50 pages 1 hour read

Jonathan Swift

Gulliver's Travels: Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1726

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Part 2, Chapters 5-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 2: “A Voyage to Brobdingnag”

Part 2, Chapter 5 Summary

Gulliver has another incident with the dwarf, which he instigates by pointing out to the dwarf that he is standing near a dwarf apple tree. Gulliver is then caught in a hailstorm with huge, tennis ball-sized hailstones. Gulliver describes the constant threats posed by birds. He then tells of an execution that he witnesses, and because everything is proportional, the beheading leads to an astonishing amount of blood.

Sometime later, the queen has her workers build Gulliver a boat and a pond in which he can row and exercise. All goes well until a frog jumps into Gulliver’s boat. He then describes another near-disaster that happens after a monkey enters the room his dollhouse is in. With Grumdalclitch away, the monkey is able to sense where Gulliver is located, grabs him, and makes off with him. Gulliver’s absence is immediately noticed, and eventually, members of the queen’s court force the monkey to let go of Gulliver, who has managed to climb to the roof. After a series of fortunate events, Gulliver is rescued unharmed.

Part 2, Chapter 6 Summary

Gulliver relays his day-to-day activities while in the king’s court. This includes attending the king’s levee “once or twice a week” (72). He also watches the king receive a shave and a haircut and is mortified by the size of the razor that is used.