While Henry Fielding employed humour to criticize the failings of the eighteenth century

society, JONATHAN SWIFT used hard hitting and at times bitter satire. Swift published G’s T.
under a pseudonym, because he feared government persecution: Travels into Remote Nations of
the World. Along with Pope and other literary lights, Swift was a member of The Martinus
Scriblerus Club. The purpose of this club was to satirize the foolishness of modern man. Swift
had to satirize the current ”boom” in travel literature.
Gulliver”s travels is not really a children”s book, but it has been seen as a children”s
story right from the start: little people, big people, talking horses. The novel shows Swift”s
bad opinion on people. He is very intolerant with people in general and once he wrote to his dear
friend Alexander Pope: I hate and detest that animal called man. Gulliver’s Travels is the tale of
Lemuel Gulliver as he voyages to the strange lands of Lilliput, Brobdingnag, the kindom of Laputa,
and the land of Hoyhnhnms. The novel was written in 1720s, and Gulliver travels to the areas that
were still unknown or little explored during this time. Gulliver, as a first person narrator, is
not completely reliable though he is very precise in detailing his travels. Swift deliberately made
Gulliver naive and sometimes arrogant for two reasons: it makes the reader skeptical about
the ideas presented in the book and it allows the reader to have a good laugh at Gulliver”s
expense when he doesn”t realise the absurdity of his limited viewpoint. In other words, this
technique of the unreliable narrator assures a humorous and satirical effect.

Gulliver”s Travels adopts the ancient device of an imagery voyage, with Gulliver
travelling to four remote nations of the world. The philosophical basis of the whole novel is
the contast between rationlity and animality.

Structurally, Guliver”s travels is devided into four parts with two introductory letters at
the beggining of the book. Part I follows Gulliver”s journey to Liliput where he meets a race
of tiny people and he is a giant among them. Part II to Brobdingnag and his giants; In part III
Gulliver visits several islands and countries of Laputa. In the last book he is in the land of the
Houyhnhnms, intelligent horses that can talk. The 1st and 2nd parts set up contrasts that allow
Swift to satirize European politics and society. The 3rd part satirizes human institutions and
thinking. The final section examines the flawed nature of humanity itself. Swift find a near utopia
in the land of Brobdingnag. Here society is imperfect and the people are wise and humane.
 In part I many of the things Gulliver experiences can be linked to actual historical events of
Swift’s time. The religious/political controversy between the Big Enders and Little Enders
corresponds with conflicts between Protestants and Catholics. Lilliput stands for England, while
Blefuscu stand for France. The 2-faced Treasurer Flimnap corresponds to the Whig leader, Sir
Robert Walpole. The Lilliputian Emperor is George I, King of England. The Lilliputian Empress
stands for Queen Anne, who blocked Swift’s advancement in the Church of England, having taken
offense at some of his earlier, signed satires. There are 2 political parties in Lilliput, the Low-Heels
and the High-Heels. These correspond respectively to the Whigs and Tories, the two major British
political parties.

The Lilliputians symbolize human pride, the tiniest race ever encountered by Gulliver is by far the
vainest society, always prone to conspiracy.

Brobdingnagians represent the physical side of humans when examined up close. Laputans are
parodies of theoreticians symbolizing the absurdity of knowledge that has never been tested or
applied. Houyhnhnms represent a society governed by reason. As for the Yahoos, although they
look like men, they are naked, filthy and primitive, not capable of government.