Monday, May 20, 2013
Cultural Differences
I find it odd that the Laputans are incredibly smart with science and astronomy but not with how the culture works. For example, Gulliver says that "This operator...he first took my height by a quadrant, and then with a rule and compasses described the dimensions and outlines of my whole body..." Then later, Gulliver says that the clothes are scratchy and crude. It's weird that swift would say this, because he makes the Laputans look like forgetful geniuses. I think he is doing this to show that even smart people have flaws, and Swift must want us to know that no one is perfect.
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I agree. I think Swift is saying that there are many different ways to express intelligence. He is showing societies with vastly different values when it comes to knowledge, but these societies also have shortcomings, such as the insociability among the Laputans. It's also interesting that Gulliver himself is proficient in most of the branches of knowledge so far, perhaps he an ideal being.
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