Gulliver's Travels By Johnathan Swift - In what way is it a satire?

Lilliput

This story is mainly about the fight between Lilliput and Blefuscu. This fight begin a long time ago, people once broke eggs on the big end. However, the present king's grandfather once cut himself breaking the egg in this manner, so the King at the time, the father of the present king's grandfather, issued an edict that all were to break the eggs on the small end. Some of the people resisted, and they found refuge in Blefuscu, therefore the two sides have been at war. The war is unnecessary and needless, just like the war between England and France.

Also, the methods of selecting people for public office in Lilliput are very different from that of any other nation. In order to be chosen, a man must "rope dance" to the best of his abilities; the best rope dancer receives the higher office.While no nation of Europe in Swift's time followed such an absurd practice, they did not choose public officers on skill, but rather on how well the candidate could line the right pockets with money. With this event, Swift is satirizing the conditions of Europe.

Brobdingnag

This story is where Gulliver finds himself in a land of giants. In Lilliput, he used to be the strongest and tallest among the people whereas now, he is the weakest and the shortest among these giants. Also, in Lilliput, he had been treated with respect; now, in the land of giants, he is treated as a curiosity, forced to perform shows for public amusement, until the royalty of this nation learn of his presence.

When he first encounters a giant native, he was so scared and ran to hide. This story is about the many attacks on humanity that Swift's satire will perform.

Laputa

In Laputa, Gulliver finds clumsy, awkward, and unhandy people, nor so slow and perplexed in their conception of other subjects; however, they are highly skilled in mathematics. This story shows that people who wants to show off their talents but in the end make a fool of themselves.

Houyhnhnms

In Houyhnhnms, there are two types of 'species'. The Houyhnhnms are creatures that look like horses but have the ability to reason. There are also the Yahoos, which are animals with perfect human figures, except for the fact that they are dirty and do not wear clothes. From the Yahoos, Swift shows that the flaws of humanity are overwhelming, and will result in a total degradation of the human.