On Anti-colonialism in Gulliver’s Travel

Jonathan Swift, the author of Gulliver’s Travel，was born at Dublin of Ireland，a country which was colonized by the Great Britain during the Enlightenment in the Great Britain. After returning Ireland, he joined the civil group to fight against the colonial rule of the Great Britain.These life experience can reappear in his famous novel,Gulliver's Travel. This novel is centered on one of the theme, ideology of anti-colonialism. And this is what this paper mainly concerns. How did Swift reveal it?This paper concludes it from three aspects in Laputa and Houyhnhnms in a direct or indirect way respectively.

To begin with, colonialism was manifest directly when he was traveling in Laputa. Swift proved this from the law enacted by the king. Taking the paragraph in page 108 for example, “If any town should engage in rebellion or mutiny, fall into violent factions, or refuse to pay the usual tribute, the king has two methods of reducing them to obedience.The first and the mildest course is, by keeping the island hovering over such a town, and the lands about it,whereby he can deprive them of the benefit of the sun and the rain, and consequently afflict the inhabitants with dearth and diseases.”From the above description, readers can feel that people in other countries were oppressed heavily and crucially by the king and his law, and it is the king who has the final say to let someone disappear or not. In order to defeat those people, the king has taken several crucial measures to fight against them. During the 18th and 19th century, several countries, such as India, Ireland had been colonized by the Great Britain. And people in these countries were lived under relentless oppression, even the inspector general who was cold blooded and not qualified enough was assigned to govern those countries.This situation is almost the same as the description in this novel.Therefore, colonialism was hidden in it.The reason why Jonathan Swift depicted such a country was originated from his intention,the expression of his anti-colonialism.

The rebellion of the people from a country firstly mentioned in Laputa, another scene can present the theme of anti-colonialism directly. When the protestant of people in that country was heard by the king of the Laputa, the king gave the order to fly above the sky of that country to punish them, however, people fight against it intelligently and courageously. These can be demonstrated from the text in page 109. For example,“tall rocks generally falls out in the larger cities, it abound in pillars of stone, a sudden fall might endanger the bottom or under surface of the island, Of this the people are well apprised, and understand how far to carry their obstinacy, where their liberty or property is concerned.”From this short text, readers can feel the obstinacy and strong will existed in their heart and people’s courage to take the challenge arisen by the king. No matter how evil the plan is for the king to defeat them, they could always come up with a method to reply. And it is due to those common people's determination that the king finally yielded to them and stopped the fighting. These ordinary people just like people in Ireland and the author, who were fighting against the Great Britain. This scene maybe closely related with the author's hope, overtaking the colonization in Ireland eventually. Evidently,anti-colonialism was expressed.

Finally, anti-colonialism was implicitly expressed through an introduction to two kinds of animals and their country. These animals are horses.The one in higher position is Houyhnhnms, which is the symbol of rationalism. It maintained a simple peaceful society governed by reason and truthfulness. They do not even have a word for “lie” in their language. The other in lower position is Yahoo, who resembles human beings and behaves badly, greedy and dirty. As Gulliver described in this novel in the page of 182,“I did not feel the treachery or inconstancy of a friend, nor the injuries of a secret or open enemy.I wanted no fence against fraud or oppression.Here were no gibers, censurers, backbiters,pickpockets, highwaymen, housebreakers, attorneys, bawds, buffoons, gamesters, politicians, wits, splenetics, tedious talkers, controvertists, ravishers, murderers, robbers.” From these sentences, readers can draw a society roughly in their mind, which is harmonious and the most desirous place Gulliver or more specifically, Jonathan Swift expected to live in.This civilization is not governed by human beings but horses, nevertheless, people wish to live here, how ridiculous it is. The author depicted people who wishes to live peacefully was intended to reveal the current society, where freedom and right were deprived. And the whole society was colonized. Simultaneously, this reflect the author's desperation toward the real world. However, as people looks like yahoo, Gulliver was deported by his owner finally. This is the signal of criticizing uncivilized qualities or manners caused by crucial rule or colonization, such as greedy and dirty in that culture. In short, the author aims at revealing the negative influence of colonization has on society and their aspiration of being treated equally. To reach this goal, people must be inspired or fanned to build the awareness of anti-colonialism and fight against colonialism.

  All in all, this paper has made the awareness of anti-colonialism reappear. Swift compared the scene in Laputa and Houyhnhnms to the current situation in his country and the Great Britain. Therefore, readers in Ireland can certainly be inspired to fight against those evil and crucial people to a large extent. And for those whose country was not colonized, this novel can trigger them to build the awareness. In a word, this novel is of great significance.

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