A Satire of Society

With Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, the Anglo-Irish cleric and writer Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) created one of the most absurdist pieces of literature of his (and maybe even all) time. On four consecutive journeys out to sea, surgeon and prospective ship captain Lemuel Gulliver finds himself in strange lands and civilizations. There he meets the tiny Lilliputians; the giants of Brobdingnag; the erudite Laputians, who are highly intelligent but unable to cope with life; and finally the monkey-like Yahoos and their wise and rational rulers, the Houyhnhnms, who look like horses. Many readers consider Swift's novel a classic of young adult literature, but in fact it isn't as harmless as many people think. Behind the facade of adventure story and travel writing lurks a biting satire on English society during Swift's time, as well as a harsh reckoning of humanity as a whole and its doubtful development.