A satire can be defined as a fictions work that makes use of irony and sarcasm to poke fun to the general pathetic issues of humanity. It takes on trying to expose all forms of jazz, stupidity, and weaknesses of the society. On the other hand, we can define satire as a form of literary genre that is written to ridicule, scorn and derision vices, and folly in the society. Most are the times that satire is written to be a funny piece but it has a deeper meaning where it aims at delivering a form of irony and sarcasm on relatively sensitive subjects. Gulliver’s travels in it are a satire that was not written to entertain or woo.It was authored as a form of indictment and therefore ended up becoming a popular read among the indicted people in the society during that time; doctors, philosophers, politicians, Englishman, and scientists.
In Gulliver’s travels, satire is heightened throughout the novel where it is written in a view to shame individuals, community, and religion seeking to foster improvement. In this novel, satire is presented throughout the plot, narration, and character setting. Jonathan Swift, the author of the book, uses an array of elements in setting namely utopia and dystopia.He also uses different characters; a miser, a tyrant, and a flat character to illustrate different character elements of the satirical novel. The author has a preferred first person narrator in Gulliver.
Gulliver has been involved in vast and extraordinary circumstances during his four tours to differ and strange lands in the planet. Gulliver uses a straight to the point form of narration which makes it easier t realize the kind of a person he is. He appears to be an intelligent and educated person. However, he is presented as gullible and naive.A case in example is when he is presented as a naive consumer when he is buying Lilliputians imaging only because he is threatened by punishment.
His condemnation of treason grounds is also effective despite the fact that they do not possess any physical power over him. Gulliver is presented as a form of character that is all round and highly influenced by external forces. He is also presented to change with the changing environments in the various places he visits. A case in example is when he is great giant who has all the physical power but still fears trampling Lilliputians.
On the other hand, he is also at the risk of being trampled upon and also treated as similar to a doll in Brobdignag despite being a gigantic figure. In his voyage, he goes to Houyhnhnms society where he enjoys his stay that his desire to return to the real world is lost. As the story progresses, Gulliver appears to develop more of a narrow mind rather than the expected of him. In the first journey, the author brings out political satire through painting a vivid picture of England through Lilliputians. Lilliputians are the dwarfs who are six inches in height.Satire is presented through the manner in which political offices had been issued and distributed by the king of the time.
Each individual is symbolic of a main figure during that era. On the other hand, the dance made on the tight ropes is symbolic of the political intrigues and the tactics imposed by politicians and the government. In the visit to the land of the giants, Gulliver experiences in first hand on what it feels to be a Lilliputian despite being larger than Lilliputians, he begets giant s who are much larger than him.It is here that he makes a series if brushes with death in a humorous way.
The brushes with death are intelligently used by the author to portray the affairs of the Lilliputian government depicting their small size and human pretensions. The second stance of satire by the author in this land is showed through attempt by Gulliver to inform Brobdingnagian king on the greatness of England. However, he only manages to expose the extent of corruption on the English land.Despite the English being more civilized and technologically advanced, they have massive opportunities for corruption. This is also existent despite the hastened and sound legal framework that is said to exist.
Satire in this voyage has been used to cover the extent of corruption in areas that appear to be technological advanced due to prowess in wars, but are wanting in preventing corruption despite the vast and big machinery. Gulliver’s voyage to Laputa paints a picture of pretensions of knowledge that exist. In his Laputa voyage, he makes various stops.Each stop he makes appears to evoke challenges on the perceived understanding and knowledge by humanity.
Laputa is presented as an island of self proclaimed thinkers, but fail to connect with reality. In the city of Lagado, the satire is more pronounced as the people there appear try to implement their pet theories in running and improving the status of their country. The theories fail to pay off as they fail to have any connection with reality. On the other hand, people here are presented to be blinded by scientific innovations that they develop yet they cannot implement.
The author uses Gulliver’s visit to Glubbdubdrib to paint the inaccurate information that is carried by people through biasness of information and ignorance. The author uses it as an opportunity to highlight on frequent evil that is existent in the society especially on the so called honored men. In luggage, it is depicted that there exist immortals. In the thought of immortals, one would imagine of people who live high and distinguished life as they have had time to write all the wrongs.However, this is not the case as Gulliver is made to realize one would never leave as a youth forever. In the final voyage, Gulliver visits the land of the intelligent horses, Houyhnhnms.
Here he also meets human like creatures that are beastly in nature that are referred to as yahoos. Gulliver draws parallels between human race and the yahoos on their behaviors. He realizes that Houyhnhnms are more rational and virtuous as compared to human race. He becomes ashamed of humanity and prefers to lead the life of a horse.He ends up imitating some behaviors of the horses blending it with his own.
It is here that he is perceived as dangerous simply because he has a culmination of both intelligences. Throughout these novels, Swift appears to satires corruption and inadequacy that exists in the human society through the four well illustrated voyages. By the end of the voyages, Gulliver is highly influenced through the encounters that he ends up despising the society he lives in. Work Cited Bloom, Harold. Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.
New York: Bloom's Literary Criticism, 2009.Internet resource. Ernst, Reni. Analysis of the Nature of Swift's Satire in Gulliver's Travels - Targets, Techniques and Effectiveness. Munchen: GRIN Verlag GmbH, 2008. Internet resource.
Jan, K M, and Shabnam Firdaus. Perspectives on Gulliver's Travels. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, 2004. Print. Swift, J, and Kearney, D.
Gulliver's travels: With an introduction and contemporary criticism. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010. Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's travels into several remote regions of the world. Oxford university, 1865.
