Satiric Techniques of Gulliver's Travels.
Gulliver's Travels has adopted the reputation of a humorous and critical satire. .
A satire acts as a literary piece of work that diminishes the subject to a point of ridicule and amusement to the reader. It uses comic relief to ease its content and can act as an aid to human folly and vice. Jonathan Swift, the author of this book, used many satiric techniques to tell this story including the stranger in a strange land motif. With the publication of this very controversial work, many loved is as either a biting satire or a comical adventure. As Gulliver travels to four different lands, the satiric techniques enhance the story. Following the stranger in a strange land motif Gulliver first arrives at the land of Lilliput. First, he finds himself a stranger in a strange miniature land of miniature people. Secondly, Gulliver finds himself a stranger in a strange land of giants. The third adventure, he arrives as a stranger at the strange land of Laputa, a floating island. Finally, on Gulliver's fourth adventure he arrives again as a stranger in a land full of horses or Houyhnhnms and Yahoos. These four lands take the reader on an exciting and adventuresome journey through Gulliver's many trials and strange situations. The stranger in a strange land motif follows Gulliver as he travels from one strange land to the next. .
Swift begins to apply his satiric techniques immediately upon Gulliver's first arrival at the strange land of Lilliput. He finds himself shipwrecked at this miniature land where he must he learn to survive as a giant and become accustom to their ways of life. In Lilliput, Gulliver comes into contact with a wide range of new animals, plants, things, and most importantly the strange inhabitants of the country. This miniature stature in this new country compares to England during its rise in power. Similar to Gulliver, England comes into contact with many new circumstances as a result of their growing military and economic power.
