Final answer:
In Jonathan Swift's 'Gulliver's Travels,' the protagonist Lemuel Gulliver's voyages amass a total duration of approximately 17 years. The sum total of years comes from adding up the durations of each individual voyage mentioned in the novel.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question pertains to Jonathan Swift's classic satirical novel, Gulliver's Travels. The novel recounts the adventures of Lemuel Gulliver, a ship's surgeon who embarks on a series of fantastical voyages. Throughout the narrative, Gulliver's journeys take him to various imaginary lands, including Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa, and the land of the Houyhnhnms, among others.
The exact duration of Gulliver's entire voyage has been a topic of inquiry by many students of literature. From the details provided within the novel, we can aggregate the lengths of the individual voyages. Gulliver describes his first journey to Lilliput as lasting just over 9 months, his second voyage to Brobdingnag as lasting nearly 6 years, his third voyage consisting of several shorter trips that accumulate to about 5 years and 6 months, and his final voyage, to the land of the Houyhnhnms, lasting about 5 years. When summed, these periods total approximately 17 years. Therefore, the correct option is (c) 17.