Johnson Scathingly Dismissed Gullivers Travels as a Story about “Little People and Big People”; In Your View, What is it About?

“One of the greatest triumphs that the human soul has ever achieved”
T.S.Eliot, 1923, (speaking of the fourth voyage)

“A satire on the four aspects of man: the physical, the political, the intellectual and the moral............It is also a brilliant parody of travel literature; and is at once science fiction and a witty parody of science fiction. It expresses savage indignation at the follies, vices, and stupidities of men, and everywhere implicit in the book as a whole is an awareness of mans tragic insufficiency. But at the same time it is a great comic masterpiece”
Samuel Holt Monk

“unconvincing and unpopular with all but the professional misanthrope”
William A. Eddy, 1923


Gullivers Travels elicits as many responses as there are readers of it. Indeed, the commentary already available makes adding to it a daunting task. However, some solace can be found in the fact that this piece o...