BA (H) English 1st Year

4 April 2016
Question:
Swift uses Lemuel Gulliver as both instrument and target of his satire in Gullivers Travels. Discuss with
specific references to the different ways in which satire operates in the text.
Answer:
The eighteenth century was largely hailed as the Age of Reason and Enlightenment in England.
Scientific advancement led to numerous inventions and developmental activities. Most importantly it led
to questions of conflict between faith and reason. This century also witnessed the expansion of the
British Empire as the royal naval forces gathered the resources to venture to unknown lands. The focus
was not just on the notion of discovery but also on conquering and colonizing the discovered lands.
The figure of the traveler was greatly pedestalized. The British male traveling figure was an icon of
masculinity a complete and grand product of what England stood for: science, knowledge, power and a
sense of an individualistic enterprise. It is in this context that the genres of the novel and the travelogue
gained immense popularity. This popularity is explained easily by the emergence of the middle classes
and the subsequent rise in the values of bourgeois individualism. The individual stood at the centre of
most literary works- the protagonist of the novel was an industrious figure, eager to take up the project
of creating a strong notion of selfhood. A lot of writings during this period were also centered on the
genre of satire. This is perhaps reflective of the political scenario which witnessed a long-drawn conflict
between the Parliamentarians and the Royalists. Writers were constantly questioning the notions of an
ideal state through depictions of dystopian contexts in their works. While mankind was celebrated as the
paragon of reason and rationality, these very values were brought into question with regard to the

ongoing turbulence in the society. It is in this context that Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) wrote his
masterpiece: Gullivers Travels (1726).
Gullivers Travels consists of four parts, each of which describes the protagonists experiences in
four different landscapes. The tone of the narrator is deliberately clinical and detached- as though he
were relating all details with absolute objectivity. The form resembles that of a novel or a travelogue
where the protagonist gives exhaustively detailed descriptions of his experiences. It is by apparently
mimicking these forms, that Swift parodies the excessive individualistic disposition that is attached to
them. This project of satire is embodied by the central figure, Gulliver.
As a surgeon and a traveler, Gulliver firmly establishes himself as the representative of the values of
his age. However, as the narrative proceeds, one realizes that it is all Gulliver is- a mirror-like
representative of the spaces he inhabits. His tone lacks any self-reflection or emotional depth. It almost
seems as though he were a mere cipher who records everything mechanically. This is apparent in the
way he views novel and unfamiliar spaces. He is desirous of measuring differences and learning the
technicalities of the strange languages but lacks cultural perceptiveness. He compares everything he
views with the English model that he is acquainted with. He ensures that the reader is informed of the
details of his location and imbues the text with a sense of veracity thereby establishing himself as the
scientific truth-teller. However, he is never constructed by Swift as a character; he is merely an entity
who is eternally wandering the seas, encountering lands which reflect the problems with the English
society.
In Lilliput and Brobdingnag , Gulliver is faced with varying notions of physicality and politics. In
Lilliput, he is physically powerful, a giant amidst a tiny race. However, the little men of Lilliput are
politically vicious. They engage in a war with their neighbouring state over a trivial issue of differences

in the interpretation of a scripture and put up elaborate parades to exhibit their grandeur. Here, Swift
brings out the triviality of the reasons behind civil wars in seemingly great nations. The
Brobdingnagians on the other hand, are immense in their size. They provide Gulliver with the
opportunity to view mankind closely, not in terms of its mental capacities but with regard to its innate,
vulgar physicality. Swift satirises the Enlightenment values which focus mainly on the mind and the soul
and brings to stark focus, the body of man. He engages in a process of defamiliarizing the human body
by describing it in grotesque details. The uncomfortable emphasis on human excrement and the
seemingly gross aspects of the body form a large part of the satire. Not only does it reject notions of man
as an enlightened and transcendent being, it also serves as a critique of the excessive narcissism
espoused by the form of the novel. In the third book, Laputa symbolizes the absurdity of knowledge that
has never been tested or applied, the ludicrous side of Enlightenment intellectualism. The research
conducted by the scientists sounds impressive but has no practical use. Such a portrayal of scientific
ventures clearly demarcates Swifts rejection of the scientific values of his age and his preference for
received forms of traditional knowledge. In all the three books, the figure of Gulliver is sustained as an
abyss- a void-like entity which only absorbs and reflects the values of the space it is in. This is
especially evident in his linguistic abilities which were the markers of an enlightened traveler.
In the last book, the satire reaches a full circle. The land of the Houyhnhnms is perceived by Gulliver
as a utopian space. It is inhabited by horse-like creatures which are governed by reason and rationale.
Their state is reflective of the Platonic ideal with its communal upbringing of children and rejection of
ludicrous forms of entertainment. Their reason is contrasted with the animalistic description of the
Yahoos human-like figures who are ruled by their baser instincts and are thus seen as degenerate and
uncivilised. The fact that Gulliver fails to see the follies in this land is indicative of his lack of
subjectivity, his blank espousal of an acknowledged ideal. The mode of satire reaches its point of

culmination when Gulliver, with his characteristic instability, begins to mirror the Houyhnhnms, whom
he so admires and expresses disdain towards the Yahoos, who he physically resembles. Even when he is
banished from their kingdom and rescued by the kindly Don Pedro, he perceives the man as a Yahoo.
This is symbolic of the climax of Gullivers degeneration. In his project of simulating and absorbing
every culture that he encounters, Gulliver has lost all sense of self and identity and has assumed fully,
the perspectives and identities of the race he admires and aspires to belong to. His sense of isolation
from his own race was visible earlier in his urge to explore beyond the stationary space of his homeland.
In the last part of the text, this estrangement from society is complete for Gulliver. He rejects his own
society and becomes a misanthropic figure who is characterised by a sense of hatred for self and all of
humanity.
Ultimately, Gulliver serves as an instrument of satire for Swift. As Gulliver records all that goes on
around him, he provides the author with the means to critique the English government, prevalent
scientific attitudes, social values and political conflicts through the mask of the fantastical content of his
accounts. However, since Gulliver is constructed in the form of an anti-character, as someone who is
incapable of life and growth and is thereby a mere reflection of the space he inhabits, he becomes the
target of Swifts satire as well. The English society with all its conflicts and useless victories, its
colonizing attitude and condescending pessimism is embodied by Gulliver and thus satirized by the
author.