In my initial reaction to part 1 of Gulliver’s Travel, I wasn’t shocked to see the exaggerated depiction of Gulliver and his encounter with the Lilliputian people. Right away we see how
Guliver is presented as a well-educated, distinguished, and adventurous individual. In class we entertained the idea of Gulliver being representative of English culture during that time, and I think that approach is fairly accurate through the obvious symbolism in part 1. Gulliver is illustrated as a giant in comparison to the Lilliputians. He is also considered to be far more intelligent and superior than them. I would imagine that during this time period, England viewed themselves as one of the leading powers in the world that couldn’t be touched, and had this “giant” mentality.
In addition, I mentioned in class how the fact that gullivers accounts are very generous in reference to himself but far fetched when concerning the Lilliputians. This is a great representation of how a country like England would view themselves compared to the rest of the world. A country that, even with its flaws, is more sophisticated, modernized, and appealing than anyone else. I think there is a clear sense of power and dominance through the beginning of Gulliver’s journey, however, there is also a side of compassion and humanity which allows the reader to relate.
With that being said, if this approach is accurate, and this is a clear depiction of English culture from a position of power, I am curious to see what a current story of Gulliver’s Travel would look like. When I think about how countries employ propaganda and insert themselves at the center of the world, I think this story could be told from the perspective of any one of today’s world powers and the story wouldn’t be too far off from the original. Who today would take the place of Gulliver, and who would be the Lilliputian people?
I wonder if in a modern telling, Gulliver could be taken to be the United States? I feel that Gulliver’s self-importance over the Lilliputians could be easily interpreted to portray the way that America likes to compare itself to other countries in this day and age. There is also the same technique of softening the flaws that we do admit to having, while stretching the flaws of any other country to make America look good. As for who the Lilliputians might be, I feel that they could be representative of mostly any country, if we are taking Gulliver to be America.