Tag Archives: Gulliver's Travels

If Swift Had Known Donald Trump…

By Robin Bates | Published: November 27, 2016

Jonathan Swift would have had a field day with Donald Trump. I suspect I’ll say this often in the upcoming years.

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The Rich Complain about Shaming

By Robin Bates | Published: October 18, 2015

Some wealthy Americans are receiving therapy to make them feel better about their riches. Swift would have something to say about this, as would F. Scott Fitzgerald and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu.

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Trump, Prince Vasili, and Pure Cynicism

By Robin Bates | Published: October 14, 2015

Prince Vasili in “War and Peace” will say anything to come out on top. He’s a lot like Donald Trump.

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Can Lit Help Build an Egalitarian World?

By Robin Bates | Published: September 17, 2015

Neo-Marxist literary theory calls for us to see literature as relevant to building an egalitarian society.

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Trump as Frankenstein’s Monster

By Robin Bates | Published: August 27, 2015

What is it about Donald Trump that brings out the literary analogies? First a Salon columnist compared him to Odysseus’s Cyclops, then the New Yorker’s John Cassidy saw him as Gulliver, and most recently Rachel Maddow of MSNBC and others have compared him to Frankenstein’s monster. I’ve written about the Cyclops parallel here, but let’s take […]

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Stewart Should Learn from Jonathan Swift

By Robin Bates | Published: November 6, 2013

Jon Stewart may be one of our leading satirists, but satire comes up short in handling this country’s healthcare crisis.

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Depressing News? Read Gulliver

By Robin Bates | Published: September 23, 2013

If you ever feel that humans are nothing more than Yahoos, Swift urges us to remember that there are good Samaritans amongst us.

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Swift and Food Stamp Cuts

By Robin Bates | Published: September 17, 2013

What would Jonathan Swift say to GOP radicals who seek to cut food stamps.

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Getting Tied Down in Syria

By Robin Bates | Published: July 10, 2013

Is there a danger that U.S. involvement in Syria will lead to a Gulliver-like disaster?

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