Mock Utopia

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
Gullivers 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, Swifts
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
mans desire of immortality is also condemned through
immortals of Lagado.
Finally, in the last voyage, Swifts 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 Swifts Gullivers Travels
doesnt 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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Mock Utopia: An ideal world

Jonathan Swift is a great satirist, moralist and above all an

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