Imperialism In Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver’s Travels became very popular with the contemporary readers. They consumed travel tales and the accounts of voyages and journeys with great enthusiasm. Swift wrote in a letter to Alexander Pope that this book “was intended to vex the world rather than to divert it” . Swift had in his possession a good number of creations of well-known travel authors of the 16th century: Richard Hakluyt, William Dampier, Samuel Purchas etc. In Gulliver’s Travels one can see the steady mimicking of these various travel tales. The storm’s description in Book II is closely similar to the style of writing found in The Mariner’s Magazine of Captain Samuel Sturmy. Swift locates the destination points of his imaginary voyages in regions that had been explored by William Dampier. He was a renowned travel writer during that age, an author as well as a pirate and explorer. Dampier penned a piece of the expedition he undertook to Australia in 1699 (The continent was name New Holland at the time). His writings were published in two parts, A Voyage

Observations on new nations in travel literature and the experiences came in handy for questioning cultural customs, habits and traditions near home. It should be noted that this was not always positive experience. And this side of an increasing interest on the new unfolding world was not limited to the travel literature. The people of those days were thrilled at the possibility of a savage being noble. One is reminded of Oroonoko by Aphra Behn where the hero is an African slave of Surinam. As the story progresses Gulliver appears to be disillusioned with his native society. He prefers the society of the Hounymnyms. When returning to his homeland Gulliver is unable to tolerate the company of anyone except the horses; he even blocks his nose with herbs to cut off mankind’s disagreeable