Gulliver's Travels as a Satire.

Satire.

              

Introduction.

           ‘Tomorrow is a satire on today, and shows its weakness.’

                                                                              Edward Young.   

                                                                    

Satire is one of the genres of Greek origin (satyr) used in literature  where there is a use of different elements like irony, sarcasm , ridicule, parody, burlesque, juxtaposition, exaggeration and so on to simply laugh upon the flaws in the society or to show the foolishness and decay in human personality, organizations and at different places. Although satirical works tend to be very funny, their main object is to criticise the down follies in the surroundings using WIT as a weapon to draw the attention of the society. 

 

 Chaucer, Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and many other creative writers who were not primarily Satirists, did make use of this element in their works. For instance, Chaucer disliked the lack of morality in the church. He fired upon the authority simply by laughing at it in the Prologue to The Canterbury Tales.      

 

Weapons used by a satirist.

                        

                             ‘Pen is mightier than ATOM BOMB.’

 

The simple but the mightier weapon used by the satirist is Invective – a violent attack in words. When one slaps or kicks the person, the wound caused by it, may disappear soon. But, when he is attacked with words and when the attack is published in the books, it remains for ever in the shelves of the library and in the minds of the audience. The other weapon used by the satirist is Irony – language of opposite meanings. But, the most important weapon is to amuse and entertain the reader. As mentioned above, satire is to laugh upon the different flaws prevailing in the society, so this prime factor should be fulfilled to the fullest by the satirist.

 

Types of Satire.

It is complex to classify the genre ‘Satire’ There are two types of satires. They are,

1.     Horatian Satire.

 

Tolerant, witty, wise and self–effacing.

 

Example: - The Devil’s dictionary by Ambrose Bierce.

                  The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope.

                   Adventures of Huckleberry Fin by Mark Twain.

                 

2.     Juvenaalian Satire.

 

Angry, caustic, resentful and personal.

 

Example: - Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

                  Brave new world by Aldous Huxley.

                  A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift.  

Gulliver’s Travels.

‘Undoubtedly, philosophers are in the right when they tell us that nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison.’(Gulliver’s Travels)

                                                                                          Jonathan Swift

Gulliver’s Travels is a novel by Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman named Jonathan Swift. It is known for the Satire on the Human society. It is also well known as a parody of ‘traveller’s tales’. The protagonist and the narrator of the novel is Lemuel Gulliver, a surgeon from Nottinghamshire, England. He loves travelling to different continents like Daniel Defoe’s character, Robinson Crusoe. This novel is written in four books. Gulliver goes on a voyage to four places. His first voyage is to a land named Lilliput where he sees the troop of tiny people of six inches height. Then, he goes on a voyage to the land named Brobdingnag where the people are sixty feet taller than Gulliver. His next accidental voyage is to the floating island called Laputa. And then comes his last voyage to the land of Houyhnhnms.

 

Gulliver’s Travels is a multi-layered text. In the very first reading of the book, readers may feel that it is a fairy tale set in a frictional world written to amuse children. But, this book has a deep meaning. The book is thus full of fancy ( secondary Imagination.) images. Swift has very bitterly criticized the man kind by making the horses their rulers in the Book 4 – Land of Houyhnhnms. This novel  is a travelogue and a political allegory. This work stood the test of time, and even now, is remembered as the best satire ever written.

Gulliver’s Travels as a Satire.

Jonathan Swift is well known as a satirist. His works like, The Battle of Books, A Modest Proposal, A Tale of a Tub, Gulliver’s Travels are his best satires which can be attributed.  Gulliver’s Travels was written during the age of Reformation also known as the era of change. It is a Menippean Satire.  Gulliver is the mouth piece of Jonathan Swift through whom Swift has indicted politicians, scientists, philosophers and Englishmen in general. In Gulliver’s Travels, satire is exhibited through setting, narration, plot and characters. The first two Voyages throw light upon the follies or on the various facets of the English Society. The last two voyages criticize the human society in contrast with the Utopian concept.

The Voyage to Lilliput.

In Gulliver’s first voyage to Lilliput, he comes in touch with the troops of tiny tots, just six inches tall in their height. Here, The Land of Lilliput is the representation of England.  Lilliputians are in an illusion that they have controlled Gulliver as he is tied and made to follow the norms laid by the King. At the same time, Gulliver is also in an illusion that he too has controlled Lilliputians as they are very much afraid of him. The Lilliputians are astonished to see the food habits of Gulliver as he gulps the food of the whole nation is a morsel. Hence, it causes famine in the nation. Like England, Lilliput is the small nation. Yet England had the capacity to rule on most of the nations of the world. All the nations that it ruled upon were quite powerful. But, they yet they managed to colonize the nations. But, the way their captive Gulliver had to be set free as they were not able to comfort him, same way, England also had to free the captive nation. We find the same resemblance even in this case of colonizing Gulliver. Although Lilliput is a small nation like England, it is proud of the power and significance that it has. Both the nations don’t believe in the existence of any other world apart from that of theirs.  

 

Swift has criticised on the class differences in the small nation. The kingdom is divided  into two blocs – Tramecksan and Slamecksan. The people are classified on the heights of their heels (heels can also be taken as the symbol of their caste, class, religion.) Further, the kids of the rich were taken or rather, adopted by the Government to educate them and the kids of the labourers were forced to learn farming so that, there will be farmers for the further generations to do farming!!!! 

Although, Gulliver is ten times larger in size compared to the Lilliputians, Gulliver is tied up with strings and is kept in the King’s custody. He is told to undergo a security check before meeting the King and the things which seem to be life threat for the King, will be confiscated. Gulliver agrees to this. But the satire here is, Gulliver himself is a life threat because his one blow of air from the mouth has the capacity of creating a calamity like Cyclone.

 

Gulliver is unaware of the language spoken by the Lilliputians. Rather, Lilliputians are not aware of any Languages except theirs. Swift is mocking on the false importance that the people give to themselves. He is forced to learn the language which Gulliver does. He starts communicating in the language.AS he has now learn the language, Gulliver is told to sign a document where every letter emphasises on his greatness.

 

Political Satire is very much evident in throughout the novel. The satire is an attack on the dominant Whig Party. The courtiers are chosen by the King in a ridiculous manner. They are told to jump through the hoops to get the position in the Court. Even the cause of war between Lilliput (England) and Blefuscu (France) is very comic. They fight just to decide on which end the egg is to be broken. Ones, The Kingdom of the Lilliput caught fire and Queen entangles in it. Gulliver saves her by pissing on her. The Queen is the representation of Queen Anne of England.  

 

The Voyage to Brobdingnag.

In this part (II), Gulliver is the representation of England and Brobdingnag is the representation of Europe.  In his previous voyage, Gulliver was like a Godly figure. But, the situation becomes vice versa here. Gulliver is a tiny tot in the island of giants who are sixty feet tall. The power that he enjoyed in his previous voyage is lost. He is enslaved by a giant farmer. He is forced to dance in the public for the sake of the farmer’s livelihood. When King takes the notice of this little thing, he orders his men to bring Gulliver to his Kingdom. There, Gulliver enjoys all the possible privileges in the small cage. He is used as a plaything.

 

Gulliver, again after a calamity, reaches this strange land of giants where even the grass is much longer than him. He comes in contact with a farmer family. When, he is offered food, he tumbles and falls down due to its large size. He is accommodated in the house of the doll by the farmer’s daughter. His importance is at threat. He is a subaltern of the farmer. When King of the Brobdingnag comes to know about this tiny creature, he orders his men to bring Gulliver.

 

Gulliver at the Kingdom, is enjoying the restricted freedom. His adventure is with insects and rats around him. Gulliver also visualizes the sex politics in this kingdom. Women in the kingdom force Gulliver to walk on their body. Hence, Gulliver finds Brobdingnag’s culture to be imperfect. But, the King is of an opinion that their world very much resembles to the Utopian world. He thinks that there are no vices prevailing in his nation or, he is trying to abolish the existing vice in his nation just like Europeans. But, he fails to do so. The farmer, dwarf in the kingdom are the examples.   

 

Gulliver speaks in English and King laughs on him. It is a satire on English culture. When Gulliver is ready to tell the King of Brobdingnag about the secret behind making the gunpowder in return to get freedom, the King denies. He is simply shocked to know that these tiny people are so much destructive. He criticises on the murders, conspiracies, rebellions, banishments, massacres etc done by the tiny nation of Gulliver. When Gulliver tells him that many books have been written on art of Government in his nation, King mocks by saying that common sense, reasons and justice is needed to run government rather than books. Therefore, King mocks on Gulliver’s (England) culture

The voyage to Laputa.

Like the previous part, Gulliver is the representation of England in this part (III) too. In this voyage, we see the concept of dystopian world. This island is full of flaws, immorality, vices and discrimination. The island of Laputa is a floating island. The government of this land seems to be very lethargic as they do not worry about their public.  People of this island are very absurd. Through this book, Swift has criticised the technology and science. Even in this land, Gulliver faces the issues with language.

 

 In the very beginning of the voyage, we see the conflict of Christianity v/s Heathen. Englishmen on one side, talk about the equality. But, it is very much evident from this incident that discriminations do exist even in their nation. This discrimination continues throughout this part. We see the people with marks on their faces. Such people are differentiated as the illegitimates. Whereas, people with plain faces are considered to be pure. People wear clothes with the design of music instruments which shows their soul interest for them. But, they do not have time even to make love with their wives. The people of this land believe that women should be taxes based on her beauty and her dressing skills.

 

The government of this land is very unpleasant. The government officials are beaten with flappers constantly when they sit for the meeting. This shows how important the discussion would be. The Island of Laputa is constantly floating. This is the distance between the public and the King. King never leaves the Island of Laputa.  The relationship between the government and the people of the land very much resembles with the English government and the Ireland relations.

 

Swift criticises the historians and the literary critics. They call the dead ghost and make the mortal beings in a way immortal by communicating with their immortal souls. (Ghosts) Scientists waste their time and the money of the government by making futile attempts to extract sunbeams out of the cucumber, to convert human excreta into food and many others. All these in vain attempts are made in the Academy of Projectors in Lagado. They try to interfere in the natural things. Hence, the education of the highly educated people is of no use. Swift critically passes a satire on such issues in this part.

 

The voyage to Houyhnhnms.

 In this part (IV), Gulliver who is very much in resemblance with Yahoos, is the representation of Human society and European society. These Houyhnhnms, are the representation of the animal world. Swift hates the human mankind. Thus, he has very bitterly criticised the human race mentally and morally by empowering the animals – Houyhnhnms (horses) as their rulers. Gulliver tries to adapt all the customs and traditions of this land. He developed a hatred for the human mankind after living in the land of Laputa. He believed that man were the most dangerous animal on earth. He suddenly finds all the flaws in them. In a way, we can also put it as he started hating himself as he also is a human being, rather ‘a trained Yahoo.’ Swift gave the concept of Utopian world through this part.

 

Gulliver, in this land of Houyhnhnms, is shocked to see the animals, the horses ruling the humans. He sees that he very much resembles with the Yahoos. He is spell bound to see that Houyhnhnms are living the life of mankind by making family planning, living in their stables (houses), communicating like human beings etc. They do not have words like ‘lie’ and ‘falsehood’ in their language. This is the best concept of Utopian world. On the other hand, we see the Yahoos  are the marginalized group. The way the animals are the slaves of mankind in the normal human Kingdom, these Yahoos – Hairy Apes are the slaves of Houyhnhnms. They are unable to speak. They are as dumb as donkey.  

 

Gulliver now wants to become a part of the Houyhnhnms. He, for the very first time, learns perfectly the language of Houyhnhnms. He thus tells Houyhnhnms about his country and all the other European countries. He tells them about war and weapons. He gives the reasons behind fighting the war. He talks about the deadly weapons employed in fighting a war for the destructive purpose. He also gives the account of the Law suites in his nation. He also tells his host about the Prime Minister of his nation who is in hunger of wealth, power and titles. Whereas, Houyhnhnms were the best rulers because, they held a periodical meeting to discuss upon the difficulties faced by their population.

 

On the other hand, Houyhnhnms accounts him about the behaviour of Yahoos. He says that these yahoos are always in want of liquor. They are very much lusty especially the Female Yahoos. This is the bitter satire that Swift writes on the human mankind. Gulliver doesn’t want to return back to his nation as he suddenly realizes the flaws and downfalls in it. He starts criticising his own kind. He becomes a misanthrope.  But, he is forced to leave the land as the Houyhnhnms see as the threat for their nation. Even after returning back to his nation, Gulliver stays in the stable rather than living in his house – The most critical satire that any writer could have ever done on human beings.

Conclusion.

If we bring all the four parts of the book together into a nutshell, the common things that we find in the novel is firstly about language. Gulliver, throughout his voyages, faces language problems. Thus, it is the swifts feeling of anti-eNGLISH which provokes him to mock upon the language. When, Swift is criticizing his own mother tongue, he is also criticising his culture, values, tradition and nation.

 

The novel is constantly revolving around the concept of Utopian World. All the lands almost believe that theirs is the Utopian world full of ideal views and ideal rules. Although they talk about war, they credit their Kingdom to be most humble one. They talk about law and crimes on one hand and boast of their nation as the best one following all the rules. But, we can visualize the ideal world only in the land of Houyhnhnms.

 

Gulliver has a strange dislike for the women. He simply hates women because of the mistreatment that he got from them in his second voyage to Brobdingnag and the lustful nature of the female Yahoos in the land of Houyhnhnms provoked him to hate them to the very extent. Gulliver, by hating Women, is in fact hating his own nation – England as it is always referred as a lady (her) like India. It is also the satire on England as it is not a Utopian world.  

 

Gulliver is considered to be an unusual being in the Land of Lilliput and the Land of Brobdingnag. He is compared with an animal. The people of Lilliput believed that he might have dropped down from some moon onto the earth because no natural being can give birth to such a big man. In the Land of Brobdingnag, when King tells the scholar to examine Gulliver, those scholars compare him with Amoebae. But, in the land of Houyhnhnms, Gulliver is none other but truly an animal. Through Gulliver, Swift criticised human race again and again by comparing them with animals the marginalized group in his nation.

 

Swift has made the acute use of all the elements in his satirical novel. He has contrasted the normal world with the imaginative world of his and highlighted the flaws existing in the world. He did not attempt to bring change in the world. Rather, he just criticised the world by laughing upon it and celebrating its flaws using the comic elements like wit and humour.