Final answer:
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift is a satirical work that exposes the follies and vices of 18th-century society, critiquing politics, human nature, and science through the adventures of its protagonist, Gulliver, across various imaginary lands.
Step-by-step explanation:
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift exposes the follies and vices of the society of his time. This satirical novel uses the adventures of Lemuel Gulliver to satirize politics, human nature, and the pretensions of science and academia. One of the overarching themes of the book is a critical portrayal of humanity and a mockery of the notion that we are rational beings. Gulliver encounters different societies and cultures in his travels, serving as a mirror to reflect the absurdities of the society that Swift aims to critique.
In Gulliver's Travels, several kinds of governments and rulers are encountered, from the tiny Lilliputians to the grandiose Laputans, and eventually to the wise and noble Houyhnhnms. Each of these civilizations has characteristics that Swift uses to make pointed commentaries on the England of his day. For example, the Lilliputians' petty political squabbles mirror the pointless and tumultuous British politics Swift observed.
The work also delves into human beings' relationships with their environment, suggesting that the natural world often holds more rationality and virtue than human society. This is similar to what is proposed about Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, in which the river and shore scenes suggest that to find the true expression of American ideals, one must leave 'civilized' society for nature.