The Function of Satire In Gulliver’s Travels and A Modest Proposal Final Draft.docx

Warner 1
Nick Warner
Ms. Anna Sabalone
AP World Literature
February 20, 2017
The Function of Satire In Gulliver’s Travels and A Modest Proposal Final Draft
Gulliver’s Travels is a satire novel written by Jonathan Swift to criticize the state of
English society in the early 1700s. The function of satire is to parodize, ironize or/and exaggerate
certain scenarios whether they be fictional or real to make us critical of ourselves or fellow
human beings for their/our flaws and wrongdoings. Satire has changed so that we can use it to
mock politicians today,but we use it in a more humorous sense. However it is only a useful
medium if the reader can read between the lines and see more than the exaggeration shown in
reading. There are many different ways Swift uses satire to help seek change in a flawed society
and he proposes some of his ideas in his writings.
Swift uses the voices of the 4 cultures that Gulliver meets in his voyages to poke at
English society. One example would be his mockery of the Royal Society by comparing it to the
Laputans and how none of their research is practical. “... a satire on the experimental philosophy