Chapter 5-8

Gulliver visits the Projectors and Projector Professors at a university in Lagado, which is situated in the midst of many ruined buildings. Projectors study bizarre and inventive projects, such as attempting to train a spider to weave colorful webs, or attempting to build a house roof-down. Projector Professors work on equally bizarre topics, such as how to avoid speaking so as to increase one’s lifespan. Though no one here seems to have made any significant progress with their projects, they seem cheerful nonetheless. Gulliver then visits the Political Projectors who seem insane to him. He especially is fascinated by a doctor, whose work suggests that fusing the brains of two politicians in disagreement might result in a resolution. They also discuss implementing a tax system based on women’s beauty and men’s follies rather than virtues. This is because the Projects think virtue is a sparse commodity. Gulliver warns them that their assumptions and speculations are too wild and may hence be mistaken for criminal conspiracies. Gulliver is disappointed by Lagado and considers returning to England.

Gulliver then travels to the island of Glubbdubdrib where he meets government officials who are all ghosts. Here he meets the ghosts of Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Caesar, Pompey, Brutus, and the Roman Senate. He is impressed by Brutus and Caesar and shares that Brutus’ murder is one of the most impressive historic feats. Gulliver also meets other ghosts who used to be liberators. He then runs into ghosts of Homer and Aristotle and discovers that the ghosts are rather embarrassed by the incorrect interpretations of their work, especially by scholars from later generations. Gulliver finds out that Aristotle agrees that there are flaws in his teachings. This also shows how time and context impact even “absolute truths.” He also meets the royalty and aristocracy of Europe and is led to believe that the good men have been painted as evil by history. Similarly, he finds that historical figures widely regarded as remarkable were commonplace in real life. This thread of thought also leads him to the realization that degeneracy abounds in contemporary England.

Analysis

Gulliver’s visit to these academic spaces highlight the gap between real-life concerns and abstract knowledge. It sheds light on just how removed some intellectual circles can be from material realities and travails. It is widely believed that this particular section is an attack on the then newly established Royal Academy in London. The pointless explorations are but an occupation of the privileged, of those who do not have to deal with the drudgery and realities of everyday life. This is especially evident in the Projectors’ casual cheerfulness: they seem unconcerned by the fact their research seems to be headed nowhere.

Gulliver’s encounters with the ghosts of the great men reveal that history is not an objective record of the past. The fact that Caesar agrees that Brutus is the better man topples the common narrative, which suggests otherwise. Nonetheless, Gulliver is enriched by his own disappointments and realizations about the ghosts’ shortcomings; this shows the readers that history is multifaceted. As a result of these encounters, Gulliver believes that historians are “prostitutes.”