Summary and Analysis
Part III:
Chapter 11
Summary
At last Gulliver is able to find a boat bound for Japan. In Japan, though, he finds himself in trouble again. It is customary for Dutchmen in Japan to trample the crucifix, and none have ever protested doing so. However, the Japanese emperor excuses Gulliver from this ceremony. Later, a Dutchman again tries to have Gulliver forced to trample on the cross. Gulliver leaves Japan on the Amboyna, bound for Amsterdam, and there he boards a ship for England. Finally he returns to his family in Redriff.
Analysis
The Dutch again come under attack in this chapter. They are meant to be a contrast to the charitable Portuguese captain who appears near the end of the Travels. Swift also compares the Dutch unfavorably to the Japanese, considered pagans in Swift's time. The Japanese have not nearly the malice of the commercial Dutch "Christians" and charitably allow Gulliver to escape this degrading ceremony by a subterfuge. They know he will be murdered by his Christian brethren if the truth is known.
Glossary
Redriff Gulliver's family's home (estate).
the Downs the locale of Gulliver's home in England.