Chapters 2 and 3 of Gulliver's Travels

In Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift satirizes all of English society of his time. More than any other group, it seems clear that the Lilliputians who capture and “control” Gulliver are representative of the politicians who ran England in Swift’s time. In attempting to control Gulliver, the Lilliputians exhibit the characteristics of arrogance, greed, and ambition. Each of these traits, while perhaps necessary for political mobility, are given a negative connotation. Moreover, they seem to instill in Gulliver an inclination toward submission. In Swift’s satire, this is a commentary on the attitudes and actions of the English nobility and the effect on the average English citizen.
According to Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, arrogance is “that species of pride which . . . exalts the worth of importance of the person to an undue degree.” The first instance of such arrogance in Chapter 2 is in the description of the Emperor on page 981. In naming spe...