Thesis Statement
The authors Jonathan Swift and George Orwell are the best writers to write political satires like Gulliver’s Travels. The author’s real purpose was to bulk the absurdities and follies of his time’s politicians, monarchs, and institutions.
Introduction
Johnathan Swift was considered a very experienced and inspirational writer of the 18th century. He had a harsh style of artistic writing, and he wrote masterpieces like Gulliver’s Travels, which was the best piece of writing in that society and was a brilliant satire of politics. It was not much different from the political essays by Johnathan Swift and George Orwell. Their masterpiece publications harshly criticised the situation in their country by blaming the politicians for the situation, the population, and how stupid the human race was. This paper discusses the ideology of the authors Johnathan Swift and George Orwell through their most spectacular masterpiece ‘Gulliver’s Travels.’
In this piece of literature, the authors write in a political saltire style, and the connection between political treatises and fiction is obvious.
Gulliver’s Travels Analysis
The character of Gullivers is somewhat changing throughout the story, this piece of literature is an excellent example of attacks on humanity, the author has criticised humanity from three different angles. The Gulliver is a typical Voyager of the 18th century; he is bold, unromantic and practical. His appearance immediately impresses the readers, and his age is nearly forty. When the adventure starts, the main character has two children. Throughout the story, he rises through the social scale in society through deep observation of men and expresses his love for his country. There are many instances in the story when Gulliver is venting his personal grievances against contemporary society.
Gulliver was brave and helpful; he put out the fire in the palace of the Emperor of Lilliput. The Book Gulliver’s Travels is pessimistic, especially in the later parts of the story, when it descends into a narrow political partisanship. The elements of magnanimity, pettiness, and authoritarianism are all mixed up beautifully. Gulliver’s Travels is a satire on the greatness of humans if one explores it deeply.
The Political Satire
Gulliver’s Travels is the most famous of Johnathan’s satirical writings. He wanted to change society, and the story reveals great things and people. The tradition of the twentieth century was revived by the writer George Orwell by his famous writing. It is an excellent book for revealing the absurdities of politics of that time; the writer himself had a very shocking experience of communism when he was in Europe. The only country that adopted communism was Russia when the writer was in Spain; he observed the exploitation, injustice, and cruelty of communism, which inspired him to write such a masterpiece.
The satirists have also used the technique of humor which means the ability to appreciate things, people and situations. The writers used tricks with their wits and their ability to combine ideas and words was clever in masterpieces like Gulliver’s Travels. The writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries mostly used them in their literary works, but it is also a shock of comic surprise in modern times.
The primary purpose of satire is to criticize someone, such as politicians or institutions. The critic reader cannot interpret the satire. Various things can be challenged in a satire like groups, leaders institutions, beliefs and systems. The functional elements can be added to make the satire more meaningful and reflect the real world. Therefore, Gulliver Travels portrays the reality of eighteenth-century political conditions to help the readers understand them.
Johnathan Swift lived through the first two phases of the 18th century; his works enable readers to appreciate and understand the political contexts of the early eighteenth century. Many bills were introduced in the sessions of Annie’s parliament to stop the rising trend of writings that attacked the Anglican Church. However, The upper house rejected all the bills and failed these efforts. As a consequence of the revolution, the most important event was the remodelling of the Bishop’s Bench. There was a high church reaction in the final four years of Annie’s reign. Her children died early in the eighteenth century, and these events deeply affected the writing styles and moods of eighteenth-century writers like Swift, Addison, Steele, and Orwell.
George Orwell provided the upheaval of the 1930s in England in his great satirical works. The 1914 war destroyed the public’s confidence, leading to a subsequent period of depression till 1918. The economic system in the country weakened and so did the people’s moral, religious and ethical beliefs.
George Orwell was also very impressed by the eighteenth-century satirical work of Jonathan Swift and the publication of Gulliver’s Travels in 1726. He said this story means more to him than any other book written by Johnathan. He had an incredible interest in Swift’s books, which are represented in his works like ‘The Animal Farm’, a political satire in contemporary politics.
Conclusion
The author also wrote Gulliver’s Travel, a satirical novel about political absurdity. They wanted politicians to shun their fierce pride and become loyal and benevolent. Although the two writers George Orwell and Swift lived in different times, they observed the injustice, hypocrisy, and tyranny in their time. Their motive was the same: to reflect the political absurdities in their writings. Their efforts to achieve their purposes will always be remembered.
George Orwell was highly impressed by the works of Johnathan Swift in the 20th century, and he admired his publications like Gulliver’s Travels. He blends his critical attitude with wit and humour and represents the follies of the political behaviour of man in his work ‘The Animal Farm.’ The works of Jonathan Swift and George Orwell remind us of the speeches and political leaders when they try to provide the public with their dreams and then forget what they said in their statements later on.
References
Dag, O. “George Orwell: Politics Vs. Literature – An Examination Of Gullivers Travels”. Orwell.ru. N.p., 20., 2017. Web. 15 May 2017
