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The Satire in Jonathan Swift

            Satire is defined by Merriam-Webster as a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn. Writers have used satire throughout time to ridicule many subjects. Jonathan Swift uses satire in all of his writings. In Gulliver's Travels, Part IV, Swift uses satire to ridicule man's selfishness. .
             An example of Swift's satire about man's selfishness is seen when Gulliver tries to explain to his master about how another man can take a cow because he wants it. Gulliver tells a tale of a man trying to take possession his cow because the "neighbor hath a mind to" it. The man must hire a lawyer "to prove that he ought have" his cow. Gulliver continues his story by telling how the only way he can win is for it to seem just to give the neighbor the cow. If this is determined then he will keep his cow and the legal system does not really uphold justice. Gulliver talks about the judges who have "been biased all their lives against truth and equity." This entire legal battle is begun because one man wants another's cow and the legal system cannot defend the true owner because it would be against the neighbor's selfishness.
             Another example of man's selfishness is presented when Gulliver talks about why countries go to war. Gulliver tells his master one reason is "the ambition of Princes, who never think they have land or people enough to govern." He also says, "Sometimes the quarrel between two princes is to decide which of them shall dispossess a third of his dominions, where neither of them pretends to any right." A war will begin and thousands will die to satisfy the selfishness of the princes that want more riches.
             A final example of man's selfishness is shown when the master compares the Yahoos to Gulliver's kind. The Houyhnhnm talks about how "if a cow died of age or accident, before a Houyhnhnm could secure it for his own Yahoos, those in the neighborhood would come in herds to seize it, and then would ensue such a battle.


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