Effective Use of Satire in Gulliver's Travels Jonathan Swift's story, Gulliver's Travels, is a very clever story. It tells the fictional journey of a fictional man named Lemuel Gulliver and his travels in the fantasy lands of Lilliput, Brobdinag, Laputa and Houyhnhmn. When you first read his stories in each of these countries, you may believe that you are reading humorous accounts of fairytale lands intended to amuse children. When you read this story in light of the fact that it is a satire, the stories are still funny, but you realize that Swift was making a public statement about the affairs of England and the human race as a whole. , Gulliver explains to the reader something about his background, why he has undertaken these journeys, and where he is at the beginning of his tale. The story begins with Gulliver telling how he was shipwrecked in the land of Lilliput. He wakes up to find himself tied up and held captive by a small race of people. To the inhabitants of Li……middle of paper……journeys to these lands. Swift did a great job of hiding stinging criticisms of the government and the society in which she lived. He did this by making the characters in the story so fantastical and alien to the reader that the story could just be a fairy tale, written for children. The actions of the people he meets are so absurd, and Gulliver seems so innocent, that at first glance many people didn't even understand what Swift was trying to say. There were, however, people who knew Swift's intentions from the beginning and caught all the symbols of the story.