The use of satire in Gulliver’s Travels

Satire as a literary device used to criticize society, religion, businesses, the government or individuals in order to point out main problems or foolishness of them. It is used humor, irony, sarcasm, ridicule and analogies in order to achieve those purposes, even thought, the intention is not to make people laugh but to make consciousness on them. Satire is very used nowadays on theatrical plays, television, music, movies among others.

There are different types of satire, some are very obvious and other not that much. As an example there is the use of hyperboles which is an obvious exaggeration or sarcasm which is a sharp mocking or contemptuous remark. This literary device is used in many famous pieces of literature, such as: Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn and Swift’s Gulliver Travels.

            In Swift’s Gulliver Travels he criticizes the political and religion issues around Europe. To satirize this situation, he uses the fictional “Kingdom of Liliput”. There were two parties distinguished by the size of the heels of their boots that governed this kingdom and Swift uses the disputes between the two Liliputians parties to symbolize in his work the minor disputes between the two English political parties. In order to compare the two parties he  points out the arguments that the two English parties had using the next quote, “That for above seventy Moons past there have been two struggling Parties in this Empire, under the Names of Tramecksan and Slamecksan from the high and low Heels on their shoes, by which they distinguish themselves.”