Mock
Utopia: An ideal world
Jonathan Swift is a great satirist,
moralist and above all an unforgettable literary figure. Hisage was full of
corruption, follies and social evils. As a sensitive satirist Swift considered
it his own responsibility to awake the society and make them aware about their
follies and absurdities. He wanted to make his society pure from these evils.
For this purpose he adopted the form of a travelogue because in those days travel
books were very popular. It was his brilliant idea so that his message could
reach the maximum number of people. The poets and writers of his age were also
busy in reforming people by their writings. They presented the ideal
world “Utopia” before their readers
and inspired them to follow all the good
rules and regulations so that the
world could become an ideal world. They only described the good habits which
they wanted in their countrymen and totally neglected the vices which were prevailing
in the society. But, Swift as a satirist by nature could not forget or ignore
the follies an dvices of the people. So he adopted a new method. He never
presented any ideal in his book
“Gulliver’s Travels”. He exposed the
vices of the people so that they
could remove them from their
society and made their life an ideal
one. He did not present a “Utopian World” but a “Mock Utopian”.
His purpose was not different from
that of his contemporaries but he tried to gain it through a different way.
Hence, he has to face many false charges and criticism because the people were
not ready to admit their mistakes and vices. He gave his readers real picture
of his
society and as reality is always
bitter so he was even charged as a ‘misanthropist’. But,
the fact is that instead of
presenting a
“Utopian World”, he had presented
the true picture which is very
corrupted. He hated men but love
man. He had not only described dark aspects of his countrymen but he had also
given them an ideal world which is free from all the vices. He had a reformatory
and corrective aim behind his sever criticism as every satirist is an idealist
from the core of his heart. When we go through the different voyages of
Gulliver we find the human busy in all sort of negative activities. In the
first voyage, we come across the dwarf of only 5 or 6 inches. They are
kind, generous, intelligent and
hospitable. Here, Swift’s aim is to show the lack of these qualities in the
English people. But, he criticizes the Lilliputians’ desire of
expanding their country by enslaving
the free people of nearby island, Blefuscu. In this voyage, the political
institutions and politicians are condemned for they are busy in all
mal-practices and never care about the people whose destiny is that their hand.
The kings were also the sheep of the same flock. They prefer their favourities
and select those officials which are best in deceiving others. So the world of
Lilliputians had some good qualities but on the other hand they have a lot of
follies in them. In the second voyage, Swift again presents the picture of
human vulgarities through giants of Brobdingnage. In this voyage, the new moneyed
classes are criticized for their lust for more and more wealth. They run after
money, as dogs after bone. They give so much importance to materialistic pursuits
that they are ready to adopt any way fair or foul. Here, Swift changes his method
a bit and satirizes the English politicians, kings, scientists, lords and so
on. He does this not only through the words of Gulliver but by the king of
Brobdingnage also. The king unveils the so called nobility of English and calls
their society a heap of vices, rebellions, conspiracies, cruelty, hypocrisy,
meanness, malice, envy and vulgarities and so on. He condemns the wars which
were fought on useless issues. Here we can say that the main purpose of Swift
in second voyage is to keep human beings away from lust of money and fighting. In
the third voyage, there is less bitter satire. Here Swift presents the
stupidities of his society in a comical way. We are amused to see scientists
busy in useless experiments. They are trying to remove opposition among the
politicians by operating the mind of two leaders of the opposition parties.
However, there is a sever attack on the historians who give false information
about past great personalities
without investigation. The man’s desire of immortality is also condemned
through immortals of Lagado.
Finally, in the last voyage, Swift’s
satire becomes most scathing and offensive. This is the most complicated part
of the book. Here Gulliver finds Houyhnhnms (horses) gentle and free from all
the vices but Yahoos (human beings) mischievous and obnoxious. Gulliver finds
Houyhnhnms rational and noble whereas Yahoos nasty and shameful. So naturally
he starts liking Houyhnhnms and disliking Yahoos. He equates Yahoos with man
and thus begins to hate all the men. Here some critics make mistake that Swift
is giving man an ideal way of life in the shape of Houyhnhnms. But this is a
wrong notion, because, Gulliver too is severely criticized by Swift in this
part for his over idealization of the Houyhnhnms. The aim of Swift here is to
awake conscience of all mankind to become well behaved with each other.
In the end, we can say that Swift’s
“Gulliver’s Travels” doesn’t present a Utopian world
rather a mock Utopian. Every satire
of Swift moves us greatly and we start feeling guilty. Here it is right to say
that Swift has described all the mal-practices of the people and preach them to
reform themselves. In short, Swift instead of giving and ideal world has
described a world full of vices and in this way he urges his reader to remove
these vices and become ideal.
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