Study Questions & Essay Topics
Study Questions
1. How does Swift
use language and style for the purpose of satire? How does his
style change as the story progresses?
2. Does Gulliver
change as the story progresses? Does he learn from his adventures?
3. Is Gulliver
an everyman figure or does he have a distinctive personality of
his own?
Suggested Essay Topics
1. Why is Gulliver so eager to
assert his own country's importance to the Brobdingnagians? How
does this desire compare to the Lilliputians' desire to assert their
importance to Gulliver?
2. What is the significance,
if any, of the order in which Gulliver's journeys take place? How
does each adventure build on the previous one?
3. What is the allegorical significance
of the floating island
of Laputa?
4. Why does Gulliver keep traveling
despite his many misfortunes?
5. Why does Gulliver want to
stay with the Houyhnhnms? Does his desire make sense in light of
the other societies he has visited?
6. How do the Lilliputians view
the threat that
Gulliver represents?
