Question

Character sketch of Gulliver in 200

Answer 1

Lemuel Gulliver, the protagonist and the narrator of the novel, is a learned surgeon by profession and belongs to a middle class family of Nottinghamshire. His character is constantly in a flux and keeps changing as the story proceeds. He is the central character of the novel, but there is nothing heroic or extra-ordinary about him. He is an inquisitive person and a keen observer, with good memory. He is pragmatic in his approach and refrains from over-reacting at certain instances. He has a natural ability to learn any language. He is adventurous by nature and loves to explore. He takes up several voyages to discover the remote lands around the world. Initially, he is comfortable with mankind but, by the end, he shuts himself away from it. A man of rational thinking, he courageously refuses to submit to the orders of the king of Lilliput to enslave the Blefuscudians. Besides, he believes that over indulgence of Laputians in science and learning is irrational. He has an artistic bent of mind which he employs in making various articles for the queen and Glumdalclitch in Brobdingnag, and in making shoes and clothes for himself in Houyhnhnmland. Although he is compared by the Houyhnhnms to the Yahoos, he represents a middle ground between pure reason (followed by the Houyhnhnms) and pure animalism (followed by the Yahoos). 

Answer 2

Lemuel Gulliver is the main character in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, and so he merits special attention when approaching the novel. For the most part, Gulliver is thoroughly normal; he seems to have a comfortable income, he works as a surgeon, and he possesses few unusual or remarkable qualities. Indeed, we get the sense that Gulliver is something of an Every man, and that the adventures he falls into are pure coincidence (or rotten luck) and could happen to just about anyone. However, it's worth noting that the one distinctive trait Gulliver does exhibit is a particularly enthusiastic curiosity. Throughout his journeys, Gulliver imbues his narrative with in-depth, rich descriptions of all he witnesses, and so he proves himself to be a deft observer of minute detail. Additionally, Gulliver does seem to become rather eccentric by the end of the novel. Indeed, his encounter with the Houyhnhnm and the Yahoos leads him to distrust and shun most interactions with humans, and it's safe to say that this characteristic is pretty unusual. So, while Gulliver at first seems relatively unremarkable, he slowly reveals a handful of interesting, and even unusual, characteristics as the novel progresses.