Gulliver’s Travels : Characters
Gulliver’s Travels is a notable literary work by Jonathan Swift. A complete discussion of this literary work is given, which will help you enhance your literary skills and prepare for the exam. Read the Main texts, Key info, Summary, Themes, Characters, Literary devices, Quotations, Notes, and various study materials of Gulliver’s Travels.
Characters
Characters- Voyage 1: A Voyage to Lilliput.
Major Characters
- Gulliver: Protagonist. He is an English doctor and sailor. He is much bigger than the tiny Lilliputians. He is kind and tries to help the tiny people, but sometimes he gets into trouble because he is a giant in their land.
- Emperor of Lilliput: Ruler of Lilliput. He is small in size but has a big ego. He likes power and wants to use Gulliver for his own plans, like fighting against Blefuscu.
Minor Characters
- Mrs. Mary Burton Gulliver: Gulliver’s wife.
- Lilliputians: Citizens of the island of Lilliput who are 5 or 6 inches tall.
- Empress of Lilliput: Wife of the Emperor. She is afraid of Gulliver and does not like him after her palace is damaged because of him.
- Flimnap: Treasurer (finance minister) of Lilliput. He does not trust Gulliver and sometimes is jealous of him.
- Reldresal: Chief Secretary (important official) of Lilliput. He is friendly to Gulliver and explains the problems in Lilliput.
- Skyresh Bolgolam: Admiral (navy leader) of Lilliput. He does not like Gulliver and is Gulliver’s enemy at the Lilliputian court.
- Blefuscu people: The people of Blefuscu, a nearby island. They are also tiny like Lilliputians. They are at war with Lilliput.
Friends and Enemies
- Reldresal: Tries to help Gulliver.
- Flimnap and Skyresh Bolgolam: Do not like Gulliver.
- People of Blefuscu: Enemies of Lilliput.
Symbolic/Political Groups and Characters
- Tramecksan (High-Heels): In Lilliput, there are two main political groups. One group is called the Tramecksan, or the high-heels. They wear tall shoes and support the old royal families and rich people. They are like the Tories in England. But the Emperor of Lilliput does not like them. He does not want them to have power.
- Slamecksan (Low-Heels): The other group is called the Slamecksan, or the low-heels. They wear short shoes and support the Emperor. They like to give more power to the common people. They are like the Whigs in England. The Emperor likes them and gives them good jobs in the government.
- Big-Endians vs Little-Endians: There is also a strange fight in Lilliput about how to break an egg. One group breaks eggs from the big end. The other group breaks eggs from the small end. They fight over this silly rule. The people who break eggs from the big end are called Big-Endians, and they are like the Catholics in real life. The Little-Endians break eggs from the small end, and they are like the Protestants. This fight shows how religious wars can happen over small things.
Rope-Dancers: Ministers and officials who perform risky dances on a rope to gain promotions. Symbolize corrupt and unstable court politics.