A Satirical Account of English Beliefs

As a satirical account of commonly held 18^th century English beliefs, Gulliver’s Travels succeeds greatly. Just like Robinson Crusoe, Lemuel Gulliver is an adventurer who sails the seas time and again finding himself interacting with unknown beings on distant islands. Thus far, we have seen Gulliver encounter three separate societies that all satirize the culture of England in various ways. As a whole, the book is a mockery of standard travel stories of the time. For example, Gulliver ends up on all of these various islands in the same manner as Crusoe—by means of an improbable occurrence of a natural disaster at sea.

Gulliver first encounters the Lilliputian society and their tiny inhabitants. The ridiculous size of the Lilliputians exacerbates the sheer ludicrous nature of Gulliver’s situation. At any moment he could escape from the Lilliputian detainment simply due to his physical strength. This is clearly playing into the idea that common pretensions of power can often be shown or obtained simply via one’s physical size. Furthermore, when the Lilliputians describe the wars they are currently facing against the other societies, this is Swift’s attempt to recast European history as a series of brutal wars over meaningless and ridiculous disagreements (e.g. Protestants v. Catholics). Swift also criticizes that idea that societal norms are always absolute via Gulliver’s analysis of the ridiculous Lilliputian customs. Almost every society believes that their customs are normal, no matter how arbitrary they are (e.g. the egg-breaking controversy). Thus, when these practices are criticized or challenged there are often violent consequences.

In Brobdingnag (i.e. the land of the Giants), we once again see the idea of the relationship between one’s size and one’s power. However, in this case Gulliver’s role is reserved to essentially that of a toy and spectacle for the giants to use and observe. Gulliver is extremely distraught for much of his time on Brobdingnag, mainly because the King and the ruling class find it amusing that people of Gulliver’s small size think of themselves as so important. Gulliver attempts to explain the intricacies of English society and how advanced the society is, in order to convince himself (and the King) of his own significance. This idea is particularly striking as one never wants to accept that they themselves (or what they believe in) are insignificant. This would deeply hurt someone, as these are fundamental beliefs to any human or society.

The third society Gulliver visits is that of Laputa, in which the inhabitants have oddly tilted heads and strange-looking eyes. This voyage is interesting as one can see Swift building on his previous discussion and satirical description of politics and societal ethics. He moves on to describing the ideas of science, education and even technology. For example, he mocks academics via his portrayal of the flawed and purposeless experiments Gulliver witnesses in the academy. Overall, Swift’s writing is largely entertaining because he uses clever devises to challenge many ideas that were being written about and discussed during the 18^th century.

The Value of Anonymity

  Benjamin Franklin had more confidence as a teenager than some people ever have in their lives. In 1772, at 16 years old, Franklin submitted a total of 14 anonymous letters to one of the three newspapers in Boston at the time. Not only was he fearless when sharing his social commentary with the public, he had the guts to pose as someone under his older brother’s nose by disguising his handwriting and using the pseudonym Silence Dogood. He used his first few letters to build the persona and story around Dogood, portraying her as a woman who promised “once a Fortnight to present them with a short Epistle to add somewhat to their Entertainment.” The hip and witty Dogood drew readers to the New-England Courant by writing on a variety of topics including fashion, love, manners and education. I believe that Franklin was able to write with such freedom and spirit from the unintentional positive reinforcement he received behind the scenes.

       Benjamin worked at the print shop with his older brother James and he would hear him praising his letters out loud. Unbeknownst to James, the author of the letters was sitting right there and could not help but gain a sense of self-worth as a sixteen year old who has all of Boston to unknowingly critique his work. Not only did he win his brother’s admiration, but also when Benjamin mentioned he was a widow inclined to suitors he received letters from men asking to marry Silence Dogood. He felt the power of his letters when after six months he stopped writing and readers missed Dogood and wondered where she went. Benjamin was able to capture the experience of setting the type for something from his own hand and watch it go to print. This experience gave him the wherewithal to admit to his brother that he was the one who wrote the letters when James placed an ad in his paper asking if anyone could “give a true account of Mrs. Silence Dogood, whether dead or alive, married or unmarried.” Despite Benjamin’s popularity writing as Dogood, James was furious and Ben abandoned the apprenticeship to sail to Philadelphia and continue printing.

       The unique position Franklin found him as a relatively young writer helped give him the confidence and vision to continue on as a printer of his own words. He probably felt that if he can entertain Boston at age 16 what couldn’t he do? This also served as an opportunity to branch out from his brother and end the abusive relationship that he experienced as his apprentice. Silence Dogood helped him gain freedom as a printer and unbeknownst to Boston at the time, put him on the map as a commanding presence as a printer.

       The historical context from which Franklin wrote “Rules for the New England Courant” is worth analyzing to fully understanding Franklin’s intended meaning. In order to do so effectively, James Franklin’s Silence Dogood letter from the previous week of January 14- January 21, 1723, must be taken into account to understand the satiric nature of “Rules for the New England Courant.” The January 14 issue titled, “Essay against Hypocrites” was aimed at Cotton Mather, the most well known Puritan minster at the time and an advocate for the smallpox inoculation. Smallpox was a growing epidemic and the cure was promoted by Mather but discouraged by Franklin and his followers because of the fear that the remedy would spread it rather than stifle it. James Franklin wrote, “Essay against Hypocrites” to mock organized religion, represented by Cotton Mather. Authorities responded to his brash criticism of England’s church with the response, "the Tendency of the said Paper is to mock Religion, and bring it into Contempt, that the Holy Scriptures are therefore profanely abused, that the Reverend and faithful Ministers of the Gospel are injuriously Reflected on, His Majesty's Government affronted, and the Peace and good Order of his Majesty's Subjects of this Province disturbed, by the said Courant." James Franklin was arrested and taken to jail after the publication of “Essay against Hyporcrites” to be tried for seditious libel and publishing without authority. With James in jail, Benjamin published the next issue under his own name but did not reveal his true identity when responding to Mather’s allegations by publishing a faux retraction in the January 28 issue titled, “Rules for the New England Courant.” The issue was addressed to the “Author of the New-England Courant” and requested for some “method wherein to carry it on without ministring just occasion of Offence to any, especially to the polite and pious People, of whom there are considerable numbers in this land.” The introduction is a tongue-in-cheek stab at Mather and those who think The Courant should not publish anything interpreted as disrespectful of organized religion. Franklin is acting like his letter is on the behalf of the many who were offended by James’ “Essay against Hyporcrites,” though Benjamin is making his own case against those same “hyporcrites” in his list of rules.

       He references the adverse impact of having a “Bad name,” or a tarnished reputation on having one’s intended message misinterpreted. This is a reference to the fate of his brother James, who had been snubbed to the point where anything he wrote was taken out of context and shunned because of what the public thought his true intentions were. Franklin mentions the reference, “there can no good thing come out of that Paper,” to prove the point that the slander of Mather and the House committee on The Courant has put the paper in a no-win position because of its negative reviews by those who think their analysis should be taken seriously by everyone who reads The Courant. He pokes fun of the supposedly insightful and valid points made by Mather by suggesting that although he does not have the “knowledge and prudence” of others he thinks his suggestions for the paper made it list form should be taken into account. Franklin makes a direct stab at Mather by mocking the fact that religion is his “safety and security, and if we lose the Honour of that, no small part of our strength and Glory will be lost without it.” Franklin is suggesting that Mather only will permit literature strengthening his personal views, not free speech as shown in The Courant.

       Franklin makes his next satirical reference towards all men of God who are the “best of men” and should not be “profanely exposed.” Mather will not tolerate any publications that portray him in a negative light and Franklin references the negative impact of doing do, much like what happened to The New England Courant, by suggesting that the clergy will “improve their influence to the uttermost, to suppress your paper.” Franklin is showing that the real intention of the church is to censor anything that could be detrimental to the adherence to their views, and they will take actions against any detractor much like they did to James Franklin. Benjamin warns against offending any religious figures for the defamer will most certainly be sent to hell. He hits at a similar vein when he says to never quote a pious author and reference sacred scripture, indirectly referencing the actions of The Courant and the current situation James Franklin finds himself in due to his lack of support of Mather’s politics.

       Franklin continues his tongue-in-cheek satire of Mather and the church by promoting general references and the avoidance of naming anyone specifically, because this can offend “good people” and could result in a disturbance of the overall community. Franklin suggests that exposing men in power and with authority could result in the “crushing of your paper,” once again a reference to the ill fate of his brother. Franklin’s conclusion with the “plain Directions, which if wisely followed, will steer clear of Rocks, Shelves, and Quick-sands” are all made with the intention of showing the public that free speech is impossible when dealing with content that could portray the church in a negative light. Avoiding the criticism of “pious” men, avoiding the use of the sermon form in one’s papers, and sticking to general statements that will not offend anyone are the main points of Franklin’s list of suggestions. Each component of the list reflects Franklin’s satirical attempt to show the unfairness of the church when limiting free speech. Free speech is only tolerated if the church approves of the message.

       The historical context provided by James Franklin’s “Essay against Hypocrites” is crucial to the understanding of “Rules for the New England Courant.” Franklin’s list of suggestions may seem valid by those who are not aware of Cotton Mather’s criticism of the paper and the resulting consequences of James Franklin’s trial. One would be able to notice some aspect of sarcasm in this issue of The Courant, by reviewing the advertisement section at the end. The advertisement clarifying that Captain Christopher Taylor was not the author of two letters previously published in The Courant, and that he takes offense to the allegations, is completely sarcastic shown by his next statement that he did indeed write the last letter. Franklin writes this ridiculous advertisement to reflect the absurdity of the accusations made by Mather and a reader’s response that refuses to go along with whatever the church deems as slander. Despite the satiric nature of “The Rules for the New England Courant,” the paper set a precedent for using proper syntax and grammar in widely read publications. Newspapers at the time used sloppy sentence structure and word choice, but this would end with the standard set by The New England Courant.