Satire in Gulliver's Travels

A detailed Summary of Satire in Gulliver's Travels

Jonathan Swift's satirical prose, Gulliver's Travels, is the subject of

a wide variety of literary critique and social interpretation. Although

many readers, at first glance, take this tale to be simply a fantastic

narrative of a common man and his encounters with unusual locations and

people through several journeys, further inspection reveals Swift's true

purpose of creativity--satire. Using the contemporary style of the Travel

Narrative, Swift is able to insert his own personal criticisms of modern life

into the experience of Gulliver. Swift focuses entirely on satirizing

humanity in Book IV of Gulliver's Travels.

Gulliver, representing a common man, encounters a wide variety of

characters along his travels, each representing a subject Swift wishes to

criticize. His satire ranges from relatively simple political criticism in his

experiences in Book I and II to a socio-political criticism in Book III, to

A final indication that the Houyhnmns are an attack on humanity is

Appellation of Yahoo, an odious Animal, for which I so utter an Hatred

as a rational being. Of interest to the readers of today is Swift's choice of

experiment for many years without success when the Houyhnhnm arrives

trying to turn wine into water. The scientist has been working hard at the

realization that man is not as he considers himself, but rather more

The Houyhnhnms think Gulliver is another Yahoo capable of

to be another bizarre journey of Gulliver, no more unusual than his other

human pride, which pushes man nearly if not quite over to the opposite

travels. It is obvious, however, that Book IV criticizes the nature of man

disagreeable an Animal, or one against which I naturally conceived so

Approximate Word count = 646
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous

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