Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels reaches a full spectrum of readers. On the surface level, the titled protagonist goes through four main adventures, which most find them both comical and creative. Yet, publishers originally edited the novel in the 18th century because of its content. Gulliver's adventures are intentional in the sense that the writer deliberately chooses each situation to reflect some truth about mankind. As the main character's name suggests, he is gullible and naveté in his observations of other cultures, further strengthening the subtle yet angry denunciation directed against humanity. Ultimately, the text is satiric, ridiculing the European institutions, human nature, and society as a whole.
In the protagonist's first adventure, he finds himself shipwrecked upon Lilliput, an island populated with miniaturized people who share the same physical looks as him. They initially restrain him, but decide that he can be trusted, providing them a great opportunity to use him for their own motives. In the third chapter, Gulliver observes the king's diversions, including one that requires candidates for government office to perform, jumping on a straight rope hung above the ground, and another that necessitate them to maneuver around a stick. He finds the entertainment amusing, regarding the idea that one has to be skilled at these activities to be an officer as trivial. Ironically, however, the entire scene is actually a mockery of his country's government traditions. The main character often compares the Lilliputian customs with the European ones, yet his failure to recognize the absurdity of such ways of life further highlights the ignorance of people to the reader, since he epitomizes humanity in his travels. .
In the fourth chapter, Reldresal, principal secretary of private affairs, explains to Gulliver the history of the Lilliputians. He presents two major conflicts within the nation, one between the political parties Tramecksan and Slamecksan, and another between his country and Blefuscu, "which is the other great empire of the universe, almost as large and powerful as this of his majesty- (41).