Summary
Gulliver arrives in Luggnagg and immediately gets caught in bureaucratic red tape when customs officials detain him for being a 'stranger and great traveller.' He's forced to wait two weeks in comfortable confinement while officials decide his fate. When finally summoned to court, he discovers the kingdom's most revealing custom: everyone must crawl on their belly and literally lick the floor before approaching the king. Swift uses this grotesque ritual to expose how power works—the king is praised for his 'mercy' because he ensures the floor is clean for foreigners, while his own nobles sometimes get poisoned dust mixed in when they've fallen from favor. The king can literally kill people through this 'honor' of an audience, yet he's celebrated for his clemency when he orders the floor washed afterward. Gulliver learns the elaborate phrases required for court protocol, performs the humiliating ceremony, and somehow charms the king enough to receive royal favor and lodging. The chapter brilliantly satirizes how authority figures create demeaning rituals that people accept as normal, even honorable. It shows how bureaucracy can control your life through arbitrary rules, and how those in power frame cruelty as kindness. The king's 'gentle' method of execution—poisoning through required court ceremony—reveals how institutional violence gets disguised as tradition and respect.
Coming Up in Chapter 26
Gulliver's time in Luggnagg takes an unexpected turn when he discovers a group of immortal beings called the Struldbrugs. What seems like the ultimate blessing of eternal life reveals itself to be something far more complex and troubling.
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An excerpt from the original text.(~500 words)
The author returns to Maldonada. Sails to the kingdom of Luggnagg. The author confined. He is sent for to court. The manner of his admittance. The king’s great lenity to his subjects. The day of our departure being come, I took leave of his highness, the Governor of Glubbdubdrib, and returned with my two companions to Maldonada, where, after a fortnight’s waiting, a ship was ready to sail for Luggnagg. The two gentlemen, and some others, were so generous and kind as to furnish me with provisions, and see me on board. I was a month in this voyage. We had one violent storm, and were under a necessity of steering westward to get into the trade wind, which holds for above sixty leagues. On the 21st of April, 1708, we sailed into the river of Clumegnig, which is a seaport town, at the south-east point of Luggnagg. We cast anchor within a league of the town, and made a signal for a pilot. Two of them came on board in less than half an hour, by whom we were guided between certain shoals and rocks, which are very dangerous in the passage, to a large basin, where a fleet may ride in safety within a cable’s length of the town-wall. Some of our sailors, whether out of treachery or inadvertence, had informed the pilots “that I was a stranger, and great traveller;” whereof these gave notice to a custom-house officer, by whom I was examined very strictly upon my landing. This officer spoke to me in the language of Balnibarbi, which, by the force of much commerce, is generally understood in that town, especially by seamen and those employed in the customs. I gave him a short account of some particulars, and made my story as plausible and consistent as I could; but I thought it necessary to disguise my country, and call myself a Hollander; because my intentions were for Japan, and I knew the Dutch were the only Europeans permitted to enter into that kingdom. I therefore told the officer, “that having been shipwrecked on the coast of Balnibarbi, and cast on a rock, I was received up into Laputa, or the flying island (of which he had often heard), and was now endeavouring to get to Japan, whence I might find a convenience of returning to my own country.” The officer said, “I must be confined till he could receive orders from court, for which he would write immediately, and hoped to receive an answer in a fortnight.” I was carried to a convenient lodging with a sentry placed at the door; however, I had the liberty of a large garden, and was treated with humanity enough, being maintained all the time at the king’s charge. I was invited by several persons, chiefly out of curiosity, because it was reported that I came from countries very remote, of which they had never heard. I hired a young man, who came in the same ship, to be...
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Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
The Road of Ritualized Humiliation
When those in power create degrading requirements, then frame small considerations within that cruelty as extraordinary kindness.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches you to spot when authority figures create suffering and then take credit for managing it.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when someone frames basic decency as extraordinary generosity—are they creating the problem they're 'solving'?
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Terms to Know
Court protocol
The formal rules and ceremonies required when meeting royalty or high officials. In Luggnagg, visitors must crawl on their bellies and lick the floor before approaching the king.
Modern Usage:
We see this in corporate culture where employees must follow rigid procedures to meet with executives, or in government offices where citizens jump through bureaucratic hoops.
Customs house
A government building at ports where officials inspect travelers and cargo entering a country. Gulliver gets detained here simply for being a 'stranger and great traveller.'
Modern Usage:
Today's airport security and border control serve the same function, often subjecting travelers to lengthy questioning and searches.
Royal clemency
The king's supposed mercy or kindness to his subjects. In Luggnagg, the king is praised for washing the floor clean before foreigners lick it, while secretly poisoning enemies with dust.
Modern Usage:
Politicians and bosses often frame their basic decency as extraordinary generosity, like a company bragging about paying minimum wage.
Arbitrary detention
Being held prisoner without clear legal reason or time limit. Gulliver waits two weeks in comfortable confinement while officials decide his fate based on their whims.
Modern Usage:
This happens when authorities hold people indefinitely without charges, or when bureaucrats delay processing applications without explanation.
Institutional violence
Harm inflicted through official systems and traditions rather than direct force. The king kills people through required court ceremony, making murder look like honor.
Modern Usage:
We see this in systems that harm people through 'proper channels' - like denying healthcare through insurance bureaucracy or evicting families through legal procedures.
Performative humiliation
Forcing people to degrade themselves as a show of submission to authority. The floor-licking ceremony serves no purpose except to demonstrate the king's power.
Modern Usage:
This appears in workplace hazing, military rituals, or any situation where people must humiliate themselves to prove loyalty or gain access.
Characters in This Chapter
Gulliver
Protagonist and observer
He navigates the bureaucratic maze of Luggnagg, getting detained, questioned, and forced through humiliating court rituals. His outsider perspective reveals how absurd these systems are.
Modern Equivalent:
The new employee learning unwritten office rules
The King of Luggnagg
Authority figure
He maintains power through degrading rituals and disguised violence. Praised for 'mercy' when he simply doesn't poison visitors, he represents how rulers frame basic decency as extraordinary kindness.
Modern Equivalent:
The CEO who thinks they're generous for following basic labor laws
The Custom-house Officer
Bureaucratic gatekeeper
He detains Gulliver for no clear reason except being a 'stranger and great traveller,' showing how minor officials can control your life through arbitrary rules.
Modern Equivalent:
The DMV clerk who makes you wait all day for a simple form
The Pilots
Informants
They casually report Gulliver's status to authorities, showing how ordinary people participate in surveillance systems without thinking about consequences.
Modern Equivalent:
The coworker who reports everything to HR
Key Quotes & Analysis
"Some of our sailors, whether out of treachery or inadvertence, had informed the pilots 'that I was a stranger, and great traveller'"
Context: When Gulliver's ship arrives and he immediately gets flagged to authorities
This shows how casually people share information that can get others in trouble. Swift highlights how surveillance systems depend on ordinary people passing along 'harmless' details.
In Today's Words:
Someone on the crew told the harbor guys I was a foreigner who'd been around
"The king's great lenity to his subjects"
Context: Describing how the king is praised for his supposed mercy
Swift uses irony here - the king who poisons people through required ceremonies is celebrated for his kindness. It exposes how power structures frame cruelty as compassion.
In Today's Words:
Everyone talks about how nice the king is to his people
"I was examined very strictly upon my first arrival"
Context: When customs officials detain Gulliver at the port
This captures the anxiety of being processed by bureaucracy - you're guilty until proven innocent, and officials have total power over your fate for arbitrary reasons.
In Today's Words:
They put me through the wringer as soon as I got there
Thematic Threads
Power
In This Chapter
The king's absolute authority expressed through ritualized humiliation that everyone must accept as honor
Development
Evolved from earlier chapters showing different forms of arbitrary authority
In Your Life:
You might see this when bosses create unreasonable demands then expect gratitude for minor flexibility.
Class
In This Chapter
Court hierarchy enforced through literal prostration, with nobles subject to poisoned floors when they fall from favor
Development
Continues examining how social position determines treatment and survival
In Your Life:
You might experience this in healthcare settings where your insurance status determines the respect you receive.
Social Expectations
In This Chapter
Everyone must learn elaborate phrases and perform degrading ceremonies to function in society
Development
Building on earlier themes of conformity requirements for social acceptance
In Your Life:
You might face this in any institution that demands specific language and behaviors for basic services.
Identity
In This Chapter
Gulliver must choose between maintaining dignity and gaining protection through submission
Development
Continues exploring how survival needs force identity compromises
In Your Life:
You might struggle with this when job requirements conflict with your personal values.
Human Relationships
In This Chapter
All relationships with authority figures mediated through ritualized submission and false gratitude
Development
Shows how power imbalances corrupt even basic human interactions
In Your Life:
You might notice this in any relationship where someone holds significant power over your wellbeing.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
What ritual does the king of Luggnagg require from all visitors, and how does he present this requirement as a kindness?
analysis • surface - 2
Why does the king poison some people's floor space but not others, and how does this reveal the true purpose of the ritual?
analysis • medium - 3
Where have you seen someone create a degrading requirement but frame it as tradition, respect, or privilege?
application • medium - 4
When facing a situation where you must choose between humiliation and access to something you need, how do you protect your dignity while surviving the system?
application • deep - 5
What does this chapter teach us about how people in power maintain control through rituals that seem respectful but are actually degrading?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Identify the Humiliation Pattern
Think of a situation where you had to jump through hoops to get something you needed - a job, healthcare, government service, or family approval. Map out the three-step pattern: What degrading requirement was created? How was your compliance made to seem voluntary? What small mercy were you expected to be grateful for?
Consider:
- •Look for situations where basic human treatment was presented as special favor
- •Notice when you were made to feel grateful for getting less than you deserved
- •Consider who benefited from making the process difficult or humiliating
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you recognized you were being asked to be grateful for crumbs. How did you handle it, and what would you do differently now?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 26: The Curse of Immortality
As the story unfolds, you'll explore our fantasies about ideal situations often ignore harsh realities, while uncovering perspective and lived experience matter more than theoretical knowledge. These lessons connect the classic to contemporary challenges we all face.