"To vex mankind rather than to divert it": Swift said this was the reason that he wrote "Gulliver's Travels." By this I think he means he wrote it to show his readers the weaknesses and corruption of mankind and show what mankind could become - he has exaggerated or ridiculed mankind to expose the imperfections of our society rather than entertaining the reader with a story, which he has done very well also. Swift was writing as if he was a misanthrope, so much so that when it was originally published, the book didn't have Swift's name on it for he feared persecution by the government (this was also the case with all of Swift's other books). His satire ranges from extremely critical of man (e.g. what the King says in Brobdingnag - see later) and to some milder satire (when he pokes fun at man's dependence...