Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

Jonathan Swift was born to a poor English family in Dublin in 1667. His father died some months before his birth, and the child was brought up by his uncle. With his uncle’s help, he was sent to school and later to the university. Some time later, he went to London and got a job as secretary to an English statesman.

There were two political parties in England at that time, the Whigs and the Tories. Jonathan Swift first supported the Whigs, then the Tories, but both disappointed him. He saw that neither of the parties cared for the fate of the country.

In 1713, he left London for Ireland, where he became a parson. There he saw that the Irish people lived in poverty and hunger and were oppressed by the English ruling classes. At that time, Swift wrote his famous pamphlets in defense of the Irish people.

His most famous books are “Gulliver’s Travels” and “A Tale of a Tub.”

“A Tale of a Tub” (1704) is a satire on the Church, with its dogmas and prejudices.

But the great work which has been translated into almost every language of the world and has made its author one of the greatest English prose writers is “Gulliver’s Travels.”

Although children all over the world enjoy Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels,” it was not written as a children’s book.

“Gulliver’s Travels” is not only a good story, but also a satire in which Swift attacks wrong and injustice, and mocks some of the silly ideas of the existing world.

“Gulliver’s Travels” is a satire on the political and social system of England of those days, on the English bourgeois and aristocratic society. It is one of the finest works of world literature. It consists of four parts. The first part describes Gulliver’s voyage to Lilliput, a biting satire on the English Parliament, the English Court, and the Church. The second part describes Gulliver’s voyage to the country of giants, where Swift criticizes the social and political system of England as a whole. The third part, which describes Gulliver’s travels in Laputa, mocks scholastic learning that has nothing to do with the real needs of men. The fourth part brings the hero to the land of “noble horses,” a noble race of horses that rules the country by reason and justice, while human beings are ugly and vicious creatures.

Swift was a brilliant stylist. He had a great talent for writing clear and logical prose. His love for “proper words in proper places,” his hatred of commonplaces, and his clear, ironical style made him one of the greatest English writers.

Swift died in 1745, at the age of 78.