In what ways are the inhabitants of Laputa monomaniacs?

Question: In what ways are the inhabitants of Laputa monomaniacs?

Quote 1: “The idée fixe is an infinite source of comfort; not only does it provide unshakable boundaries, but it lures the subject into a sense of agency” (Van Zuylen 6).

Quote 2: “It seems the minds of these people are so taken up with intense speculations, that they neither can speak, nor attend to the discourses of others, without being roused by some external taction upon the organs of speech and hearing…” (Swift GT Book III).

In Book III of Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathon Swift creates the floating island of Laputa. Here, the inhabitants are completely consumed with mathematics and music; mathematics being a fixed science indisputable in nature and music being an art that one can create to fit their taste. Monomania hinges on both of the aforementioned ideas—perceived reality should be stagnant (mathematics) and created around an individual’s ideal version of their world (music). The first quote mentions “idée fixe” or a topic, person, or possession that one obsesses over and ultimately becomes their muse. For the people of Laputa their idée fixe’s are mathematics and music. Mathematics and music provide the comfort and structure (mentioned as important in the first quote) necessary for the people of Laputa’s monomaniac lifestyles. It is important to note that Van Zuylen uses words such as “infinite” and “unshakable” to describe how an idée fixe provides comfort and boundaries. By using these adjectives, it is clear to see how, when something is ever-present and ever-lasting in someone’s mind, a person can become absolutely absorbed in their obsession with said idée fixe—as seen by the people of Laputa in the second quote. There are also some people on Laputa that focus their efforts on astronomy, but are “ashamed to own it publically” likely because space and astronomical bodies are unpredictable and constantly in motion which does sit well with the monomaniac ideas the inhabitants of Laputa hold (Swift GT Book III).

I found it interesting that Van Zuylen states that an object of obsession lures a subject into a sense of agency—the word “sense” being key. We see this in Gulliver’s Travels via the second quote, the “intense speculations” the people are having on their topic of interest allows them to answer personal questions and make the world around them more finite which displays agency, but they need attendants to remind them to interact with people and engage in the world outside of their idée fixe; hence, why the people have a “sense” of agency instead of truly autonomous control of all facets of their world.