The mood of Gulliver's Travels shifts over the course of the novel, often oscillating between cheerful and despairing to reflect the various bizarre situations in which Gulliver finds himself.
For the most part, Gulliver enjoys the time he spends in fantastical lands like Lilliput and Brobdingnag. When he first arrives in these locations, he is usually met with hostility and suspicion by the inhabitants, but they inevitably offer him their friendship and hospitality. Gulliver responds to this treatment with joy and gratitude, and when he does experience mistreatment, he tends express mere annoyance and indignation. As a result of Gulliver's nonchalant attitude, the mood of many sections of the novel is whimsical, humorous, and lighthearted.
Gulliver's Travels does, however, contain several episodes of genuine peril, and the mood of these passages is often quite somber. In Book 3, Chapter 1, for example, Gulliver finds himself stranded on a remote island following an attack by pirates, and he begins to succumb to despair:
I slept very little, for the Disquiets of my Mind prevailed over my Weariness, and kept me awake. I considered how impossible it was to preserve my Life, in so desolate a Place, and how miserable my End must be.
Jonathan Swift utilizes several elements to create the mood of this passage. The setting, which he describes as rocky, barren, and isolated, establishes a lonely atmosphere. There is a lack of descriptive imagery, which reinforces the bleakness of the environment. Finally, Gulliver's tone in this passage is self-pitying and hopeless, which further contributes to the mood.
By the end of the novel, this sense of melancholy is overwhelming. While Gulliver is usually able to adjust to life in England after returning from his travels, his experiences in the land of the Houyhnhnms leave him permanently altered. He is unable to reintegrate into human society, and he carries a lasting attitude of disgust toward members of his own species. When he reunites with his family in Book 4, Chapter 11, the mood is one of horror and shame:
"must freely confess the sight of them filled me only with Hatred, Disgust and Contempt, and the more by reflecting on the near Alliance I had to them... And when I began to consider, that by copulating with one of the Yahoo Species I had become a Parent of more, it struck me with the utmost Shame, Confusion and Horror.
The mood of the final chapters is also somewhat wistful—Gulliver retains an admiration for the Houyhnhnms and bitterly regrets that he is unable to live among them.
The mood of Gulliver's Travels shifts over the course of the novel, often oscillating between cheerful and despairing to reflect the various bizarre situations in which Gulliver finds himself.
For the most part, Gulliver enjoys the time he spends in fantastical lands like Lilliput and Brobdingnag. When he first arrives in these locations, he is usually met with hostility and suspicion by the inhabitants, but they inevitably offer him their friendship and hospitality. Gulliver responds to this treatment with joy and gratitude, and when he does experience mistreatment, he tends express mere annoyance and indignation. As a result of Gulliver's nonchalant attitude, the mood of many sections of the novel is whimsical, humorous, and lighthearted.
Gulliver's Travels does, however, contain several episodes of genuine peril, and the mood of these passages is often quite somber. In Book 3, Chapter 1, for example, Gulliver finds himself stranded on a remote island following an attack by pirates, and he begins to succumb to despair:
I slept very little, for the Disquiets of my Mind prevailed over my Weariness, and kept me awake. I considered how impossible it was to preserve my Life, in so desolate a Place, and how miserable my End must be.
Jonathan Swift utilizes several elements to create the mood of this passage. The setting, which he describes as rocky, barren, and isolated, establishes a lonely atmosphere. There is a lack of descriptive imagery, which reinforces the bleakness of the environment. Finally, Gulliver's tone in this passage is self-pitying and hopeless, which further contributes to the mood.
By the end of the novel, this sense of melancholy is overwhelming. While Gulliver is usually able to adjust to life in England after returning from his travels, his experiences in the land of the Houyhnhnms leave him permanently altered. He is unable to reintegrate into human society, and he carries a lasting attitude of disgust toward members of his own species. When he reunites with his family in Book 4, Chapter 11, the mood is one of horror and shame:
"must freely confess the sight of them filled me only with Hatred, Disgust and Contempt, and the more by reflecting on the near Alliance I had to them... And when I began to consider, that by copulating with one of the Yahoo Species I had become a Parent of more, it struck me with the utmost Shame, Confusion and Horror.
The mood of the final chapters is also somewhat wistful—Gulliver retains an admiration for the Houyhnhnms and bitterly regrets that he is unable to live among them.
