Jonathan Swift Rhetorical Analysis

A. Overall presentation of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels
Jonathan Swift was an Anglican priest. He was Dean of Dublin’s Saint Patrick Cathedral. He was also the greatest among satirists in his time. He set up the Scriblerus Club with the help of Alexander Pope and other authors. He used irony and satire in an attempt to change his society from within. He was attacking all sides of society that seemed flawed to him. He, for instance, “was attacking the ‘abuses’ in religion and learning”. For instance, in Gulliver’s Travels, which is divided into four parts or books, Swift attacks the government, its organisation, structure and the falseness of its party system. He also criticises the Church by commenting on the controversy surrounding

When writing about foreign civilizations, the theme of diaries and journals prevailed. The style too followed different travel accounts like the narration in the first person, the tone of detachment and the vivid descriptions full of details. But although this was the form Swift adopted he used it to harshly satirize society. Gulliver’s Travels is the typical travel story about the hero trying to come to grips with unknown societies he encounters. He tries his best to make them comprehend the socio-cultural and political structure of his own native England. In doing so, Swift subtly criticizes England and its society. It is not by accident that after his meeting with the Houyhnhnms and their Yahoos, Gulliver turns away from human society. He goes back to England but this time as a social misfit. Thus the book is not a stereotype narrative about the emptiness of Mankind’s ambitions but it is also a deeply satirical piece depicting the evils caused by mercantilism. It almost anticipates colonial imperialism. One could say that the narration of Swift reversed the tone of celebrating and cheering explorers and voyagers who until now used these encounters with foreign cultures to stress the superiority of the western one, thus justifying every single thing done to the populations and the lands of those foreign

It’s not about dry chronology and in fact it’s rather confusing. The story is about highly improbable and extremely extraordinary happenings. Another element makes this story closer to romance. Gulliver seems to be someone who does not have any emotions; he appears as gullible and naïve. The readers fail to identify themselves with Gulliver. His world is far and away from the novels that were beginning to emerge. The novel format commanded a strong bonding with the reader and also with the main characters against a background that celebrated the socio-political world of the times. With Gulliver, it is the complete