Social satire in Swift's Gulliver's Travels

by Serban Mihai Popa

The word satire derives from the Latin satira, meaning "medley." A satire holds prevailing vices and follies up to ridicule; it employs humour and wit to criticize human institutions or humanity itself, in order that they might be improved. Common targets of satire are: types of people, individuals, social groups, institutions and human nature.

  A form of literature which rose out of necessity, satire uses irony, wit and sarcasm in order to bring about a change in society, to reform human institutions and human behaviour. As any criticism of the government during the 18th century would have brought punishment, writers turned to satire in order to voice their opinions pointing out errors, falsehoods, foibles, or failings.

  One can easily notice that satire plays a central role in all Swift’s writings. You can hardly find any work by him which does not contain any ironic observations, either explicit or hidden. The author’s “obsession” with this device is explicable. He was fully aware that you cannot overtly criticize those who are in power if you want to keep your position in society and to stay alive. However, Swift’s ingenuity allows him to refer to current problems of his time and state his point of view, although sometimes that point of view was very radical and not politically correct. He knew that satire protected him from direct accusations and from the possibility to end up in jail.

  According to Swift, "Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own, which is the chief reason so few are offended by it". That is, you don’t understand the satire is about yourself and you find it funny because you are sure it is not about you.

  According to Feitlowitz “Satire consists of a mocking attack against vices, stupidities, and follies, with an aim to educate, edify, improve.”2 Swift’s satire is closely tied with Gulliver's perceptions and adventures.

  In Rodino’s opinion, Gulliver himself “is neither a fully developed character nor even an altogether distinguishable persona; rather, he is a satiric device enabling Swift to score satirical points"3

  A work with profound political implications, Gulliver’s Travels is a masterfully disguised satire directed against the Whig Government and a dazzling adventure story. All the meanings are well hidden in the text.

  Throughout the reign of Queen Anne, Swift was one of the central characters in the literary and political life of London. Political abuses in England were not his only concern; he directed his satire against the spirit of his age as well. The first half of the 18th century displayed an optimistic trust in reason which was considered the only instrument for understanding man, God, and the world. This changed Religion into a purely rational affair. Swift’s novel is also a satire on contemporary European civilization and the perennial vices of humanity.

  Swift’s intention was not to entertain the world, but to inform it by pointing to the vices and the stupidity of mankind. The author thought that by comparing ourselves to others, we would manage to see our own true nature, which would enable us to see what is wrong in our own lives and society. As his major concern was about political and social issues of his country, his subject matter in Gulliver’s Travels consists in politics, economy, religion, education, poverty, literature, knowledge.

  Voyages I and II criticize various aspects of English society at the time, while voyages III and IV are more preoccupied with human nature itself.

  Each of the societies that Gulliver encounters has a metaphorical relation to the eighteenth century England and much of the material in the book reflects the author’s political experiences. Swift uses the characters of the Lilliputian Monarchy, to criticize England’s own monarchy and the way the country was being run at the time.

  When Swift wrote this book, England was the most powerful nation in the world, with a large fleet and constantly in search of new lands to conquer. In this context, it is of some significance that although Gulliver comes from the most powerful nation at the time, he is still held captive by six-inch people.

  Although he could have certainly escaped if he had tried to, Gulliver chose to stay in Lilliput, probably because he was curious about the Lilliputians culture, or perhaps because he enjoyed the power that came with being a giant. Power is something many people desire and they may become evil in their attempts to acquire it.

  The hypocritical, greedy, morally corrupt, mean, deceitful, and vicious Lilliputians have all the pretensions of full-sized men. They are filled with pride — they are, in fact, completely human. Their Emperor is meant to represent King George I. He is a symbol of bad politicians everywhere as he is corrupt, arrogant and obsessed with foolish ceremonies.

  The importance of physical power is a recurrent theme throughout the novel and it is often referred to by critics as”might versus right”. At first the Lilliputians keep Gulliver tied up, believing that they can control him, but the truth is that he could have crushed them by simply walking carelessly. Despite the evidence, the Lilliputians never realize their own insignificance. Their view of the situation is a source of humour and a means by which Swift satirizes humanity’s pretensions to power and significance, the pettiness of human desires for wealth and power.

  Swift seems to invite English society to reconsider the pride and power of the country in relationship to its colonies. A large number of small people can overpower a large person if they possess the right resources and the right motivation. This leads to the problem of whether England’s colonies are intelligent and strong enough to accomplish this or not.

  The novel implicitly contains the problem of whether physical power or moral righteousness should be the governing elements in social life. In Book I and Book II, Gulliver experiences the advantages of physical power both as one who has it and as one who does not have it. The Houyhnhnms’ chaining up of the Yahoos is another display of physical force used against others and justified on grounds of moral correctness as the rational horses have a sense of moral superiority.

  Gulliver signs a contract with the Lilliputians in exchange for his freedom; although he can easily destroy Lilliput, he chooses to act peacefully. Gulliver promises to serve the emperor, and so he does by capturing the enemy's fleet, but he refuses to please the emperor and to satisfy his thirst for power when he is asked to go back and destroy the enemy. There is nothing the Lilliputians can do to persuade him. Power proves to be more important, and fortunately, Gulliver decides to use his power appropriately. This may be a hint to England as a colonial power.

  The document that Gulliver had to sign is a self-contradictory and meaningless piece of paper as each article emphasizes the fact that Gulliver is so powerful that, if he wants to, he can violate all of the articles without much concern for his own safety.

  Swift criticizes royal courts in general because they all had what he called “sameness” in them: all employments went to friends of the people who were in charge and had helped those people rise to power. Gulliver’s account of how people get high positions at the court of Lilliput is the best example of the story being a political satire. It is not difficult to see the likeness to the court of England.

  The emperor of Lilliput entertains Gulliver by showing him a tradition at the court. Candidates who compete for a high position have to walk on a rope suspended above the ground and jump as high as they can. Whoever jumps the highest without falling qualifies for the position. The competitors are often injured and some of them die.

  By describing a society which chooses its highest officials by such silly competitions, Swift mocks at the way officials are chosen in England. In order to gain favor in the court, politicians are willing to humiliate themselves if this is what it takes. The danger of ambition is also figured here as jumping badly can lead to death. The pettiness of the political system is mirrored in the diminutive size of its citizens.

  Flimnap, the treasurer, who is said to be the best “rope dancer”, may be the representation of Sir Robert Walpole, who held the highest public office at the time in England and was considered by Swift a corrupt symbol of an oppressive party. His ski
ll in “rope-dancing” alludes to his “political acrobatics” or to how well he could divert the court of King George with his great ability in speech.

  The cushion which saved Flimnap from breaking his neck once when he fell is interpreted by some as being the Mistress of the King, the Duchess of Kendal, who admired Walpole. Others interpret the cushion as being the French ceremony of the King to bypass the parliament.

  Reldresal, a high official, tells Gulliver of “two mighty evils” that threaten Lilliput. One of them is a violent and troublesome faction. There were two opposing parties: the Tramecksan and the Slamecksan, who distinguished themselves by wearing high and low heels on their shoes. The emperor had decided that only low heels could take part in the administration of Lilliput.

  Swift targets the political parties of England. The High Heels represent the aristocrats, the Tory party, while the Low Heels represent the merchants, the Whig party. The Lilliputian Emperor expresses his political beliefs by wearing Low Heels, which is an allusion to King George I, who was sympathetic to the Whigs.

  When Swift himself changed parties, he must have considered political allegiance as being important, but he finally came to the conclusion that political bickering is often about such unimportant matters as the height of one's heels.

  Reldresal also informs Gulliver that there is fear of an invasion by those living on the Island of Blefuscu, “the other great Empire of the Universe”. The inhabitants of Liliput are unable to get along with those of Blefuscu after an accident suffered by the emperor’s son, years ago. While trying to break an egg at the smaller end, in the traditional way, the emperor’s son cut his finger. The emperor decreed that everybody had to break eggs at the bigger end, which caused much trouble and bloodshed. The “correct” way to break an egg is a petty argument that leads to the formation of two separate empires.

  Swift meant his work to be a wake up call. Squabbles over unimportant matters offer the author opportunities to direct his satire against deceitfulness, selfishness and indifference, which are characteristic human traits.

  The war between England and France is ridiculed and mirrored in the conflict between Lilliput and Blefuscu. The conflict over which end of an egg should be broken reflects the old conflict between the Catholics and the Protestants. In Swift’s opinion, religious conflicts are as pointless as fighting over which end of an egg to break.

  It must be clearly stated that the questions of religion, national identity and politics were extremely important to the author although all the confrontation between the two political parties, between Lilliput and Blefuscu, Big and Little Endians were pointless and meaningless in their essence.

  The war between Lilliput and Blefuscu had been going on for years at the cost of many lives. The Lilliputians, who were called Little-Endians and were meant to represent the Anglicans, opened eggs at the smaller end. The Blefuscans, representing the Catholics, opened them at the big end and were called Big-Endians. Big-Endians were barred from holding office in the government, a situation similar to that of Catholics being denied office after the revolution in England.

  When Gulliver refused to enslave the Blefuscans, the court discussed whether to punish Gulliver’s disobedience with death. The Lilliputians’ intention to indict Gulliver for high treason is a satiric attack on hypocrisy, ingratitude and cruelty. The court was split over the decision, as some ministers wanted him dead right away while others thought that they could show Gulliver mercy.

  This alludes to George I’s Whig court in 1723 when the court was split over whether to impose the death penalty on the Jacobite Sir Francis Atterbury, who was suspected of trying to make peace with the French and on the capital punishment of suspected Jacobite Tories in the 1720s.

  Reldressal, Principal Secretary of State for Private Affairs and Gulliver's "true friend," proposes and eventually carries a more lenient motion. Gulliver is merely to be blinded after which, if the council finds it necessary, he may easily be starved to death. . Reldresal, the second most dexterous of the rope dancers, probably represents either Viscount Townshend or Lord Carteret. Both were political allies of Walpole.

  Blinding is the equivalent of barring Oxford and Bolingbroke from political activity for the remainder of their lives. Reldressal's pretended friendship is a reference to the behavior of Charles, Viscount Townshend, Secretary of State in the Whig cabinet, whom the Tory leaders at first regarded as a friend at court after their fall from power. However, his sincerity soon came to be mistrusted.

  The "mercy" of the Emperor is a jab at the execution of a number of the leaders of a rebellion in 1715. These executions occurred shortly after the House of Lords, in an address to George I, had praised his "endearing tenderness and clemency."

  Gulliver flees to Blefescu. This refers to Bolingbroke's flight to France. Like Bolingbroke, Gulliver ignored a proclamation threatening that he would be labeled a traitor if he did not return and stand trial for his alleged crimes.

  A ridiculous idea was, earlier, that of having Gulliver stand with his legs apart so that the Lilliputian armies can walk through. This is an allusion to the pomp of the English armies which, in Swift’s opinion, were often more concerned with looking impressive than with being impressive.

  However, Gulliver never suggests that he finds the Lilliputians ridiculous, nor does he point out the similarities between the ridiculous practices he notices and the ridiculous customs of Europe. Swift leaves us to infer all of the satire based on the difference between how things appear to us and how they appear to Gulliver.

  The Lilliputian Empress, who reaches her hand out to be kissed by Gulliver when he shows himself at the palace, seems to represent Queen Anne. Swift mainly criticizes the court of George I. Queen Anne has her share, although the author had friends within her government.

  Swift has a dig at the queen as a “royal prude” with the incident when Gulliver extinguishes the fire and saves the palace from burning down by urinating on it. The little Empress was not thankful to Gulliver for having saved the palace this way and thought it was disgusting. This is an allusion to Queen Anne who had misunderstood the purpose of Swift’s story A Tale of a Tub. She had mistaken it for profanity and apparently had taken offence at some of Swift’s earlier, signed satires, too. This made the author fall from her favour and, as a result, she blocked Swift's advancement in the Church of England.

  The episode in which Gulliver puts out the fire at the palace by urinating on it can be also seen as a metaphor for the Tories' illegal negotiations with France, resulting in the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) which ended the War of the Spanish Succession. The peace treaty was a good thing which was done in an unfortunate manner.

  Swift’s satire is also directed against the educational system in England. In Lilliput parents are not allowed to raise their own children. Instead, they are sent away to some sort of “boarding school.” The type of school they go to is chosen by the child’s parents’ status in society; the wealthier the parents, the better the school their child will attend. Children of poor families do not attend school. Children are allowed to see their parents only twice a year, for just one hour. Teachers are not allowed to tell fairy tales in school and if they do, they are immediately fired.

  In Brobdingnag Gulliver finds himself in the same relation to the inhabitants as the Lilliputians were to him. His diminutive scale is a reminder of how perspective and viewpoint can alter one's condition and one’s claims to power in society. In Lilliput Gulliver was referred to as the "Man-Mountain." By contrast, in Brobdingnag, he is treated like an unusual insect.

  The Brobdingnagians are described as being the least corrupt of all the nations he visits. They are calm, virtuous and good-willed. Their laws encourage charity. But do they really have big souls? Of all the inhabitants, only Glumdalclitch (Stella), the embodiment of childish innocence, and the king of Brobdingnag, the ideal monarch, are good-hearted.

  The wealthy farmer who shelters Gulliver is mean, greedy and ready to exha
ust Gulliver in circus shows to make as much money as possible. Even to the King, he is nothing more than an entertaining, silly little fellow, who is not to be trusted. The maids of honor at the court treat Gulliver as a plaything because to them, he is a toy, not a man.

  Gulliver describes European civilization to Brobdingnag's King. He especially refers to England's political and legal institutions and how they work, as well as to some of the personal habits of the ruling class. Although he presents the information in the most favorable light, the King thinks every strata of society and political power is infested with corruption and draws his famous conclusion: "…the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth."4

  Throughout the book the author discusses details of human body and its functions. Especially in Brobdingnag, when he is small, Gulliver can look closely at the body as a material thing. By paying attention to the ugly details of peoples' bodies and to what humans do on a daily basis, Swift makes it impossible to look at humans as exclusively spiritual or intellectual beings.

  In Laputa and Lagado people live a life which has no normal purposes. The insane inhabitants of Laputa keeping the lower land of Balnibarbi in check through force because they believe themselves to be more rational illustrate the idea that claims to moral superiority are as hard to justify as the random use of physical force to dominate others. The author suggests that claims to rule on the basis of moral righteousness are often completely arbitrary and sometimes they are disguises for simple physical subjugation.

  Swift makes some observations on imperialism pointing out the arrogance of European nations when they claim to civilize, through brutality and oppression, people who were often mild and harmless and he implies that the real cause of imperialism is greed.

  The Enlightenment was a period of great intellectual experimentation and theorization. Swift preferred traditional knowledge that had been tested over centuries and was a critic of the new ideas.

  Swift’s target in Voyage III is the Royal Society of London for the Improving of Natural Knowledge, which was founded in 1660. Its members were influential promoters of scientific theories that were at the heart of the Scientific Revolution. Interestingly, many of the experiments parodied by Swift had actually been proposed or carried out by British scientists at the time of his writing.

  Swift satirizes those who pride themselves on knowledge above all else by offering the reader the disagreeable image of the self-centered Laputans who show blatant contempt for those who are not sunk in private theorizing.

  Man’s habitually irrational conduct is the target of Swift’s sarcasm. The author satirizes knowledge which does not produce practical results, as in the academy of Balnibarbi, where the experiments for extracting sunbeams from cucumbers amount to nothing. They excel at theoretical mathematics, but they can't build houses with straight walls and square corners, because they build them from the roof down.

  In the description of the projects carried out in the cities below Laputa, Swift continues his mockery of the academia, whose entirely useless projects promote science for no real reason.

  Their misuse of reason makes them worry instead about when the sun will burn out and whether a comet will collide with the earth. The satire here attacks both the deficiency of common sense and the consequences of corrupt judgment.

  Brobdingnag and Houyhnhnmland are highly rational societies but their description does not emphasize the inhabitant’s knowledge or understanding of abstract ideas, but their ability to live their lives in a steady way. The Brobdingnagian king knows next to nothing about political science, yet his country seems prosperous and well governed.

  The Houyhnhnms know little about subjects like astronomy, but they know how long a month is by observing the moon, since that knowledge has a practical effect on their lives while higher levels of knowledge would be meaningless to them and would interfere with their happiness. It appears that humans need that amount of knowledge which is useful for a happy and well-ordered life.

  Laputa symbolizes the absurdity and the uselessness of purely abstract knowledge which does not have a practical end and is not related to the improvement of human life. The Laputans are parodies of scientists whose excesses of theoretical pursuits and exaggerated systematizing represent manifestations of proud rationalism. Laputa is the Spanish word for “whore”. The name of the island was not randomly chosen; it makes the author’s argument about pointless thought even stronger.

  According to Downie, the floating island that drifts along above the rest of the world is a metaphorical representation of Swift's point that an excess of speculative reasoning can cut one off from the practical realities of life.

  In the description of the Struldbrugs of Luggnagg, Swift satirizes human desire for eternal life. The primary benefit of old age is, according to an old cliché, the ability to use one’s accumulated wisdom to help humanity. The reality is less glorious as, instead of growing in wisdom, the immortal Struldbrugs grow only more selfish and sad.

  There is a hostile relationship between Laputa and Lindalino, the second city in the Kingdom and the Laputians fail to stave off the Lindalinian rebellion. This is a hint to the relationship between England and Ireland. Gulliver is not critical at all of the rebellious Lindalinians. Instead he tells us that they were united and well organized and they were making a project that would ensure their victory over the Laputians.

  In the voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnms, Swift's ultimate satiric object seems to be man's inability to come to terms with his true nature. In this voyage Gulliver becomes so alienated from the humanity represented by the Yahoos that it is difficult to sympathize with him.

  The Houyhnhnms society is a utopian one, where there is no hate, no jealousy or lying, but there is no love, no positive emotion either. They have simple laws and they live untroubled by passion, greed or lust. They even choose their partners by cold calculation of which pairings would produce the healthiest offspring, not according to love, as they do not know what love is. Such a society is hopeless for humans.

  The common good is the highest value here and all their actions are governed by total reason. Although the Houyhnhnms are brilliant, they are not wise because they use their knowledge for their own prideful glorification.

  Swift uses the Houyhnhnms to satirize the belief that a man of pure rationality is the only complete man and to illustrate the idea that a man who relies purely on reason becomes filled with pride, which finally blinds him.

  Gulliver’s idealization of the horses gives Swift the opportunity to mock blind devotion. Gulliver describes the way he said goodbye. He says: " I took a second leave of my master, but as I was going to prostrate myself to kiss his hoof, he did me the honor to raise it gently to my mouth."5

  Much of Swift's satirical focus is on people who cannot see past their own ways and their own beliefs. Even the Houyhnhnms, whom the hero admires, cannot believe there are other reasonable ways of living.

  The Houyhnhnms have often been interpreted as symbols of an order which, although unattainable, is to remain an ideal, while the Yahoos may be the illustration of humanity's potential fall if that ideal is abandoned. The horses lack the complexity of humans and with it, everything that makes human life rich. They live a dull and lifeless life.

  Swift’s age showed a strong belief in the fundamental sanity of man and in the natural health of society.

  Since deceitfulness is a common failing of man, selfishness and indifference are characteristic human traits, Swift opposed such optimism. The writer did believe in good sense and decency, but he considered such things did not exist at social level because man’s irrational instincts were not governed by reason. This view is not altogether pessimistic, but Swift seems to resent the exaggerated optimism of his age.

  As Tuveson puts it, Swift's satire shifts from "foreign to domestic scenes, from institutions to individuals, from mankind to man, f
rom others to ourselves"6. Still, the author’s sense of humor charmed his readers, disarmed his critics, and cemented his reputation in the history of world literature.

  Swift’s message is that man can live a life of fulfillment if he believes in God and relies on tradition. Otherwise, pursuing unworthy desires, humanity is bound to be lost.