Gulliver's Travels - Intro. and Chapter 1 (MJ)

Jonathan Swift was born in 1667 in Ireland. He was a political journalist in England, a zealous churchman and a practical reformer. This book, written in 1726, came to symbolize his life. The general theme is human corruption; man is doomed, immoral, irresponsible, lazy etc. A few years before he died, Swift was found to be "of unsound mind and memory." At the time, the fourth voyage in this book was banned reading in decent households. (I haven't finished a book on the list yet; I'd like to get to Gulliver's last voyage!)

Lemuel Gulliver studied physics and eventually became a surgeon on several voyages. On this voyage to the South Seas, the ship hit a rock and all were lost except Gulliver. He swam to land and fell asleep. When he awoke, he was tied to stakes in the ground by natives who were less than six inches tall. He was shot with arrows and poked with spears that caused him only minor pain. After speeches that he did not understand were made, his left hand was released and he was fed meat, bread and wine containing sleeping medicine. He was treated well so did not consider grabbing 50 of them at one time and killing them.

While he slept, a wooden carrying device was built to take him to the city. He was hoisted on it by pulleys and pulled by 1500 horses. In the city, he was put in chains on his left leg, allowing him to walk a short way to find shelter in an abandoned temple.