The books the thirty nine steps and gulliver's travels both talk about normal englishmen who had adventures that change their lives. In the first book, the main character Hannay finds out about a plot against his country so in a heroic act of patriotism he gives up his successful life to take actions to save his country. During his adventure the police and a dangerous gang are all trying to capture him but every time he manages to elude them. In Gulliver's travels, the main character Gulliver is shipwrecked onto a fantasy island where he studies the people there and learns their ways. Over the next year he travels to other places and takes notes on them all. Gullivers motivation to explore is based on curiosity but Hannay’s perseverance drives from patriotism and loyalty to his country. These traits of moral courage and self- sacrifice for a higher purpose are what touch me most and make Hannay a more favorable character over Gulliver to me.
Hannay and Gulliver both possess certain qualities that help them succeed in life changing adventures. Based on the similar dangers and circumstances in the adventures, they are alike in multiple ways. Hannay and Gulliver both started as normal Englishmen but after Hannay realizes his nation is in danger and Gulliver gets shipwrecked they change. Hannay is patriotic, brave, and clever while Gulliver is curious, smart, and adaptive. Hannay is able to think out of the box and Gulliver has a strong mind to handle all the new information he learns. They Both meet people or creatures, some are nice and some are not. Hannay’s mailman helped him into a disguise for the first time and the Lilliputians saved Gulliver after his shipwreck. As proagonists in adventure stories，it’s natural they have some traits overlapped. These adventures were also designed to show the person's personality, virtues, and advantages to help portrait the main characters and engage readers. Due to their shared traits of cleverness, bravery and quick minds, both protagonists could ultimately win in their exploration.
Although the two characters have similarities when facing the unknown circumstances, they also exhibit some differences in their background, personality, motivations and experiences. We can see some of these differences by looking directly into the aspects of the adventures. Hannay travels across his country to help it and show patriotism while Gulliver visits fantasy islands to take notes and explore based on curiosity. Hannay is smart and strong while Gulliver is not that strong, he uses his versatility to adapt to his situation. Some disadvantages of being the main character in each of their stories is that they are both alone and everyone is chasing Hannay while Gulliver is not liked by everyone he comes across. Hannay uses his history as an engineer to help him escape gang and police but Gulliver talks and persuades others. Hannay is happy to talk to people to escape but Gulliver is a misanthropist and the reason why he prefers the fantasy island creatures to people. When looking at how they act in specific situations and dangers, we can see the difference in what they do is very suitable for the characters. They can be very different when you compare them through different experiences that they go through which is very attractive for the readers.
While Hannay and Gulliver share differences and similarities in multiple ways, I find Hannay to be a more compelling protagonist. This is because of how patriotic he is, the life or death situations he escapes from, and that he is more intelligent than gulliver. When Hannay found out about the plot to get his country into war, he took immediate action to show patriotism and bravery to his country even though he was alone and everyone was trying to capture him. Hannay is hunted by a deadly gang and they use countless tactics that almost work but Hannay escapes them all and if he didn’t then he could have died. Lastly, Hannay has background knowledge as a former engineer and uses it to escape from the gang leader that captures him while Gulliver uses his knowledge to write notes and try to talk to others. After comparing Hannay and Gulliver, there are places where Hannay shows more virtue than Gulliver. His devotion to his country and willingness to sacrifice himself for others shows his moral virtue. Over all, Hannay is patriotic, brave, and more intelligent than Gulliver which makes him the more favorable character out of the two.
Among the two books the thirty-nine steps and Gulliver's Travels I like the book the thirty-nine steps better. This book has lots of action and drama based on Hannays adventures to stop the gang while Gulliver's travels are just talking about him going to fantasy islands that are different from the real world. This gets repetitive and boring after a few islands while Hannays escapes from all sorts of different places. It is exciting to read it and see what will happen next. Hannay is a more appealing character than Gulliver in my view because Hannay shows Patriotism and bravery during his adventure while Gulliver’s reason for travel is based on curiosity and exploration. Hannays adventure is life or death if he fails a certain part of it. As a result, readers are more likely to be attracted by his bravery and respect his moral virtues than Gulliver.
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