Character Sketch Of Gulliver

One cannot fully
understand or appreciate Lemuel Gulliver as a character without first understanding thatwas a
satirist and this novel is written as aof European culture/society, especially England.  In the
context of being a satirical novel, Gulliver as a character becomes a vehicle for Swift's
delivery of satire. I would disagree with the first commenter in that Gulliver is meant to
represent the reader of the novel because doing so would entirely undercut the satire and
ignores the historical context of Swift's writing.  Swift was not interested in writing a silly
adventure because in 1703 tensions between England and his native Ireland were very turbulent
and, at times, quite violent.  Swift, having become quite jaded and cynical himself, set out to
draw attention to the flaws of the English socio-political climate and economic policies through
satire.

So when Gulliver encounters the Lilliputans (who can see with great
exactness, but not at a distance), and then the Brobdingnagians (who can see at great distance
but without exactness), both groups ridicule the European ways and methods he explains to them. 
And because Gulliver becomes a sympathetic character, perhaps because he is the only character
relatable to the reader, the reader is expected to share in Gulliver's shame and confusion when
his beloved England is ridiculed.  In both of these places it also becomes obvious that he
cannot safely remain a resident.  In Lilliput he is feared for his size and potential for
destruction (they did, after all, weaponize him to attack Blefuscu) to the point that they
litigate him out of the equation to avoid the costs of maintaining him.  In Brobdingnag he is so
insignificant that he is at risk of being forgotten and neglected, which is the opposite of the
problem he had in Lilliput.  His money is invisible dust to the king of Brobdingnag while in
Lilliput his money is a uselessly enormous burden to carry. 

All the while,
Gulliver himself remains surprisingly emotionally objective, allowing his grasp on his Christian
virtue to determine his actions and reactions.  In Lilliput he does not destroy the fleet of
Blefuscu because he finds a more rational solution that is completely unfathomable to the
Lilliputans and ultimately earns him charges of treason.  In Brobdingnag his virtue allows him
to maintain his dignity is the face of humiliation and ridicule at the hands of the
king. 

Part 3 is Swift's satiric ridicule of science and education and Part 4
satirizes philosophy and religion. 

The absurdity of what happens in the
novel can deceive the reader to think that this is just a wacky adventure (it certainly tricked
Jack Black into making that awful, awful movie), but absurdity is what makes the satire all the
more powerful.  Gulliver is the static constant throughout the entire novel, hardly changing his
virtue or disposition in spite of everything he sees and experiences.  Instead, he at times even
closely resembles a straw man who is there simply to ask questions about the strange things he
sees.