Gulliver's Travels

What is man in nature? A nothing in comparison

with the infinite, an All in comparison with the Nothing,

a mean between nothing and everything. - Pascal1

This is the basis for one of the greatest works of satire ever written, Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift. Known as one of the best children's fantasy stories, Gulliver's Travels is actually a satire on four aspects of man: physical, political, intellectual, and moral. This book expresses savage indignation at the follies, vices, and stupidities of men.

Swift's allegory on politics, expressed predominantly in Books I and III, is the basis for this paper. Through this paper, I will show the genius of Jonathan Swift in satirizing the political conditions of his day through the experiences of Lemuel Gulliver. I will focus only on Books I and III, for these two books are almost all political allegory and satire.

Book I, where Gulliver visits the land of the Lilliputians, can be paralleled with the political fortunes of the two Tory leaders, Oxford and Bolingbroke (Robert Harley and Henry St. John), during the latter half of Queen Anne's reign. To begin with, Gulliver is shipwrecked and captured by the Lilliputians. This corresponds to the temporary fall of Oxford and Bolingbroke in 1708 when the Whigs, led by Godolphin and the Earl of Marlborough, secured control of the Cabinet and the House of Commons.2

As the book progresses, Gulliver is pictured as having been caught off-guard. He contemplates using violence

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iful. 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.31 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 Townshed, 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.32 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."33 Little more allegory remains in Book I, the voyage to Lilliput. 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. This ends the allegory in Book I.

Category: Literature - G