“Gulliver’s Travels” – An allegorical satire

 Assignment: Paper No. - 04

Topic: “Gulliver’s Travels” – as an allegorical satire”

Name: Patel  Kavita

Roll No. – 11

Semester: II

Batch: 2011- 12

         “Gulliver’s Travels” – An allegorical satire

“Swift was a wild beast that worried and baited all mankind….”

Said Compton and Rickett in the book “The History of English Literature”. Pramod K. Nayak marks, “Swift’s novel Gulliver’s Travels is a sarcastic account of such journeys to different parts of the earth.”

The novel deals with human nature at every moment in life. The novel has lots of images that we can say the novel of satire and moral tale, an imaginary account of strange and wonderful lands, and therein lie its real charm, one of the most delightful of children’s books, an attractive fiction with a utopian concept, or a neurotic phantacy, ‘a pseudo-realistic narrative and a playfulness of fancy’ says Compton and Rickett, or at last a short story of numerous endeavors of common human being named Gulliver.

One should focus on the other side of the novel. Not only is a medium of ultimate delight but it also the novel of great sarcastic remark of whole human being, caustic attack men, great hatred towards human weakness, misanthropy toward the whole human kind, irony on human frailty and mockery on human beings’ existence and so many other things. These all points are the butts of Swift himself to satirize people and especially people of England who are in the field of Politics. Swift has possessed a very gigantic satirist among the novelists and master of irony and satire.

Our main concern about this book is an allegorical satire on contemporary leaders, Swift’s foes like Walpole, Anne, etc. Let’s have a look on the term like allegory, satire and iron.

     Generally speaking, an allegory means a curtain or a wall that people have on their faces. If this curtain is removed, we can know what is the reality and fact of life. Indirectly to speak or explain is called Allegory. To put it into practice, the novelist always uses an object like animals, any infinite thing or sometimes human being also. M.H.Abrams observes,

“An allegory is a narrative, whether in prose

Or verse, in which the agents and actions, and

Sometimes the setting as well, are contrived by

The author to make coherent sense on the ‘literal’

Or primary, level of significant….”

            In Gulliver’s Travels midgets in initial voyage, giant people I Brobdingnag, animals like human being, old temple, etc are treated like allegory. This is deep and rooted meaning, logic among these things. Sometime animals are allegorized but to play a role of any particular character, novelists take the instances of human being. By the behavior of them we recognize what the matter is. Lilliput is also full of so many satires and ironies, characterization of the emperor of the land, Flimnap, the treasurer, queen are suitable paragons. They represent probably P.M.Walpol, Anne, etc and their behaviors. They are very particular in their behavior. Here, by allegory, Swift makes satire on intrigues and schemes against other political parties, human pride and pretension, evils of taboos in Lilliput are main target of satire.

First two lands in which bidgets and giants are living, suggest that there are the people who are so much narrow-minded as well as frankly that always lead him towards great annihilation. Their lifestyle, way of speaking, clothes, daily affairs and so many other things are deeply allegorized. Even he also ironically remarked of all most all professionals and second class work like bagging, farming, etc according to upper-class people. Swift says,

“I have ever hated all nations, professions, and

Communities but principally I hate and detest

That animal called man…Upon this great

Foundation of misanthropy the whole building

Of my ‘Travels’ is created.”

The tone behind satirizing people sounds like misanthropy. He hates whole human kind because human beings are not really wholesome or truly moral men. They are faulty and followers of evils.

Each and every place, costumes, communication, expressions feelings of four voyages are very much satiric. One can say that Gulliver’s Travels is not simple one but a very lampoon satire on boasted people and pungent satire on hypocrite, is conveyed by Gulliver. We feel that Gulliver himself is Swift who shoots the words towards the people of all four and secondary voyages of the world by making them ridiculous and trivial. I.e. the hideous behaviour of yahoos, sudden attack on Gulliver, style of eating animal flesh shows that Swift is totally against of human nature that indicates he is a misanthropist. He has depicted moral frailty of the people. The sycophancy of the politicians in their efforts to win king’s side by the king of Lilliput is more pin pointed. Flimnap and other characters, narrow-minded communication of the people of first voyage, etc all these things deliberately and allegorically satirized. People have not time to make love to their wives because they are only idealists, philosophers and theorists but nothing more than that. They don’t know what is practicality? The academy of projectors in Lagado is a satire on the kind of useless work which was being done by the royal society in those days. The human longing for immortality is ironically represented... Such all ideas are mentioned by Gulliver and last voyage perhaps very dangerous and horrible for splendid human race because animals are like moral and wholesome and human being like yahoos are animals. The several images are depicted. Throughout the three voyages Gulliver was admirer of people while here he is in favour of Houyhnhnms that are very ideal as well as morally oriented race. This makes disgusting and boring for Gulliver towards his own England.

In addition we can quote M.H.Abrams by saying that Gulliver’s Travels is ‘a satire against Mankind’. Gulliver’s Travels can be described as the weapon of diminishing or derogating a subject by making them much ridiculous and evoking it attitude of amusement that is portrayed in Lilliput. The six inches in height pigmy people, creping under a string in king’s palace, clown or dwarf in Brobdignag and his trivial mentality, laziness of king of Laputa and very ridiculous behaviour of Yahoos  their appetite for food and clothes, contempt, scorn and indignation

Swift’s limitless ambition to mock people is accomplished in Brobdignag, in the palace of the emperor while on another side he hates human being like Yahoos that he is a contradictory character. But a man of principles and ideas like king reminds him that he (Gulliver) is an ‘impotent and groveling insect’ and considers gunpowder as a bloodthirsty and inhuman proposal. He visualizes real image of England by giving mordant and pungent remark,

“….heap of conspiracies, murders, massacre, revolutions,

Banishments, the very worst effects that avarice fiction,

Hypocrisy, perfidiousness, cruelty, rage madness, hatred,

Envy, lust, malice, or ambition could produce….”

Such a great satirical remark on Gulliver shows that Swift himself ironically demerits England have also little in their ideas, thought and ambition. Gulliver is a gullible who is easily humiliated by any person and looks like innocent child before faithful, noble, benevolent people of Brobdignag.

To satirize and criticize whole human society Swift has made people somewhere six inches of height, somewhere like gigantic figures, somewhere more moral and benevolent people and at last in fourth voyage more lecherous and treacherous mentality of Yahoos. These all things sound like diminutive creature living in wild jungle.

Swift, indeed, indirectly criticizes the arrogance of European imperialists who civilize the people through brutality and oppression while masking their chief motifs which was greedy. It looks like; Swift has extracted England from the glob and fitted in his book that represents the mass, milieu and moment of the land.

‘Gulliver’s Travels’ is not sole allegorical satire but also a political allegory like ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell that represents imbalance among upper class and lower class people that believe that some animals are more equal than others. This kind of mentality indicates that leaders should be given more facilities and luxuries because they have serious responsibility not so simple one. The novel ‘Animal Farm’ is great debate of Marxist concept that should be equality, simplicity and fraternity among common people. At the same time ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ is considered as a manifestation of ‘Das Capital’. The bitter condition of baggers and their troublesome predicament of life is more highlighted than royal class families. There are several allegorical references about wearing highly prepared costumes, make up and all such aristocratic lives and on other hand great lamentation and doomed lives of physically ill people are portrayed very bitterly.

Sometime ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ is reckoned as an utopian or dystopian novel same like Thomas Moor’s Utopia, ‘Brave New World’ by Aldus Huxley where ideal state is visualized where no one can get delight and joy from any place. Such a dystopian novel is an imaginative reality and allegorical satire. The novel is a tongue-in-check presentation of factual pertinent to the narrative.

Gulliver’s boringness suggests that he is now no more but such adventure like sea voyage makes him feisty and powerful. People are not happy in their own society because of evils of social dogmas and taboos. Such a great affliction leads him toward his social leads him toward great traveling of danger and terror of the life. There is a deep significance and meaningfulness in the storm and the shipwreck that is ironically and satirically manifested. One can say that ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ is an allegorical satire on various kinds of the people.