In 1719, Robinson Crusoe was published and became an instant hit.
It made Jonathan Swift very angry.
The reason?
Robinson Crusoe was a book brimming with optimism and praising human capacity. To counter that, Jonathan Swift started writing his own book - “Gulliver's Travels.”
Jonathan Swift was a cleric who wrote in his spare time. He had written “A Tale Of Tub” - a book telling the tale of three brothers - each representing one of the three main branches of Christianity. Queen Anne hated it. She found it too blasphemous.
And because of that, she made it impossible for Swift to get a good position as a clergy in England. Swift had to leave England and go live in Ireland.
Writing had ruined his life. And yet, Swift could not stop writing.
He wrote “Gulliver’s Travels” as a satirical commentary on various aspects of society, politics, human nature, and the prevailing literary and philosophical trends of his time.
Over the next few years, he ended up writing 4 books in the series. In book 1, Gulliver comes across a complex society of very tiny people who capture him after a shipwreck. In book 2, he comes across giants. In book 3, he meets very wise scientists. And in book 4, he meets horse-type people.
In each of these books, Swift showed how easy it was to corrupt people regardless of whether the society was simple or complex; or whether the masses were smart or dumb.
Surprisingly, the books he wrote as satire became extremely popular as children's books. Which further cemented (in Swift’s mind) how gullible people can be.
So he wrote another book. This time, he suggested a solution to Ireland's problems
In “A Modest Proposal” Swift laid down how Ireland could fix its economic and overpopulation problems in one go. He started the book by describing the poor plight of the beggars in Ireland and then proposed that their children should be used as food for the rich.
“A young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled.”
He went on to give recipes on how best to cook babies. He even provided maths to demonstrate how it would benefit the poor.
The book created a huge uproar.
Cannibalism as a solution?
Preposterous!
After that every time Swift wrote something, he was derided and hated. His work and intentions were often misunderstood. His books made people angry. His writing made him infamous.
And rich.
Wait a minute…
Jonathan Swift could have died a nobody. But today, he is a giant of literature. He had a huge impact on the politics of England - without even being a politician.
And all because he mastered the art of writing satire.
One could have written a normal book that proposed various conventional solutions to help Ireland come out from the depths of poverty. And that book would have gone completely unnoticed.
But because he wrote a book proposing rich eat poor people’s babies as a solution to all of Ireland's problems and everyone talks about it. The book made an impact.
Satire makes people angry. But it also wins the public's attention and gets a much-needed reaction.
Swift’s writing caused him all sorts of problems. But it also allowed him to make a dent in the world.
But today satire is a dying art. Political correctness and cancel culture are killing a very effective tool that writers (who came before us) had in their arsenal.
George Orwell's "Animal Farm," Lewis Carroll’s “Alice In Wonderland,” and Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" are all satires.
We don’t have to go to the length Swift went to get attention, but we should certainly learn to write satire because of its power to make a change.
How to write satire?
When Jonathan Swift was 15 years old and studying at Trinity College in Dublin, he was taught logic and philosophy. And it mainly focused on debate. You had to be able to debate both sides of any topic convincingly.
That's when Swift realized that he could use satire to win debates. Take a stand for the position you are against. Sprinkle it with exaggeration and absurdness and you will persuade people towards your position.
So what’s satire?
It’s difficult to define satire. But let’s make an attempt.
Satire is attacking a point of view with exaggerated wit.
To attack a point of view, you have to compare and contrast. But you do it absurdly to show how crazy it would be to be on the side of the opposition.
The formula for being satirical is:
Pinpoint the struggles, frustrations, and problems of the people.
Advice on doing the exact opposite to solve them.
Take the topic of rising inequality between the nobility and the common man. How would most people recommend you solve it? By advising the rich to be charitable. Jonathan Swift turned the tables and advised the rich to eat the poor.
P.S. Have you used satire in your writing?
How do you do it?
I am very interested in this topic and would like to have a discussion on it. Post something satirical from your own writing. Or give a link to something you read recently that you think is done well.
I am back from my travels. Every time I am back after a break, I re-evaluate my newsletter. I am going through the same process again. I am wondering whether I am providing value with my current format. Should I make it more specific for writers (it is all over the place at the moment) or should I keep it generic (many readers have told me they like the stories and concepts I share).
What do you think?
from Writers At Works is doing a lot of work with Substack writers, helping them find their niche and even getting them to serialize their memoirs and books. It is worth subscribing to her newsletter.That’s all from me this week.
Neera Mahajan
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Credits:
Article idea by Ankesh Kothari