Gullivers travel, shakespeare (king lear) or paradise lost - Essay Example

But a shrewd reader will necessarily discover Swift’s rancor, hatred and lampoon for human beings’ folly, vices, greed, irrationality, absurdity, treachery, etc. Swift has presented them as ridiculous, comical, funny and disgusting. This distorted reality in Swift’s novel is “something no reasonable person would engage in” (Johnston 3). Obviously Swift’s novel engages the readers in a different reality which lies hidden beneath the surface of the familiar one. In fact, the canvass of his satirical allegory is very broad.

It generally fits into almost every society of the world. That is, the general target of his satire is the vicious and condemnable nature of human race. Particularly, his satire is directed at his contemporary English society and England. Gulliver’s first voyage is mostly dedicated to satirizing the politics and political system of his time, whereas the second and the fourth books satirize human institution in general. In the first voyage of the novel, Swift takes his readers to Lilliput, which can be considered as a miniature of his contemporary England.

Gulliver, a practical minded Englishman, tells Swift’s about his experiences which he gathered while staying in Lilliput. The Lilliputians are six-inch long tiny creatures who are endowed with all the qualities of human beings. Gulliver’s description of Lilliputians’ physical activities demands frequent gushes of laughter. It is as if some physically impotent creatures are chasing after high ambitions. Despite their diminutive size, they maintain their decorum and courage while facing the apparent giant Gulliver in their country.

Gulliver says that the Lilliputians’ archery is similar to the Europeans’ practice of bombing in warfare: “I felt above a hundred arrows discharged into my left hand, which pricked me like so many needles; and besides they shot another flight into the air, as we do bombs in Europe” (Swift 8). When the readers begin to learn more about these people’s culture, political system, religion, society, etc which Gulliver narrate in a reportorial style, they find striking similarities between Swift’s own country and Lilliput.

For example, the readers can trace an underlying well-organized administrative system in their attitudes and treatments toward imprisoned Gulliver. They behave with him very officially. Sometimes, Gulliver reports on their different skills and lets the readers know what he thinks of them. One such report on the Lilliputians’ education is as following: “These people are most excellent mathematicians, and arrived to a great perfection in mechanics, by the countenance and encouragement of the emperor, who is a renowned patron of learning” (Swift 12).

It obviously reveals Gulliver’s allusion to the progress of his country in knowledge and education. The first part of Swift’s novel is fraught with innumerous allusions, to various aspects of the English society, which assist to the readers to be ready for more about the corrupted and filthy qualities of the political system of England. Most of the political characters can be considered as the fictional illustration of the political figures of Swift’s own society. Apart from satirizing corrupted politics, Swift also lampoons the whole political system.

For example, Gulliver tells the readers that the ministers of Lilliput must show some peculiar skills to get a position in His Majesty’