Gulliver's Travels is a novel by
Jonathan Swift, first published in 1726. It is a fictional journal of
Lemuel Gulliver, as he travels through previously
unexplored territory. Like much of Swift's work, it is a piece of social and political
satire.
The book is split into 4 sections:
Part I: A Voyage to Lilliput
In Part I, Gulliver is ship wrecked and swims to
Lilliput, an island where everything is 1/12 the normal size. He learns that
Lilliput and their neighbor Blefuscu have had an on going war for some time over which end eggs should be broken. This is the origin of the terms
big-endian and
little-endian.
Part II: A Voyage to Brobdingnag
In Part II, Gulliver is once again cast onto a strange shore. Here, he encounters a race of
giants. He learns of their
culture, which is used to
mock 18th century
European views. One passage involves Gulliver's disbelief when the King refuses to learn about
gun powder after Gulliver describes the damage
cannons and
bombs could do.
Part III: A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdrib, Luggnagg, and Japan
In Part III, Gulliver travels to the flying island of the Laputans. The Laputans are extremely scientific, but very
impractical.
Part IV: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms
In Part IV, Gulliver's crew
mutinys and he is stranded on another shore. Here he encounters the Houyhnhnms, who are a race of
intelligent horses. He learns that they keep a race of primitive humans,
Yahoos, and use them much like we use horses. As Gulliver learns their language, he is able to explain the workings of human
society to the Houyhnhnms.
Political satire ensues.