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  • Essay / Political Themes in "Gulliver's Travel" - 1257

    In Gulliver's Travel, a novel written by Jonathan Swift, there are many political themes and satirical descriptions of the English government. During Swift's time in the early 1700s, the Tory government and the Whig government were opposed. In the hope that they would appoint him to the Church of England, Swift joined the Conservatives, but he was not appointed to the position by the Queen. When the Conservative government was in trouble for treason against the French, the Whig government took over and Swift left politics to publish Gulliver's Travel to show the disagreements between the two parties and between English Protestants and French Catholics, who did not disagreed on religious issues. values. Swift also wrote Gulliver's Travel to show her idealized view of English society. In the novel, Swift criticizes the government by recounting the adventures Gulliver has on different islands with strange and unique groups of people. In a way, Swift creates utopian societies on Lillitupian Island and Brobdingnag Island to show the imperfection of the government that existed in England. As Swift's main character Gulliver interacts with these societies, he criticizes some of their customs and laws. He notes that these societies are not utopian from his point of view. Although there are many themes throughout Gulliver's Travels, this article will focus on parts one and two examining the utopian societies that Swift creates for Gulliver to experience through his interactions with the system of government of the Lilliputians and the Brobdingnagian people. In the first part of the novel, Gulliver sets sail to the Pacific Ocean and, spectacularly, a storm sinks his ship, leaving him stranded on an island. On the island, the Lilliputians, who number twelve...... middle of paper ...... whose main objective is to prevent civil wars. This type of army represents Swift's ideal militia, rather than a professional army. The Brobdingnagians display Utopia Swift's wishes for England because the way England was governed caused a lot of conflict between people. As can be seen, Gulliver's Travels is a good example of Swift's idea of ​​English government. The novel satirizes how shallow English government was through Lilliputian society and the type of government England should have through Brobdingnagian society. Swift was able to make a social statement through his utopia to "push an ideal, ideology, or political claim to its logical extreme so that it serves as a warning to society." (A New Approach to Politics p. 21) Utopia served as a satirical comedy to reach out to England and show the government's mistakes..