The Dirtiness Within

Bathing oneself is an everyday activity for most, but how many of these people actually think about and realize what they are doing besides cleansing themselves of dirt? Well actually that’s exactly what they are doing however it may not be the same dirt that most think of. It is not the same dirt that gives birth to the fruits that people feast upon. It is in fact the dirt of society and the world. The dirt of sin and hatred.

This idea of human filth is a clear theme in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. One can see that the constant, intense description of excrement reoccurs time and time again which in reality proves that humans will never be free of the filth that they carry within. This further shows that humans are flawed by nature and that they are not pure. This in turn, is a slap in the faces of the enlightenment thinkers who where just coming to be during this period. It is apparent that Swift disapproved of the enlightenment beliefs and undoubtedly condemns them with this work.

With this opposition to the enlightenment comes opposition to much more than a few ideas. It is then defying the beliefs of thousands of people who have been disillusioned by the enlightenment philosophers and will blindly believe them because their ideas make people feel good about themselves. As we can see in Gulliver’s Travels, Gulliver finds himself knee deep in cow excrement he still continues to treed on, ignorant to the fact that he is, in essence, the equivalent of the excrement. This situation, when analyzed, can easily be perceived as an analogy to all humans and their sate of being.

Some may feel that these accusations are false and a direct attack against humans, however it is, in fact, although hard to accept, the truth. The truth is to often rejected by people and bashed when it should be accepted for what it is. If honesty is a virtue, why do people neglect to realize their state of being? One situation that further proves this point is...