In this sixth chapter, Swift shifts the tone of his satire, because if it’s always and only aimed at the petty little Lilliputians, the edge of the satire will get blunt. The consistency we look for from a satire like Gulliver’s Travels is not in the character of Gulliver, or of the places he visits, but of the moral voice of Swift himself, which we learn to hear, sometimes gentle, sometimes sly, sometimes winking at us, sometimes bursting out into indignation. Satires shouldn’t always have the same tone — that’s no fun, and the sheer fun of a satire is half the author’s battle in getting us to listen to him. And when things strike us as a surprise, we pay more attention.
So the surprise here is that the Lilliputians actually have some wise laws. Whether they would work as laws isn’t so much the point, as is the moral insight that they embody. Why should fraud be punished worse than robbery? Why should ingratitude to a benefactor be a capital crime? Why should people of uncertain morals never be admitted to public office, and why, if they are possessed of great intelligence, does that make matters even worse?
Enjoy the “travel”!
