Page 103 - Gullivers

The Jenkins/Riddell version has a different emphasis in shape or structure to Swist’s original. That original is a linear narrative beginning in chapter one, book one, with an account of Gulliver’s history, continuing with sixteen years of travels and then five years at home in England completing the manuscript. The sense of linear and chronological continuity is not really disrupted by the accompanying letter from Gulliver to his supposed publisher, published in the 1735 edition,
as the reader is most likely to read that aster having read the main story beginning in book one chapter one. However that cannot happen in the Jenkins/ Riddell version because the visual emphasis on the ‘insane’ Gulliver at the beginning and particularly the powerful illustrations mentioned already create
a sense of circularity. There is the feeling that we begin with a comically insane Gulliver before the causes of his insanity are understood. In Swist’s original Gulliver’s madness is slowly and painstakingly constructed and developed over time and is seen as a logical response to the irrationality of man, in Swist’s view wrongly defined as a rational animal, but in fact merely an animal ‘capable
of reason’. For that reason there is a sense that Swist’s great satiric and moral purpose may be sidestepped in the Jenkins/Riddell version. One American reviewer, Preston Harper, expressed the view that ‘the book needs an introduction that explains Swist’s purpose in writing the book and perhaps some footnotes
to explain the satire because the humorous pictures will probably leave the reader feeling the he has read a funny book whereas this is one of the darkest books
in Western literature.’
Swist’s Gulliver, as narrator, is the reader’s guide. If the satire is to work, if
the reader is to become aware of his or her own folly, some level of identification with Gulliver is essential. He is of course gullible but in spite of all his limitations he is a competent practical and resourceful figure. He can swim well, even fully clothed. He is a surgeon. He is a remarkable linguist who is already competent
in a number of European languages before his travels begin. He learns the
many languages of the lands he visits very quickly and well. He describes all
V. Jonathan Swist’s Gulliver, 2004 97