{"id":84,"date":"2020-02-07T16:19:20","date_gmt":"2020-02-07T20:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/?p=84"},"modified":"2020-02-24T19:24:23","modified_gmt":"2020-02-24T23:24:23","slug":"slave-imagery-in-gullivers-travels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/2020\/02\/07\/slave-imagery-in-gullivers-travels\/","title":{"rendered":"Slave Imagery in Gulliver’s Travels"},"content":{"rendered":"

One thing I noticed while reading Gulliver\u2019s Travels is the focus on the body, specifically the focus on using the body for labor. In both Lilliput and the country of the Houyhnhnms, Gulliver is made an other by the natives and forced to live in a separate space. In Lilliput specifically, Gulliver is exploited for his human capital as he is made an instrument of war. In the country of the Houyhnhnms his body is not used for labor, but he is compared to a Yahoo on multiple occasions and is eventually banished from the Island due to the Houyhnhnms\u2019 fear that he will lead a Yahoo uprising. When looking at the treatment of Gulliver in both of these lands, one cannot help but think of slavery in the United States. The Lilliputians\u2019 disgust of Gulliver\u2019s body, especially his defecation, reflects the attitude of disgust slave owners had for their own human capital. The Lilliputians use Gulliver\u2019s body as a weapon and promote him to a Nardac, yet he is still banned from participating in the courts due to the \u201cmeanness of his condition.\u201d The Articles created to punish Gulliver are a result of the fear that he would attempt to have sex with the Lilliputian Queen, thus invading the space of the priviliged. The fear of Gulliver\u2019s invasion of the privileged space and his physical strength is a parallel to the fear slave owners expressed towards their slaves, who were typically stronger than the slave owner and designated to their own separate space.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This fear of brute strength and the invasion of the privileged space is expressed by the Houyhnhnms as well, but to a lesser extent. They are only able to tolerate Gulliver, a Yahoo in their minds, when he is wearing clothes. Otherwise, they are disgusted by the image of his brutish body. They allow him in their homes, but also deny him the right of participating in the local councils due to his similarity in appearance to the Yahoos. The reason for his banishment is the fear that he will start a Yahoo rebellion, similar to how white landowners feared that slaves would start rebellions on their plantations. I am aware that this novel is mainly an Irish text, but the similarities between the relationships Gulliver has with the natives of the lands he travels to and the relationships slaves had with their owners are evident throughout the book, especially during the passages that focus on Gulliver\u2019s body. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One thing I noticed while reading Gulliver\u2019s Travels is the focus on the body, specifically the focus on using the body for labor. In both Lilliput and the country of the Houyhnhnms, Gulliver is made an other by the natives and forced to live in a separate space. In Lilliput specifically, Gulliver is exploited for … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Slave Imagery in Gulliver’s Travels”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3686,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3686"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions\/85"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}