Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

Analysis of Satire
Published: 20th June, 2016 Last Edited: 14th December, 2017
This thesis provides a possible insight into Gulliver's Travels by analyzing Jonathan Swift's satires rather
than reading it as a children's book. Swiftian satires about humanity in the four books are to the fullest. The
whole novel is like a mirror by which human flaws are reflected. It probably would long have been forgotten
if the book did not carry critical thinking about humanity.

I. Introduction
1.1 About Jonathan Swift
As the greatest satirist in the English language, Jonathan Swift was both admired and feared in his own
time for the power of his writing and hugely influential on writers who followed him. At the age of fourteen,
Swift entered Trinity College in Dublin University, where he stayed for seven years. After graduation in
1688, he went to England to work as a secretary and personal assistance for Sir William Temple. In 1694,
he was ordained as a priest in the church of Ireland (Anglican Church) and assigned as vicar (parish priest)
of Kilroot, a church near Belfast (in Northern Ireland). In 1692, Swift received an M.A. from Oxford. He
returned to working with Temple in1696.

Meanwhile, he continued working on satires which deal with political and religious corruptions surrounding
him. A tale of a Tub and A Battle of the Books are two of them composed during this time. He also wrote
lots of political pamphlets for the Whig party. When Temple died in 1699, he returned to Ireland, becoming
Chaplain to lord Berkley. In 1702, he received a D.D. (Doctor of Divinity) from Dublin University. After a few
conflicts with the Whig party, he joined the more conservative Tory party in 1710. Unfortunately for Swift,
the Tory government fell out of power in 1714. Before the fall of Troy government, Swift hoped his services
would be rewarded with a church appointment in England. However, the best position he was "rewarded"
was the Deanery of St. Partrick's, Dublin. Again, he returned to Ireland. During his stay in Dublin, some
memorable works were composed: Proposal for Universal Use of Irish Manufacture (1720), Drapier's
Letters (1724), A Modest Proposal (1729). His works earned him status of a patriot.
Also during the same period, he began to write the masterpiece Travels into Several Remote Nations of the
World, better known as Gulliver's Travels. Much of the material reflects his political experiences of the
preceding decade. First published in November 1726, it was an immediate sensation. A total of four
printings were arranged from Nov. 1726 to early 1727.

1.2 About Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver's Travels is regarded as Swift's masterpiece. It is a novel in four parts recounting Gulliver's four
voyages to fictional exotic lands. His travels is first among diminutive people--the Lilliputians, then among

1
enormous giants--people of Brobdingnag, then among idealists and dreamers and finally among horses.
Each book has a different theme, but their common trait is to deflate human nature.
Gulliver had a shipwreck and boarded a rowboat with six other crewmen to
escape. Soon the rowboat capsized. Gulliver managed to swim on shore. He
fell into sleep. When he woke up he found himself bound by numerous tiny
threads. Some diminutive people marched on his body. Some other people
armed with bows and arrows stand by around him. They are ready to deal
Gulliver with violence if he attacks. Overall, they are hospitable. Gulliver eats
more than one thousand Lilliputians combine could and they feed him
despite the risk of famine. He is presented to the emperor and is satisfied by
the attention of the royalty. Eventually, Lilliputians take advantage of
Gulliver's strength and hugeness to fight against people of Blefuscu. The two
factions oppose each other in that they have difference ways to crack eggs.
But things change when Gulliver is convicted of treason for urinating on the
palace to save the emperor's wife from a fire. He is condemned to be shot in
the eyes and starved to death. Gulliver escapes to Blefuscu, where he finds
and repairs a broken boat and sets sail for England.
After staying in England with his family for two months, he sets sail again.
The voyage takes him to a land of giants Brobdingnag. A field worker finds
him and takes him home. Initially, the field worker treats him as a pet. Eventually, he sells Gulliver to the
queen who makes him a courtly diversion and is entertained by his musical talents. Gulliver's life at this
point is easier but still is not enjoyable. He is often repulsed by the physicality of the Brobdingnagians,
whose ordinary flaws are many times magnified by their huge size. He is disgusted by their skin pores. He
is often frightened by the animals that endanger his life. There is once when he wakes up on the bed of the
farmer's wife and is attacked by two rats. Even Brobdingnagian insects leave slimy trails on his food that
makes eating unpleasant. On a trip to the frontier, the cage Gulliver is in plucked up by an eagle and
dropped into the sea. He successfully leaves Brobdingnag.
Gulliver undertakes next voyage after staying at home in England for only ten days. The ship undergone
attacks by pirates and Gulliver ends up in Laputa. The floating island is inhabited by theoreticians and
academics governing the land below, called Balnibarbi. The scientific research carried out in Laputa and in
Balnibarbi seems completely useless and impractical, and its residents too appear totally out of touch with
reality. Taking a trip to Glubbdubdrib, Gulliver is able to witness the conjuring up of figures from history,
such as Julius Caesar and other military leaders. After visiting the Luggnaggians and the Struldbrugs, the
latter of which are senile immortals who prove that age does not bring wisdom, he is able to sail to Japan
and from there back to England.
Gulliver stays for five months in England but then leaves his pregnant wife to set sail as a captain. Many of
his crewmen die of illness, so he recruit more along the way. His crewmembers mutiny under the influence
of the new sailors to become pirates. They lock him in a cabin. After a long confinement, he arrives in an
unknown land. The rational-thinking horses, Houyhnhnms and humanlike creatures, Yahoos live in the
land. The brutish Yahoos serve the Houyhnhnms. Gulliver again endeavours to learn their language to
narrate his adventures to them and explain things in England. He is treated with great courtesy and
kindness by the horses and is enlightened by their noble culture and rational thinking. For the first time in
his voyages, he does not yearn for leave to come back to humankind. He wants to stay with the
Houyhnhnms, but his bared body reveals to the horses that he is very much like a Yahoo. Therefore, he is
banished. He is very reluctant to leave but agrees. He builds a canoe and makes his way to a nearby
island. He first decides to live there with the barbarians there rather than return to live with English Yahoos.
He was hurt by an islander and picked up by a Portuguese ship captain who treats him hospitably.
However, Gulliver cannot help deeming him and all human as Yahoolike. After returning home, Gulliver
buys two horses and converses with them every day for four hours.

2. Satires in Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver's Travels reflects conflicts in British society in the early 18th century. By narrating Gulliver's
adventures in Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa, and Houyhnhnm, the novel reveals and criticizes sins and
corruption of British ruling class and their cruel exploitation towards people of Britain and neighboring
countries in the capital-accumulation period of British history. Gulliver is treated differently in different
2
countries. The author depicts every situation at great length, which makes readers feel like experiencing
them personally. The greatness of the work lies in the author's proficient application of biting and profound
satires. Swift makes satirical effects to the fullest by using techniques of irony, contrast, and symbolism.
The story is based on then British social reality. He not only satirizes on then British politics and religion,
but also, in a deeper facet, on human nature itself. Swift's superb rendering of satires leads Gulliver's
Travels to becoming a milestone looked up to by future literary persons in satirical literature.
There are at least three types of satirical technique presented in Gulliver's Travels: verbal irony, situational
irony and dramatic irony. First, verbal irony means using words in an opposite way. The real implied
meaning is in opposition to the literal meaning of the lines in verbal irony. In other words, it uses positive,
laudatory words to describe evidently ugly and obnoxious matters in order to express the author's contempt
and aversion. The book carries verbal irony from the beginning to the end of the story. Second, situational
irony occurs when there are conflicts between characters and situation, or contradiction between readers'
expectation and actual outcomes of an event, or deviation between personal endeavors and objective facts.
In Gulliver's Travels, the plot development is often the opposite of what readers expect. Third, dramatic
irony is when words and actions possess a significance that the listener or audience understands, but the
speaker or character does not.
Swift also uses contrast as a rhetorical device to construct satirical effects. In order to reach the purpose of
satire, he puts contradictory subjects together to describe and compare. There are at least three evident
pairs of contrasting subjects. First is Gulliver and Lilliputians. They differ hugely in figures and in characters.
The height of Gulliver's body exceeds Lilliputians' in the proportion of twelve to one. As to character
differences, Gulliver is kind-hearted and grateful with a sense of justice, whereas Lilliputians are more
cunning. They want to make full use of Gulliver in the war fought with its conflicting country: Blefuscu. He
helps them against invasion from it but refuses to serve for them in their invasive territory expansion.
Second, in Part II, figures of the citizens and Gulliver's again form a stark contrast. In Brobdingnag, he is
put in a carriage and carried to the marketplace to perform his "tricks". He tries to please those giants by
showing them his little coins and perform "tricks" with his sword. He comes into conflict with the Queen's
favorite dwarf and they scheme against each other. On the other hand, the erudite King of Brobdingnag
governs his country with reason, common sense, justice and mercy. The political system in Brobdingnag is
very ideal and orderly, in which law guarantees freedom and welfare of the nationals. Gulliver introduces to
the King England's society and political system and embellishes the truth. He describes how great England
is, how judicious the politics is and how just the law is. However, he could barely defend himself facing the
King's question. Besides, the comparison between the King's liberal governance and rule under England's
bourgeois class reveals corruption of its politics. Third, the ruling class of the country of the Houyhnhnms
are horse-like beings of reason, justice and honesty, whereas the ruled class (yahoos) are heinous, greedy
and pugnacious creatures. The contrast between the Houyhnhnms and the Yahoos is extreme. The horses
are clean and sweet-smelling; their diet is temperate and vegetarian. Their habits constitute the
temperance that the eighteenth century thought characterized reasonable man. The Yahoos, on the other
hand, are human in form and feature. They are filthy and they stink. They are omnivorous but seem to
prefer meat and garbage.
Satire refers to a genre of literature which is often used by literary persons as a witty weapon to hold up
vices, follies and shortcomings in a society to ridicule, usually with the intent of mocking individuals or
society into improvement. Samuel Johnson (1709-84) defined satire as 'a poem in which wickedness or
folly is censured'. Besides the fact that few, if any, would nowadays confine satire to poetry, the rest of the
definition works well enough. Satire condemns, either overtly or covertly, what it believes to be wrong,
generally with a view to achieving reform. It works best when there is general agreement among its readers
about what is right or normal. It may be directed against an individual, a group or humanity in general.
Irony, ridicule, parody, sarcasm, exaggeration are common satirical techniques, in which the first is the
most common employed one. As a major technique of satire, irony involves a difference or contrast
between appearance and reality - that is a discrepancy between what appears to be true and what really is
true. Three kinds of irony have been recognized since antiquity. First, dramatic irony derives from classical
Greek literature and from theatre. It refers to a situation in which the audience has knowledge denied to
one or more of the characters on stage. In other words, dramatic irony occurs when a character states
something that they believe to be true but that the reader knows is not true. The key to dramatic irony is the
reader's foreknowledge of coming events. Second or more reading of stories often increases dramatic irony
because of knowledge that was not present in the first reading. For example, in Twelfth Night composed by
Shakespeare, Malvolio's hopes of a bright future derive from a letter which the audience knows to be faked.

3
Second, verbal irony, sometimes known as linguistic irony, occurs when people say the opposite of what
they really mean. Therefore, it often carries two meanings: the explicit meaning and a often mocking
meaning running counter to the first. This is probably the most common type of irony. Third, Socratic irony
takes its name from the ancient Greek writer Socrates, who often in his philosophic dialogues asks
apparently foolish questions which actually move the debate in the direction he wants. Nowadays, two
further conceptions have been added: structural irony and romantic irony. The first one is built into texts in
such a way that both the surface meaning and deeper implications are present more or less throughout.
One of the most common ways of achieving structural irony is through the use of a narrator, whose simple
and straightforward comments are at variance with the reader's interpretation. Swift applies this technique
in Gulliver's Travel by setting Gulliver as the narrator of the stories. In Romantic irony, writers conspire with
readers to share the double vision of what is happening in the plot of a novel, film, etc.. In this form of
writing, the writer sets up the world of his text, and then deliberately undermines it by reminding the reader
that it is only a form of illusion.

3. An analysis of Satires in the Four Parts

3.1 Satirical targets in Part 1
Swift's satirical attacks on humanity are relatively mild in Book 1. Disgust for human in this book is not yet
detectable and apparent. A series of amusing and ridiculous happenings in this part provide readers a
relaxed atmosphere. For example, the part describing how Gulliver saves the palace and the emperor's
wife is hilarious.
I had the evening before drunk plentifully of a most delicious wine, called glimigrim (the Blefuscudians call it
flunec, but ours is esteemed the better sort) which is very diuretic. By the luckiest chance in the world, I had
not discharged myself of any part of it. The heat I had contracted by coming very near the flames, and by
labouring to quench them, made the white wine begin to operate by urine; which I voided in such a quantity,
and applied so well to the proper places, that in three minutes the fire was wholly extinguished, and the rest
of that noble pile, which had cost so many ages in erecting, preserved from destruction. (Swift 2007: 25)
Many descriptions in Part I employs the technique of verbal irony. For instance, in Chapter III, Swift
ridicules the Lilliputians' arrogance and ignorance by describing how mathematicians in Lilliput measure
Gulliver's height by the help of a quadrant. They "having taken the height of my body by the help of a
quadrant, and finding it to exceed theirs in the proportion of twelve to one, they concluded from the
similarity of their bodies, that mine must contain at least 1728 of theirs, and consequently would require as
much food as was necessary to support that number of Lilliputians." Swift ridicules, "by which the reader
may conceive an idea of the ingenuity of that people, as well as the prudent and exact economy of so great
a prince." He makes good use of the technique of verbal irony in this this laughable, thought-provoking and
seemingly ordinary ironic narration to achieve satirical effects.

4
In Chapter V, despite the fact that the conflict between Lilliput and Blefuscu is blatantly ridiculous, Gulliver
depicts it with total seriousness. The tone with which Gulliver tells the story is serious. However, the more
serious he is the more ridiculous and laughable the conflict is. This again is the employment of verbal irony.
Swift expects us to understand that the history Gulliver relates parallels European history. The High-Heels
and the Low-Heels correspond to the Whigs and Tories of English politics. Lilliput and Blefuscu represent
England and France. The conflict between Big-Endians and Little-Endians represents the Protestant
Reformation and the centuries of warfare between Catholics and Protestants. Through these
representations, the author implies that the differences between Protestants and Catholics, between Whigs
and Tories, and between France and England are as silly and meaningless as how a person chooses to
crack an egg. The egg controversy is ridiculous because there cannot be any right or wrong way to crack
an egg. Therefore, it is unreasonable to legislate how people must do it. Similarly, we may conclude that
there is no right or wrong way to worship God; at least, there is no way to prove that one way is right and
another way is wrong. The Big-Endians and Little-Endians both share the same religious text, but they
disagree on how to interpret a passage that can be interpreted in two ways. By mentioning this incident,
Swift is suggesting that the Christian Bible can be interpreted in more than one way and that it is ludicrous
for people to fight over how to interpret it when no one can really be certain that one interpretation is right
and the others are wrong.
In these chapters, Gulliver experiences Lilliputian culture, and the great difference in size between him and
the Lilliputians is emphasized by a few examples through which the author's satires of British government
are explicitly expressed. For instance, government officials in Liliput are chosen by their skill at rope-
dancing, which Gulliver regards as arbitrary and ludicrous. Clearly, Swift intends for us to understand this
episode as a satire of England's system of political appointment and to infer that England's system is
similarly arbitrary.
The difference in size between Gulliver and the Lilliputians reflects the importance of physical power, a
theme that recurs throughout the novel. Gulliver begins to gain the trust of Lilliputians over time, but it is
unnecessary: Gulliver could crush them simply by walking carelessly. Despite the evidence in front of them,
they never recognize their own insignificance. This is clearly the use of dramatic irony in which the reader
knows the truth but the characters in the stories deny it. They keep Gulliver tied up, thinking that he is
under control, while in fact he could destroy them effortlessly. In this way, Swift satirizes humanity's
pretensions to power and significance.

3.2 Swiftian Satires in Part II

Compared with Book I, Swift's satire is more clearly implied in the second book and attacks on political
issues and humanity are more apparent. It is evident that Swift begins to express his discontent over
Europe as the world's dominant power and its practice of colonialism in this section if the historical context
is considered. Swift wrote Gulliver's Travels at a time when Europe was the world's dominant power and
when England was rising in power with its formidable fleet. The English
founded their first colony Virginia in America in 1585 due to competition
with the Spanish. Then they continued the process of colonization and
expansion throughout the world.
In this section, Gulliver's initial adventure in Brobdingnag is not so
desirable. At first, a farmer almost tramples on him. The family virtually
enslaves him, making him to perform tricks to paying visitors. "This
enslavement emphasizes the fundamental humanity of the
Brobdingnagians-just like Europeans, they are happy to make a quick buck
when the opportunity arises--and also makes concrete Gulliver's lowly
status."
Swift also "plays with language in a way that both emphasizes his main
satirical points about politics, ethics, and culture and makes fun of
language itself." (SparkNotes Editors, 2003). In the beginning of this
adventure, Gulliver uses naval jargons ("sprit-sail", "fore-sail", "mizen",
"fore-sheet", "downhaul") to depict the various attempts his ship makes to
deal with the great storm at sea. The description is complicated and full of
obscurities. One probably cannot help wondering why Swift bothered writing these difficult-to-understand
words since they seems with the least importance to the whole story. However, it is not a waste of effort.
5
The words are meant to be incomprehensible--"the point is to satirize the jargon used by writers of travel
books and sailing accounts, which in Swift's view was often overblown and ridiculous." (SparkNotes Editors,
2003) By making Gulliver use jargon to such an extreme, Swift mocks those who would try to "demonstrate
their expertise through convoluted language". Mockeries like this one repeats elsewhere in the novel.
Swift's main purpose is to "criticize the validity of various kinds of expert knowledge that are more showy
than helpful, whether legal, naval, or, as in the third voyage, scientific."(SparkNotes Editors, 2003).

3.3 Swiftian satires in Part III

Swift's satires in the third book shift focus from ethic
and political aspects to academic field, since most
part of this section contributes to description of
impractical scientific experiments and workings of
certain things. For instance, descriptions Gulliver
makes about the technique used to move the island
are convoluted. Also, "The method of assigning
letters to parts of a mechanism and then describing
the movement of these parts from one point to
another resembles the mechanistic philosophical and
scientific descriptions of Swift's time." (SparkNotes
Editors, 2003). From these, Swift again successfully
satirizes specialized language in academic field.
Laputa is more complex than Lilliput or Brobdingnag
because its strangeness is not based on differences
of size but instead on the primacy of abstract theoretical concerns over concrete practical concerns in
Laputan culture. However, physical power is still an important factor in Laputa. Here, power is exercised not
through physical size but through technology. The government floats over the rest of the kingdom, using
technology to control its subjects. The floating island represents the distance between the government and
the people it governs. The king is oblivious to the real concerns of the people below. He has never even
been there. The noble men and scientists of the island are also far removed from the people and their
concerns. Abstract theory dominates all aspects of Laputan life, from language to architecture to
geography.
Swift continues his mockery of academics by describing the projects carried out in the cities below Laputa.
The academy serves to create entirely useless projects while the people stare outside its walls. Each
project described, such as the extraction of sunbeams from a cucumber, is not only false but also
purposeless. Even if its scientific foundation were correct, it would still serve no real purpose for the people
meant to gain from it.
The result is a society in which science is promoted for no real reason and time is wasted as a matter of
course. This again is the use of dramatic irony where the reader knows certainly that those scientific
projects are a waste of time while the scientists in the story are striving for success of the experiments.

3.4 Swiftian satires in Part IV

In the fourth part, disgust for humans is expressed to such an extreme that readers often feel
uncomfortable reading this section. Swift deflates humankind very straightforwardly by portraying the
Yahoos humanlike and associating humankind with Yahoos. Gulliver tells the horse that in his country, the
Yahoos are the governing creatures.
Moreover, after he introduces Europe to his horse-like master, he admits that Gulliver's humans have
different systems of learning, law, government, and art but says that their natures are not different from
those of the Yahoos.

6
 Situational irony occurs when there are conflicts between characters and
situation, or contradiction between readers' expectation and actual
outcomes of an event, or deviation between personal endeavors and
objective facts. The plot development in Gulliver's Travels is often the
opposite of what readers expect. For example, in this part, Gulliver's
crewmembers mutiny when they are near Leeward Islands and he is
abandoned in an unknown land--the country of the Houyhnhnms. The
Houyhnhnms are horse-like, physically strong and virtuous beings.
Gulliver is regarded as likable as a yahoo by them. He tries to prove to
the Houyhnhnms that he is not a Yahoo in nature although he looks like
one. He talks at length about wars fought for "religious reasons",
England's legal system, and his great love of his native country.
However, the more he tries to cover up human flaws, the more they are
known when he is questioned by the Houyhnhnms.
The readers' expectation may be Gulliver's stay in the country of the
Houyhnhnms for his feverish passion for the Houyhnhnms. However, at
last, they conclude that Gulliver is a yahoo in disguise because he has
all traits a yahoo possesses and refuse his request to live there.
Gulliver undergoes a stage of transform in book four, where he develops
a love for the Houyhnhnms to the point that he does not want to return to humankind. He has an identity
crisis although he is not aware of it. He thinks of his friends and family as Yahoolike, but forgets that he
comes from "English Yahoos". The Houyhnhnms think that Gulliver is some kind of Yahoo, though superior
to the rest of his species. He asks them to stop using that word to refer to him, and they consent. This once
again expresses disgust for humans.

4. Functions of satires in Gulliver's Travels

1. To stress the sense of absurdity
Throughout much of Part I, Swift satirizes European practices by implicitly comparing them to outrageous
Lilliputian customs. In these chapters, Swift also plays with language in a way that pokes fun at humanity's
belief in its own importance. When the Lilliputians draw up an inventory of Gulliver's possessions, the whole
endeavor is treated as if it were a serious matter of state. The contrast between the tone of the inventory,
which is given in the Lilliputians' own words, and the utter triviality of the possessions that are being
inventoried, serves as a mockery of people who take themselves too seriously. Similarly, the articles that
Gulliver is forced to sign in order to gain his freedom are couched in formal, self-important language. But
the document is nothing but a meaningless and self-contradictory piece of paper: each article emphasizes
the fact that Gulliver is so powerful that, if he desires, he could violate all of the articles without much
concern for his own safety.
2. To reveal the snobbish nature of human culture
In Gulliver's adventure in Brobdingnag, many of the same issues that are brought up in the Lilliputian
adventure are now brought up again, but this time Gulliver is in the exact opposite situation. Many of the
jokes from Gulliver's adventure in Lilliput are played in reverse: instead of worrying about trampling on the
Lilliputians, Gulliver is now at risk of being trampled upon; instead of being feared and admired for his huge
size, he is treated as an insignificant curiosity; instead of displaying miniature livestock in England to make
money, he is put on display for money by the farmer. As a whole, the second voyage serves to emphasize
the importance of size and the relativity of human culture.
In the last part, Swift shifts attacks to defects in human nature represented by yahoos. His description
about the country of the Houyhnhnms reveals corruption of human society and states a view that only those
who live in a natural state are pure and noble. Just like Gulliver puts it, "I must freely confess that the many
virtues of those excellent quadrupeds placed in opposite view to human corruptions, had so far opened my
eyes and enlarged my understanding, that I began to view the actions and passions of man in a very
different light, and to think the honour of my own kind not worth managing."

7
3. To make fun of expert languge
Gulliver's initial experiences with the Brobdingnagians are not positive. First they almost trample him, then
the farmer virtually enslaves him, forcing him to perform tricks for paying spectators. Whereas in Lilliput, his
size gives him almost godlike powers, allowing him to become a hero to the Lilliputian people, in
Brobdingnag his different size has exactly the opposite effect. Even his small acts of heroism, like his battle
against the rats, are seen by the Brobdingnagians as, at best, "tricks." Swift continues to play with language
in a way that both emphasizes his main satirical points about politics, ethics, and culture and makes fun of
language itself. While Gulliver is still at sea, he describes in complicated naval jargon the various attempts
his ship makes to deal with an oncoming storm. The rush of words is nearly incomprehensible, and it is
meant to be so; the point is to satirize the jargon used by writers of travel books and sailing accounts, which
in Swift's view was often overblown and ridiculous. By taking the tendency to use jargon to an extreme and
putting it in the mouth of the gullible and straightforward Gulliver, Swift makes a mockery of those who
would try to demonstrate their expertise through convoluted language. Attacks like this one, which are
repeated elsewhere in the novel, are part of Swift's larger mission: to criticize the validity of various kinds of
expert knowledge that are more showy than helpful, whether legal, naval, or, as in the third voyage,
scientific.
4. To criticize excessive rationalism
Gulliver's third voyage is more scattered than the others, involving stops at Laputa, Balnibarbi,
Glubbdubdrib, Luggnagg, and Japan. Swift completed the account of this voyage after that of the fourth
voyage was already written, and there are hints that it was assembled from notes that Swift had made for
an earlier satire of abstract knowledge. Nonetheless, it plays a crucial role in the novel as a whole.
Whereas the first two voyages are mostly satires of politics and ethics, the third voyage extends Swift's
attack to science, learning, and abstract thought, offering a critique of excessive rationalism, or reliance on
theory, during the Enlightenment.

5. Conclusion
Gulliver's Travels is not only rich in content, but also deep in meaning. His satires about humanity in the
four books are to the fullest. Satires are both implicitly and explicitly constructed throughout the four books.
Disgust for human steadily increases as the narrative proceeds. The greatness of this novel does not
plainly lie in Swifitian satire. The whole novel is like a mirror by which human flaws are reflected. It probably
would long have been forgotten if the book did not carry critical thinking about humanity.

Text source: https://www.ukessays.com/essays/english-literature/satires-in-gullivers-travels.php