Capitalism is a system in which every object, activity, and person can be defined in terms of its worth. In Marxist Theory there is a concept called Social Capital. Social capital is things that you own which show social status, things that you have done that others have not done, where you live, etc. Many times when examining a piece of literature one might ask the questions; where are they from? What have they done? Who have they met? What do they known? These questions are asked of the characters. .
In part one of "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift we find many examples of social capital. The most important of these are found in part 1, chapter 1. This happens when Gulliver tells of his history and his person.
Fist Gulliver states, "my father had a small Estate in Nottinghamshire; I was the Third of Five Sons (15). By being the middle child in a family, Gulliver is not given much social status. He is not going to inherit any of the family fortune (or lack of) when his father passes away. Even though he was the middle child his family still wanted him to get an education. Gulliver's father "sent [him] to Emanuel-Colledge in Cambridge, at Fourteen Years old" and he "resided three Years, and applied [himself] close to [his] studies (15). In getting a college education Gulliver raises his social status, not to the height that he wanted it to be at, but above those who did not got to college. Gulliver was getting educated in a time where that wasn't considered an important part of life.
After college Gulliver went on to "Apprentice to Mr. James Bates, and eminent Surgeon in London, with whom [he] continued for four Years. This helps out his social status because it shows some class. By knowing someone who is an important figure (Mr. Bates was a respected surgeon) it gives social capital because, you are known by association. Soon after Gulliver started to study navigation and "other Parts of Mathematicks useful to those who intend to travel (15).
