Gulliver's Travels Rhetorical Analysis

Not every citizen has always enjoyed the right of freedom of speech. In Gulliver’s Travels, a highly debated book, the author Jonathan Swift, was accused of using too much satire to speak out against the English government and society. Satire is “the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.” (Dictionary.reference.com). Swift insulted the British government, society, and other important matters within England. Swift used satire to expose the shortcomings within England. He did it this way so he wouldn’t be put in jail. Although some may argue Swift used too much satire, in this case, he was able to point out wrongdoings of the English.
Swift did not go overboard in his use of satire because it was his way of using speech to speak out against policies. Swift had a fear of speaking out knowing that other writers such as Bunyan and Milton were thrown in jail for their political writings. If he had spoken out he would have been arrested for a crime like treason. He wanted to be free to address the “elephant in the room”, so he figured out a way to speak out without punishment. In the U.S. people have the freedom of speech, and say what they want whenever they would like to speak. This can be taken for granted. But, for Swift this did not exist, so the satire may appear too harsh when all he has done is say the things free citizens may say anytime.

In Gulliver’s conversation with the king of Brobdingnag, he tells of his homeland, then the king