Lemuel Gulliver
An unremarkable and average man who lacks imagination. He is morally upright and has his heart in the right place, but he is gullible (his name is something of a play on the word “gullible”) and somewhat foolish.
The Lilliputians
Tiny people of no more than six inches. Full of self-importance and small minded ideas. They are petty and greedy, motivated by hypocrisy and selfishness. The Lilliputians are central to Swiftian satire. Humans are filled with self-importance and see themselves as the pinnacle of creation when in fact they are small and insignificant in the great scheme of things. Yet, the self-importance of human endeavor is capable of driving schemes which are dangerous and even deadly. This is also part of Swift’s satire of the politics of his time. The corruption of justice seen in the Lilliputians is analogous to the same corruption in the ruling elites at the time. Lord Walpole and his court who seek justice in the blind cruelty of the court.
The Emperor of Lilliput
The name of the Emperor is of Golbasto Momaren Evlame Gurdilo Shefin Mully Ully Gue. This huge and bombastic name assigned to a tiny person represents Swift’s satire of the threats of political tyranny and abuse of power. The point is that the small rulers, cloaked in grand titles and pedigrees, are only powerful by virtue of their ruthless cruelty and reckless abuse of authority. In reality, they are small men of no substance.
Reldresal
The Principal Secretary of Private Affairs for Lilliput. His plan to “save” Gulliver by blinding him and starving him to death shows the misguided “mercy” of political expediency.
Skyresh Bolgolam
The Lord High Admiral of the Lilliput Navy. He becomes jealous of Gulliver after his defeat of Blefescu. Not concerned with what is best, he is motivated by his own ambitions.
Slamcksan and Tramecksan
The two ruling political parties of Lilliput. They argue over the proper size of the heels of their shoes. These are the pointless and senseless politicians which comprise political power.
The Brobdingnagians
The race of giants from the second adventure. These people are in every way morally and ethically superior. They guide everything in well-founded morality. As Gulliver attempts to misrepresent his own people in England, the Brobdingnagians see through his misguided patriotic depiction and declare the English to be loathesome people. Gullever is disgusted by the bodily details of the Brobdingnagians mainly because their size amplifies everything about their bodily functions. This is part of Swift’s satire in which the human condition is represented in its physical realities while the emphasis should be on morality and conduct. The hypocrisy of the age in which mere physical appearance seemed to trump real virtue.
The Laputans
A people so engaged in abstractions and theoretical modes of thought that they have lost touch with all practical considerations. Their houses are in ruins and their clothes do not properly fit. This is Swift’s satire of the abstract thought and philosophy of the Age of Enlightenment.
The King of Laputa
This character is utterly and completely preoccupied with abstract and theoretical ideas.
The Academy Projectors
These are Balnibarbian reformers who base all of their ideas on abstract thought and theories, which have no connection to real life. These represent the professors of The Royal Academy Society for the Improving of Natural Knowledge, a body which still exists in England. Swift saw them as projectors of abstract thought without regard for the real effects of their theories and schemes.
Lord Munodi
The Governor of the town of Lagado. Gulliver meets him in one of his minor travels. Lord Munodi rejects the ideas of the Balnibarians and remains a traditionalist. He maintains a well-ordered estate and his people flourish.
The Strulddbruggs
A race of immortals. They live in despair of their relentless advancing age. This is Swift’s moral lesson on immortality.
The Houyhnhnms
The race of rational horses. Their superior ways give rise to a society of reason and virtue. They work toward the good of the whole as opposed to selfish motives. The Houyhnhnms keep the Yahoos as subservient. These are the epitome of a rational class of beings.
The Houyhnhnm who serves as Gulliver’s master
Though never named, the master represents a compassionate, wise, and just ruler. Because he has the best interest of his own kind in mind, he eventually feels the need to force Gulliver to leave because he resembles a more advanced Yahoo.
The Yahoos
Beast-like creatures who inhabit the land of the Houyhnhnms and act as servants and slaves to the Houyhnhnms. They represent everything that is base and grotesque about humanity.