totally non-violent and doesn’t even wish to harm ants and feels bad if he mistakenly steps on mice, Mrs. Pickering is a Western woman who considers such things senseless. She would eat non-vegetarian food and won’t care much. Meanwhile, Srinivas continues to suffer racial slurs and as more immigrants from Asia and South Africa arrive in England, these racial abuses start becoming more intense and violent. While Srinivas continues to bear these discriminations calmly and doesn’t react, Mrs. Pickering believes in action and she wishes him to directly confront such hooligans. Srinivas is rather passive and prefers talking reason. When immigrants are accused of being the root of all the British problems of unemployment, too much population, and poverty, Srinivas, referring to the exploitative history of the empire, concludes that the reverse is true: “That this bland country owed debts it had not paid, rather than scores which it had to settle. That the past had seen his countrymen sinned against, rather than sinning.” During such time, Srinivas falls ill and his doctor Mr. Radcliff diagnoses that he is suffering from leprosy. His doctor tells him to avoid going to public places. Mrs. Pickering continues to nurse him and help him while he offers financial stability.

Meanwhile, Fred Fletcher, who is the son of Sriniva’s neighbor, returns from Australia after the failure of his business venture. He tries to find a job in London but remains unemployed. Fred Fletcher is angry and bitter, but instead of taking responsibility for his failure, he blames it on the arrival of “black hordes” and gets a reputation for being a “black basher”. He spends much of his time getting drunk in the pub, ranting about black and brown-skinned people “getting above themselves” and spewing racist jibes. He is particularly vitriolic against Srinivas and would often do mean things against him. He would throw dead mice at his home’s door or would attack him with tar, and other similar disturbing acts. Mrs. Pickering suggests Srinivas confront Fred and complain against him but Srinivas would rather let it go. Mrs. Pickering, being a native herself, also has some sympathy for Fred who is unemployed and facing intense competition.

While Srinivas is 70 years old, and almost bound to his home because of his leprosy, Fred manages to frame him on a false charge of hooliganism, and a warrant is issued against him. Srinivas is flabbergasted. While he manages to get bail, Mrs. Pickering suggests he return to India. How could Srinivas leave? “He found he had no notion of where to go to in India, or what to do when he got there since so much had been destroyed or given up – self-respect, livelihood, family cohesions – during the struggle for independence.” He doesn’t belong to India now and now when he has been ostracized in England too, he belongs to nowhere, he is the nowhere man.

Fred continues his vitriolic attack on Srinivas. One day, when he was alone at home as Mrs. Pickering went out for some buying, Fred arranges a mob march in the area protesting against the immigrants. Srinivas listens to the racist slurs and slogans ‘hang the blacks’ and ‘blacks go home’ and so on. The situation worsens and turns violent. The mob starts picking homes of immigrants and blazing them. Fred attacks Sriniva’s house and Srinivas gets trapped in the burning home. Dr. Radcliff sees it all and tries his best to help Srinivas and rescue him but fails.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of Indian English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

The Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos Williams | Structure, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. William Carlos Williams was an American modernist poet and physician who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1962 for his poetry collection Pictures From Brueghel and Other Poems. He was appointed as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in Washington, DC in the year 1952. William Carlos Williams was born on September 17, 1883, in Rutherford, New Jersey and he died on March 4, 1963. He graduated from the Medical School of Pennsylvania University in 1906 and began his internship as a child specialist at Child’s Hospital in New York and then he went to Leipzig for advanced research in Pediatrics. In Europe, he came in contact with Ezra Pound and became one of his close friends. He was inspired by the modernist imagist movement. He published his first poetic collection Poems in 1909. In 1923, He published his extended poetic collection by the title “Spring and All,” in which the short imagist pictorial poem The Red Wheelbarrow was published.

Structure of The Red Wheelbarrow:

“so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.”

The Red Wheelbarrow is a short imagist poem with minimal words used while offering much greater meaning. William Carlos Williams was treating a terminally ill girl child and when she was very ill, he spent the whole night sitting beside her as he was not sure how and when he will be needed. During that night, he saw a little red wheelbarrow and a few chickens the girl child used to play with. William wrote this short poem that night while sitting beside the child.

The poem is written in free verse following the Japanese haiku pattern of poetry. The poet used enjambment, metaphor, assonance, juxtaposition, and imagery. The poem consists of four stanzas with two lines each. Each first line of all stanzas consists of three words while all the second lines of all four stanzas contain just one word. Each line adds more to the picture the poet draws through his words.

It is a very short poem and the whole essence of the poem can be expressed in a single sentence that has been dissected in eight different lines (four stanzas) through enjambment. The poet didn’t use any capital letters anywhere in the poem, indicating that the poet was observing and meditating which resulted in a poem.

Themes of The Red Wheelbarrow :

At first notice, the poem may appear absurd and puts too much value on a seemingly common wheelbarrow. However, on deeper consideration, the reader can easily understand that the seemingly worthless wheelbarrow is actually priceless. The poem suggests that often we overlook some of the very crucial objects that do possess a greater meaning to ourselves. Sentimentality and commonly used tools and objects are the basic themes of the poem. The poet also stresses on nature of civilization and its dependence on labor, agriculture, or rural activities and how they depend on a wheelbarrow, a common object. For thousands of years, since man invented the wheel, farmers and workers are using wheelbarrows. While a successful civilization is often described by the literature, or architecture it produced, we often ignore the simple tools that helped that society to develop those intricate buildings, artifacts, and literature. The wheelbarrow also symbolizes the working class, the workers who actually work, such as farmers, miners, construction workers, and so on, to establish the whole setup of a great civilization. We often ignore these workers as unskilled labor, yet, so much depended on them in past, and so much depends on them now.

The poet uses juxtaposition to explain the wheelbarrow which appears to be an unimportant tool as something on which the whole world rests.

Summary of The Red Wheelbarrow:

The poem is too short and too simple. The first two stanzas describe a red wheelbarrow placed idly as it is not being used for a while. The third stanza shows that it is raining slightly or drizzling as the wheelbarrow is ‘glazed’ with water. The rain is not heavy, it is not outpouring the field. The atmosphere and surroundings are calm and quiet, there are no thunders and frightening lightning. In the fourth stanza, the poet suggests how calm it is as some chickens normally continue to make noise, but they too are silent.

In the first two lines, the poet used enjambment that offers the quality of mystery to the poem. On one hand, it appears vague but it also appears suggestive too. The red wheelbarrow has been used as a symbol. For those, who knew the girl child whom William was treating, it was the precious toy of that girl who used to play with it. The toy was still as the girl was too ill and William being her doctor was pensive. His hope for the survival of the girl depended on that wheelbarrow.

On the other hand, even for someone who has no idea about the patient of William, the red wheelbarrow represents a common tool that is very basic to farming. The presence of chickens near the wheelbarrow indicates that the poet is talking about a wheelbarrow being used in a field or rural area.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift Book 4 A Voyage to the Land of Houyhnhnms | Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Jonathan Swift managed a distinct pattern in the four books of Gulliver Travels. In the first book, he was a Giant in Lilliput but in Book 2, he became a miniature in Brobdingnag, which was a complete reversal of Book 1. Similarly, in Book 3, Gulliver appeared to be much more focused, inventive, imaginative, and wise than the Laputans. Swift presented Gulliver in a complete role reversal in Book 4 as he finds himself totally ignorant in the Land of Houyhnhnms and thus completes the cycle from Big to Small to Intelligent to Ignorant.

Characters of A Voyage to the Land of Houyhnhnms:

Lemuel Gulliver is appointed as the captain of the ship The Adventurer headed towards the South Seas. He is stranded alone on the island of Houyhnhnms who are rational, peaceful, generous, and civilized horses. While they peacefully live in their egalitarian and placid society, they face trouble in form of Yahoos who are the cohabitants of their island. The Yahoos are degenerate kind of humans. They are filthy, greedy, gluttonous, selfish, and dumb, the Yahoos are the embodiment of everything gross and crude in human nature. The Master Horse is a member of the society of Houyhnhnms who takes the charge of teaching Gulliver. He becomes the master of Gulliver. Don Pedro de Mendez is a kind and generous Portuguese sea captain who finds Gulliver alone in the sea after he leaves the land of Houyhnhnms and takes him back to England.

Summary of A Voyage to the Land of Houyhnhnms:

After returning from Japan, Gulliver spends five months with his family in London during which, he gets another job proposal as the captain of the ship The Adventurer. Gulliver leaves home on 7^th September 1710. His ship is headed toward the South Seas. However, a deadly fever of Tropics causes the death of many of the crew members and thus, he is forced to hire new crew members en route. Gulliver didn’t have much time to check the credentials of the new crew members and thus, he commits a fatal mistake. Most of the new crew members were sea pirates in the past. As his ship moves, these new crew members gather and make a gang and imprison Gulliver in his own cabin while taking complete control of the merchandise ship. They continue to deal with the local people of the South Sea. One day, a man visits his cabin and informs him that they have decided to leave him on the shore. Gulliver is happy to know that finally he will be released. But soon he realizes that he has been left out on an unidentified island and thus begins his new misadventure.

As Gulliver moves inland, he observes a strange ugly animal with thick hair on its head, breast, anus, and genitals, but bare skin elsewhere. The animal attacks him with its forepaw. Gulliver gets threatened and uses his sword to fend off the animal. He is cautious enough not to harm the animal as he doesn’t want to annoy the inhabitants of the island by destroying their livestock. However, the ugly animal calls for help and suddenly, a herd of 40 such animals encircles Gulliver with attacking intent. Gulliver hides behind a tree while trying to defend himself with his sword. The animals are afraid of Gulliver’s sword but they climb over the tree and start throwing their feces at Gulliver.

Gulliver observes a grey horse appearing from the bushes and suddenly all the attacking animals flee away. The horse curiously encircles Gulliver trying to understand this strange-looking living thing. Gulliver tries to touch the horse for thanking it for its help. However, the horse doesn’t allow Gulliver to touch itself and neighs to call another horse. The two horses observe Gulliver intently and Gulliver notices that they are rationally discussing him in their own language which Gulliver cannot understand. Gulliver tries to run away but one of the horses neighs towards him as if ordered to stand still. The two horses examine and admire every article of his clothing and then they decide to go back. One of them beckons Gulliver to follow them. Gulliver realizes that the horses are talking to each other in a sophisticated manner and the two words he could grasp from their neighing talks were Yahoos and Houyhmhnms. Gulliver learns that these horses are Houyhnhnms while the ugly animals that attacked him were Yahoos.

The horses take Gulliver to a house in their colony. Soon Gulliver learns that the horses are masters of their own self while the gray horse appears to be the leader of all other horses. He talks about Gulliver to other horses and Gulliver listens to the word Yahoo many times during their conversation. Finally, the gray horse takes Gulliver to a room where many of those ugly animals that first attacked Gulliver were tied with ropes. They were eating raw meat. Gulliver is made to stand beside them while the horse compares him with those ugly animals. To his horror, Gulliver realizes that he is exactly like those ugly animals except that he is covered by his clothes while those animals are very degenerate, wild, and rude kind of humans. The horses call these ugly animals Yahoos and they think that Gulliver is also a Yahoo but they are not convinced because they think that the clothes of Gulliver are a part of his body which alienates him from other Yahoos. The master horse offers the same raw meat to Gulliver but he gets disgusted by it and gestures for milk. This further confirms the doubts of horses that Gulliver is not a Yahoo. The master horse then offers some milk to Gulliver and allows him to dine with them. The horse takes their food in a civilized manner indoors. They take the milk and eat oats. The master horse offers him some oats and Gulliver beats them up into a cake and eats it. Gulliver consciously avoids his taste for meat and salt and he doesn’t want the horses to suspect that he too is one of the Yahoos. The master horse doesn’t allow Gulliver to stay in their house but lodges him in a stable behind their house. The master horse starts teaching the Houyhnhnm language to Gulliver and he appreciates Gulliver for his reasonable thinking and quick learning, things that he cannot expect from a Yahoo.

The horses still believe that his clothes are a part of his body and Gulliver tries his best to maintain this mystery. But one day, a servant of the master horse sees Gulliver’s naked body while he was asleep and informs the master horse about it. The grey horse questions Gulliver about it and he admits that the clothes are not a part of his body by getting naked in front of the master horse. The master horse comments that Gulliver is a perfect Yahoo. Gulliver says that he doesn’t like to be called any kind of Yahoo and requests the master horse not to reveal his truth to other horses. The master horse agrees to his request. Gradually. Gulliver becomes fluent in the language of Houyhnhnms and he starts sharing information about Europe. The master horse is astonished by knowing the fact that Yahoos can be so rational to make ships and sea voyages. Gulliver explains to him that like the Yahoos are irrational animals here on this island, horses or Houyhnhnms are irrational beasts in Europe with much less developed rational faculty. The master horse agrees that reason will always outpower brutal force and if Yahoos of Europe are more reasonable than Houyhnhnms then they may become the masters. Gulliver then tries to explain that there are some distinct differences between Yahoos and European men but the master horse notices that all such differences make European men far worse. He criticizes the weak body structure of Gulliver and his inability to walk on four limbs. He wonders how weak the body of Gulliver which needs clothes as outer protection. Gulliver then tells everything about his voyage but he finds it hard to explain the acts of the pirates who robbed his ship and imprisoned him because the Houyhnhnm language has no words for “power, government, war, law, punishment” and many other such things. Gulliver continues to tell stories about European culture for two years. He recounts how various European states continue fighting against each other. The master horse comments that such wars are totally irrational but he thinks that such wars cannot be as bloodthirsty and devastating as the wars of Yahoos because Europeans like Gulliver do not have as strong claws as those of Yahoos. But then Gulliver informs the master horse about the assault weapons and artillery to which the master horse gets disgusted. He says that no rational species can cause such atrocities on others and thus, it appears that Europeans are no better than the Yahoos. Gulliver then explains the science and law of European people and tells that lawyers are those who are paid to establish a lie as the truth. Gulliver finds it difficult to explain what a lie is as Houyhnhnms has no concept of a lie or fraud. The master horse is then astonished to know that such intelligent people like lawyers would indulge in such heinous activities to which Gulliver says that lawyers are not intelligent, rather they are “the most ignorant and stupid generation among us” in all matters apart from the law. He tries to explain the concept of money and greed which inspires the lawyers to side with lies and fraud. Gulliver then explains the system of government, monarchy, aristocracy, nobility, senators, and so on. The master horse remarks that Gulliver appears much better than Yahoos because he must be from some noble family. Gulliver encounters him and says that in Europe, all nobles look sick, sallow, and weak because they are raised “in idleness and luxury” and debauchery. Thus, in Europe, “a healthy robust appearance” always signifies a low birth like Gulliver’s.

Gulliver then mentions that while living with the Houyhnhnms, he realized all the follies of human beings and the evils of human society. He wishes never to return to human society. The master horse comments that the European Yahoos are “animals, to whose share…some small pittance of reason had fallen” of which they made no use than “to aggravate…natural corruptions and…acquire new ones.” The master horse then concludes that the European Yahoos are worse than the Yahoos of his land because European Yahoos lack physical strength, swiftness, agility, and strong claws. The master horse says that Europeans use clothes to hide their bodies because just like the Yahoos of Hoyuhnhnms, they loath each other’s bodies. He further mentions other similarities between European Yahoos and Yahoos of his land such as they greedily hoard food; overeat; purge; suffer sickness from immoderation, seek intoxication; live in filth; suck up to their leaders, then throw their excrement at that leader as soon as he is replaced; lust after and hoard jewels; suffer malaise when indolent, and indulge the grotesque lust of their females.

Gulliver continues to observe and learn the ways of Houyhnhnms and this further increases his love for them. He observes that their reason is so perfect and absolute that they never have disagreements or differences of opinion. They love all of their species equally and treat their relations as well as they treat neighbors and strangers. They don’t show their children affection but instead educate them in reason. The Houyhnhmns practice planning and their marriages are arranged by the elders of the family and they do not think of “courtship, love, presents, jointures, or settlements.” The children of Houyhnhmns are educated in “temperance, industry, exercise…cleanliness,” “strength, speed, and hardiness,” and both genders receive the same kind and degree of education. Gulliver explains that the Houyhnhnms have no words for evil and thus, to express anything bad, they “borrow from the deformities or ill qualities of the Yahoos” and simply append the word “Yahoo” to the word of the thing. One day, while bathing Gulliver sees his own reflection in the water, he is disgusted and he aspires as much as possible to imitate the physical characteristics of a horse. On the same day, a servant of the master horse comes to Gulliver and says that his secret has been revealed to everyone and the council of Houyhnhnms has decided that it was wrong of the master horse to live with a Yahoo. The council has decided that Gulliver must be sent back to his land. Gulliver gets very upset by this news and he faints. The master horse also doesn’t want Gulliver to go but he has to accept the decision of the council. Thus, Gulliver makes a canoe of the skin of the Yahoos and prepares for his return journey. While leaving the land of Houyhnhnms, Gulliver kisses the hoof of the master horse and pays his respect. Gulliver decides that he would search for an uninhabited island and will live alone rather than return to the world of Yahoos. He succeeds in finding a lonely island but soon he is attacked by savages who hurt his knee with their arrows. He goes back to the sea and after some days, a Portuguese merchandise ship captained by Don Pedro de Mendez notices his canoe and reaches out to him to help. However, Gulliver is adamant about not taking any help. The captain forcefully takes him onboard. All the crew members are baffled by Gulliver’s resolution not to return to live with Yahoos and laugh at his horsey voice and strange clothes. Gulliver struggles to get free and jump back into the sea. A crew member notices him trying to do so and captures him before he may jump off. Gulliver is then chained to his cabin. Gulliver is repulsed by the sight of the humans around him. During the rest of the journey, Don Pedro treats Gulliver very tenderly and tries to revive his love for humanity. He makes Gulliver promise not to kill himself. When they reach Portugal, he takes Gulliver to his home and offers new clothes to him. At last, Gulliver is sent back to England. But he doesn't like living with his wife and children. He soon buys two horses never to sit or ride on them but only to treat them tenderly. He doesn’t like any human being except the servant groom who takes care of his horses because he smells like horses. In the last part, Gulliver explains why he never tried to conquer and claim the lands he visited while criticizing the colonial mindset of European powers.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

Two Virgins by Kamala Markandaya | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Two Virgins was another diasporic novel by Kamala Markandaya that was first published in the year 1973. The novel depicts the effect of post-colonial Western culture on Indian traditional society and how if left unchecked, it may lead to the downfall of individuals. The novel tells the story of two adolescent growing siblings from the perspective of the younger sister who is not as beautiful as her elder sister. However, while the elder sister falls prey to the power of beauty, lust, greed, and irrational haunting in life for pleasure. The novel is written in first person narrative style with Saroja, the younger sister being the narrator. Kamala Martandaya used symbolism to present the contrast between the East-West enchantment and disenchantment. The novelist presented the real world from a feministic point of view with the major theme of adolescence, morality, and chastity.

Characters of Two Virgins:

Lalthia is the elder adolescent daughter of a modest family in a South Indian village who lives with her father Appa, her mother Amma, her widowed Aunt Alamelu, and her younger sister Saroja. Her two elder brothers live in the city. Lalitha is a strong headed beautiful, attractive, ambitious, and manipulative girl who knows how to use her power of beauty and is learning the ways of seduction. Saroja on the other hand, is not-so-beautiful. She is a timid and cautious girl who enjoys life's simple pleasures—harvests, rain, the countryside's beauty, local sweets, and so on. Their father Appa is an educated progressive man who believes in the equality of genders, however, is not free of hypocrisy and biases. Lalitha is his favorite daughter because she is the most beautiful baby he ever saw and he often ignores Saroja. Aunt Alamelu is his elder widowed sister who often confronts him for the way he is upbringing her daughters. Aunt Alamelu prefers the traditional approach to life and wishes the girls of the house to understand the limits and moral principles to succeed in society. Appa, on the other hand, would often encourage Lalita to pursue her dreams. Lalita and Saroja would often witness the arguments between Appa and Aunt Alamelu. Saroja is more under the influence of her aunt and she looks forward to her traditional roles as wife and mother, and her roots are firmly planted in the village and its ways. While Lalita represents the effect of Western culture on post-colonial India, Saroja represents Eastern traditional values and the virtues of country life.

Manikkam is another widowed village woman who is on the verge of destitution. She knows about the local medicinal herbs and helps Lalita with some anti-contraceptive medication that fails to serve the purpose. Mr. Gupta is a rich film producer from Chennai who visits the village to shoot a song for his film. Devraj is an assistant to Mr. Gupta. Ms. Mendoza is a British woman living in the village who runs a preaching school. She often encourages the students of her school to adapt to the Western culture and belief system. Chingelput is a successful sweet shop owner of the village who began as a destitute orphan child. Jaya is a school friend of Saroja. Amma is a dynamic character who, like Lalita is very beautiful and likes to be praised by men yet she remains within the moral limits of society and is a loyal subservient wife of Appa.

Summary of Two Virgins:

The novel begins as Saroja introduces the main characters of the story and describes common day life in the village. Lalita is the favorite girl in the village. She is a beautiful growing girl who often succeeds in achieving what she wants. Her Appa encourages her to learn the modern ways of the world and when Lalita asks him to let her join the missionary school of Ms. Mendoza where she may learn English, Dancing, and Political science, he happily agrees to admit her to the costly school. Saroja is not so beautiful younger daughter of Appa who joins the government school. While Saroja‘s Appa upholds Western ideas, modernism, and progressiveness, her Aunt Alamelu is a stickler for Hindu culture and practices all things conventional. Appa and their aunt are continuously at war, and it is through their bickering and arguments that Saroja and further enlightened about the cultural conflict, and the benefits and problems of change. Aunt Alamelu would often encourage Saroja to learn the traditional ways of the village. However, Saroja too wishes to be as attractive as Lalita, yet she understands her flaws and avoids following the same mistakes. Being the younger sister, she has the advantage of observing her elder sister and learning from her achievements and mistakes.

Being not as beautiful as Lalita, Saroja is not much interested in cosmetics and pleasantries. She would rather have fun playing with buffaloes and bullocks. She is a better rider than Lalita and she enjoys traditional village sweets from the sweetshop of Chingelput. Despite not being beautiful, she is an adolescent girl and Chingelput has a special interest in Saroja who will often present her with free sweets to taste. Lalita would often tease Saroja and claim that some are made beautiful while some others are not made so beautiful but being a plain and simple girl Saroja doesn’t feel humiliated. Though secretly, she hopes one day she would turn out beautiful, like a butterfly bursting out of a chrysalis, perhaps when she gets older.

Saroja would often compare Lalita, her friends from the missionary school, and the girls of her own school. In Saroja’s school, the girls wanted to be rounded and curvy, like the goddesses in the pictures, but in Lalitha’s, they were crazy for slimness except for breasts. Most of them didn’t have much of breasts anyway, being in the beginning stage. Saroja would often think that she is not properly growing like Lalita and Jaya, her school friend because Jaya’s breasts were advanced by comparison, rounded and thrusting, whereas Saroja’s were hardly more than swollen nipples. Saroja keenly observes the physical features of her mother, and she also compares that with that of Lalitha’s teacher Miss Mendoza. Saroja compares the cleavage of Miss Mendoza with a dent and speculates on whether Miss Mendoza has any breasts at all and she compares her mother’s cleavage with a hollow like a well in between.

While going through all these adolescent observations of changes, Saroja grows further timid and shy in front of elders but she shares her feelings freely and frankly with Jaya. Lalita on the other hand is self-centered, confident, and frank. She is learning English, Political Science, and Arts in Mr. Mendoza’s school finds Lalita exceptionally talented, and teaches her maypole dancing. Mr. Mendoza introduces the girls of her school to Christian beliefs and the Western lifestyle. This further encourages and emboldens Lalita whose first concern is to explore the liberty of her feminine self. She would often flirt with young guys in the village while teasing them. The "modernism" that Lalitha imbibes at Miss Mendoza's school is only cheap sophistication which has a tinsel quality about it in the shabby social life in a village. Combined with this is her physical attractiveness which is spread with the tepid gloss of raw sexiness.

Lalita is often intrigued by Manikkam, a village woman who lives alone and would often indulge with other married men. She often uses anticonception medications because of which she remains oblivious to things going around her. However, she appears comfortable and happy within her small world.

One day, Mr. Gupta, a successful film producer arrives at the village to shoot for his documentary on village life. He needs a young girl to perform a dance for his film. Ms. Mendoza recommends Lalita for the dance performance and Mr. Gupta readily accepts because he finds Lalita very attractive. However, Lalita is not too happy about this project because being an expert in maypole dance and other Western styles, she wishes to perform a raunchy modern dance for the film. However, being a documentary on village life, Mr. Gupta instructs her to perform a simple traditional village dance. Anyhow, Lalita performs in the film and she becomes instantly famous in the whole village and surrounding area. Lalita already had her ambitions to join the film industry and use her beauty to gain fame. She requests Mr. Gupta to help her out who promises to call her for his next project.

However, many months pass by and Lalita doesn’t hear anything from Mr. Gupta. One day, she decides to leave the village and go to the city to find work in the film industry. She steals some money from her father and runs away from home and goes to the city in search of carte blanche and in pursuit of stardom, but is spoiled in the hands of a filmmaker, Mr. Gupta. Gupta betrays her after impregnating her. When Mr. Gupta, a typical film world personality, had had his fill of Lalitha's sexual charm and has got her with child he sends her back to her village with not so much as a fine sari to her back. Lalitha is quite happy at having enjoyed the glitter and luxuries of city life as Mr. Gupta's mistress. But the family is terribly humiliated and disgraced. Lalitha's father takes her to the city to confront Mr. Gupta for his misdeed. Saroja also accompanies them. Mr. Gupta tells Lalitha's father that she had literally "flung herself at him” and makes it clear that she was a 'wanton'. Anyhow, Mr. Gupta agrees to pay for the abortion and medication for Lalita. While the father is haggling with Mr. Gupta for money for their return journey, Devraj, Gupta's assistant flirts with Saroja and wants to exploit her sexually as Gupta did exploit Lalitha. Saroja is hungry for sexual pleasure as Lalitha has been. Both the sisters have derived this sexiness from their mother but she has, however, greater control over herself and repulses Devraj; particularly because she is afraid that she will come to grief like her sister.

Lalitha’s parents fully support her yet, she is not ready to come back to the village and face the people and the reproaches of society. She decides to leave her family forever and carve her own path alone. Her life completely changes; she chooses to live in her own way because she had catapulted herself outside the orbit of her community. She realizes that even in this modern world, women have no equal rights when compare to that of what men. Her underlying dream of turning into an on-screen character and sparkling as a film star demonstrates a worthless endeavor, bringing about her losing her virtue, She in this manner turns into the objective of her own wrong, mis-set needs. Meanwhile, Saroja wonders why Lalita was forced to abort. She questions why does society have to be the beastly tamer? Why can‘t it let the children of sin — who, the conventionalist, call ‗fruits of unbridled lust‘ — survive? Why can‘t society stop meddling and probing into the lives of others, of innocent children and their unwed mothers? Would the world be less happy, if it had to accommodate them? Perhaps, yes. This is why, they need to be eliminated because there‘s no room for the ‗children of sin‘. If only society was less harsh and more forgiving! Lalita leaves a note on her hospital bed before leaving which says that she is going never to return and that her father must not look for her because it will be fruitless. Despite that, Appa and Amma try their best to find out about Lalita but soon their limited resources start depleting. At last, they decide to return back to the village with Saroja. At the village, Saroja again indulges in her deeds of charm. She goes to Chingleput’s shop who offers her special sweets that he made for Saroja. Although Saroja tastes the sweets, her "tongue was tinctured with the bitterness of aloes" and she starts sobbing. Chingleput decides to make use of the moment and encloses her in his arms. His male organ becomes hard, nuzzling against Saroja’s body. He tells her not to be afraid and that since he was a man he cannot help it. Saroja was not afraid, because "she knew too much, she had gone through too much to be afraid of anything" Saroja graciously manages the situation and comes back to her home, unscathed.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of Indian English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift Book 3 | A Voyage to Laputa,...and Japan | Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The full title of Book 3 of Gulliver’s Travels was “A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan.” Swift satirizes English Bureaucracy, religion, science, and The Royal Society of England in the third part. Jonathan Swift also raises the old debate of Ancients versus Modernists in this book. In addition, Swift satirizes the desire for immortality and fear of old age and death.

After spending 10 days at home, Gulliver had a visitor who proposed to him a job and promotion and a surgeon and co-captain of Hopewell, a sturdy ship. Much to his wife’s chagrin, Gulliver chose to accept the job and right after two months, he was aboard Hopewell heading towards the port Tanquin. The captain of Hopewell was William Robinson (mimicking Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe). The captain planned to make some money in Tonquin and bought a boat and sent 14 crewmembers led by Gulliver to continue their business while he stayed at the port of Tonquin for his own purpose.

Characters of A Voyage to Laputa,...and Japan:

William Robinson is the captain of the ship Hopewell while Lemuel Gulliver is the co-captain. The Dutchman is an accomplice of Japanese sea pirates whom Gulliver requests to help him being a Christian brother. The Laputans are the inhabitant of the floating island of Laputa. They are weirdos who are very good at maths and science but cannot focus on any subject for long. Their heads are always leaning towards the right or left. The Laputian King is much more distracted than other Laputians. He lacks all common sense and is utterly preoccupied with abstractions. Lord Munodi is one rare sane and sensible person of Laputa but he is rejected and hated by every other Laputian. The Projectors are the scientists and philosophers of Laputa who continue to engage in abstractions pursuing science and philosophy without too much regard for practical outcomes. The Glubbdubdribbians are magical people headed by the Governor who can raise a dead person once every three months. The Luggnaggian king is a cruel despot who humiliates his subjects. The Struldbrugs are a special kind of people of Luggnagg who are common to others in all senses except that they are immortals. They grow old naturally until age 80 and then become immortals. All struldbrugs are marked by a dot above their left eyebrow that changes color as they grow old and becomes black once they are 80 years of age.

Summary of A Voyage to Laputa,... and Japan:

As Gulliver heads the boat with 14 crewmembers towards India, he encounters a band of sea pirates who attack the boat and capture Gulliver along with other men. Gulliver notices that while all the pirates are Japanese, one of them is Dutch. Gulliver calls him his Christian brother and asks for his help but this angers the Dutchman who suggests the head of the pirates kill all the captured men. However, the Japanese pirate assures Gulliver that nobody will be murdered as their aim is to loot not to kill. Gulliver praises the Japanese pirate while criticizing the Dutchman and says that he has found “more mercy in a heathen.” This further angers the Dutchman who convinces the leader of the pirates to leave Gulliver stranded alone in a small canoe to die by himself. Gulliver struggles to survive and rows the canoe aimlessly until he finds an island where he gets some eggs to eat in the jungle. As it grows dark, he decides to sleep in a cave. The next morning, he observes “a vast opaque body” crossing the sun while moving towards the island. At first, Gulliver thinks that is some strange extra dark large cloud. Gulliver uses his binocular to observe the cloud and realizes that it is not a cloud but a whole island that is floating in the air above him. Gulliver is awestruck seeing it and when he sees some men walking on the floating island he bows in supplication and begs for their help in saving him. Those men couldn’t understand English but they understood the supplicant behavior of Gulliver and decided to help him by lowering a chair tied to a chain through which Gulliver could reach them up on the floating island. As Gulliver reaches up, he observes that these people on the floating island are a bit weird looking and all of them keep their heads either tilted towards right or left. All of them wear similar clothes with prints of abstract figures, celestial bodies, or musical instruments. Some of them are masters while others are servants known as Flappers. The flappers carry blown bladders filled with little pebbles or peas to flap at the mouths and ears of those around them. The flappers strike the mouth of the person who should speak and they also strike the ear of the person to whom they should speak. Gulliver learns that the residents of this island are so distracted that they cannot focus for more than a minute and often fail to remember what are they talking about or who are they talking to hence, they need the services of flappers. The flapper is also responsible for preventing his absent-minded master from tripping over things, bumping into walls, etc.

Gulliver is taken to the Laputan King and he learns that the king is the most distracted person in the lot. The king was busy solving a mathematical puzzle and he ignores Gulliver for an hour but then his flapper strikes him and reminds him of Gulliver. The king then orders Gulliver to be sent away and fed well. He also arranges a teacher who may teach the language of Laputa to Gulliver. Moreover, the king observes that Gulliver’s clothes are dirty and hence, he orders new clothes to be made for Gulliver. All the food items were made and cut into geometrical shapes. Gulliver is measured for clothes using a quadrant, a ruler, and compasses, and the resultant clothes are very misshapen due to a failure in the calculation. The tutor explains to Gulliver that the floating Island is known as Laputa while the island beneath it is known as Balnibarbi. Gulliver learns that Laputa continues to float above Balnibarbi with the help of a large strong magnet and the Laputian king often exploits the people of Balnibarbi as he can cut off sunshine and rain from any region on the lower island. Or, if he wishes, he can pelt it with stones. Theoretically, he could lower Laputa and crush Balnibarbian towns. Gulliver learns that the language of the Laputan people also includes many mathematical terms while Laputan people do not like their homes to be built with any right angle because they hate practical geometry and cannot think of living in a rectangle and thus, all the houses in Laputa are badly misshaped. Laputan people remain engaged with abstract math while they lack any common sense and practical knowledge. They have no idea of imagination or invention and they keep worrying about the health of the sun and that the sun would ultimately die one day. Gulliver notices that Laputian women are very beautiful with an ‘abundance of vivacity’ but they do not like Laputian men and often would choose lovers from Lagado, an island below. Laputian women prefer visceral and practical men but Laputans are not like that. To control women and stop them from running away with Lagadans, the king has framed some stringent laws.

The Laputan king allows Gulliver to explore the floating Island and Gulliver notices that it is a four-and-a-half mile diameter circle with a layer of adamant as its base and an immense magnetic loadstone in a chasm at the island’s center. Skilled Laputan astronomers control the movement of Laputa and know much more about celestial bodies than their European counterparts. Despite his obvious power over Balnibarbi and other lower islands, the Laptan king never thinks of actually destroying the lower land as it is as necessary for the survival of the floating island as the piece of the magnet within it. Gulliver doesn’t enjoy his days in Laputa as he is not that much skilled in mathematics, astronomy, or music. He spends most of his time talking with women, and flappers who are more practical than Laputan masters.

Gulliver then visits to Lagado to meet Munodi, a friend of the Laputan king. He notices that Lagado is in utter destruction. However, the private estate of Munodi is well-managed and beautiful. Munodi informs him that some 40 years ago, some scholars from Lagado went to Laputa and when they returned, they tried to mimic the ways of Laputa by using the same high scientific and mathematical ways, and that brought all destruction. He informs that those scholars established an academy in Lagado that continues to engage in new important experiments. Gulliver visits the academy which is situated in several dilapidated buildings. He learns that the scholars experimenting in the academy are called projectors. The projectors are engaged in many bizarre projects such as working on extracting sunbeams from cucumbers, or turning human excrement back into food, or, turning calcine ice into gunpowder; building houses from the roof down, and so on. Gulliver notices that all Projectors are immensely happy though none of them is making any progress in their experiments. The Projectors teach mathematics to Lagadan kids and suggest that eating wafers with mathematical concepts written on them helps in learning mathematics. Gulliver then visits the Political wing of Projectors and notices that the political Projectors are also equally insane. Gulliver then visits a hall where some projectors were debating on how people should be taxed. One of them suggested that men should be taxed on vices, follies, talents, sexual prowess, “wit, valor, and politeness,” but never on “honor, justice, wisdom, and learning,” since those four are valueless. Women could be taxed on “beauty” and style, but not on “constancy, chastity, good sense, and good nature,” because these qualities are so rare, they would attract no tax.

Gulliver decides to leave Lagado to explore Luggnagg, another island that is situated between Western America and Japan. However, he fails to find any direct ship to go there and hence he decides to visit the island of Glubbdubdrib. He learns that the inhabitants of Glubbdubdrib are all magicians who practice necromancy. The leader of Glubbdubdrians is known as the governor, the most skilled magician among them. The Glubbdubdrian governor soon develops a friendly rapport with Gulliver. Gulliver is a bit threatened by knowing that all the servants of the governor are ghosts but soon he becomes accustomed to it. The governor tells him that he can call anyone from the dead to whom Gulliver wishes to talk. Gulliver decides to summon Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Caesar, Pompey, the Roman senate, Caesar, and Brutus. Gulliver summons many other ghosts who were “chiefly…destroyers of tyrants and usurpers, and the restorers of liberty to oppressed and injured nations.” He then summons the ghosts of Homer and Aristotle and learns that none of them have ever met any of their critics in the afterlife. He learns that the critics and the commentators are so ashamed of the gross lies they’ve made up in their commentaries that they’ve avoided Homer and Aristotle in the afterlife. Gulliver then summons the ghosts of Descartes and Gassendi who teach their own science to Aristotle. Aristotle accepts his mistakes but says that no matter how strongly based these new principles are, they will keep proving to be wrong and out of fashion with time.

Finally, Gulliver gets a ship to Luggnagg from where he wishes to go to Japan. He knows that only Dutch Europeans are allowed in Japan and thus, he lies that he is Dutch. He hires a Luggnaggian boy to be his interpreter. After reaching Luggnagg, he decides to meet the king to get permission to go to Japan. He learns a strange custom of Luggnaggians that if a stranger has to meet the Luggnaggian king, he must crawl on his belly, licking the floor in front of the king. Gulliver obediently follows the custom while noticing that the floor was properly cleaned before he paid respect to the king. He learns that the Luggnaggian is not particularly interested in cleanliness and often the floor of the palace remains dirty and the visitors are forced to lick the dirt off the floor. He further learns that if an enemy visits the Luggnaggian king, he may decide to order poison to be sprinkled on the floor and as the enemy would lick it, he will get killed. Gulliver praises the king with bombastic words saying, "May your celestial majesty outlive the sun, eleven moons and a half." The king gets impressed by Gulliver and he allows him food, lodging, and other amenities for three months. During his stay in Luggnagg, Gulliver learns about Struldbrugs. While they are exactly similar to other Luggnaggian in all matters, they are special because all the Struldbrugs are immortals who cannot die. Gulliver is excited about immortality and wishes to know the secret.

Gulliver learns that the Struldbrugs continue to age till 80 years but then their body becomes still and never gets any elder. However, by the age of 80, they are already too weak, useless, cantankerous, and disturbing. No Luggnaggian likes any Struldbrugs and often a common Luggnaggian wouldn’t like to become a Struldbrug. He learns that it is not a hereditary condition and most often the children of Struldbrugs are simple Luggnaggians who die much before their Struldbrug parents get to the age of 80. After knowing all this, Gulliver vows never to wish for immortality.

The Luggnaggian king becomes fond of Gulliver and wishes him to stay for more time but Gulliver insists that he must go to Japan. Thus, the Luggnaggian king sends him off with gifts and a letter of recommendation to the emperor of Japan. In Japan, Gulliver continues his lie that he is Dutch and asks the help of the Japanese emperor to find a Dutch ship leaving from Nangasac. However, he further lies that he is suffering pain in his back and thus he may not be able to follow the Dutch maritime custom of trampling a crucifix. The emperor of Japan gets a bit suspicious wondering if Gulliver is really a Catholic. Nonetheless, Gulliver had the recommendation of the Luggnaggian king and thus, he helps Gulliver catch the ship. Gulliver successfully convinces the Dutch crewmen of the ship that he is Dutch and thus, he sails back to England safely. He reaches home and meets his wife and children after five years since he left home.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!