Question

describe the vein of comedy in the description of the people of laputa..

please ans.

Answer 1

Laputa had a magnetic apparatus which helped the island in ascending and descending towards Earth.

After escaping from the pirates Gulliver sails to the island of Laputa in his boat. He sees a huge land floating above his head and calls for help, once he pulled on the land above he is appalled at the sight of  twisted organs and clothes of the citizens. They seem incomplete and foolish, later, Gulliver discovers that their ideas are as twisted as their appearances. They cannot hear without flappers, they are always dwelling in supposedly scientific thoughts that they are hit on their ears by the flappers to get them to their immediate senses. Later Gulliver goes to Balnibarbi to visit the grand academy where absurd experiments are held. He is astonished to see begging scientists, "intellectuals: dressed in rags and awkward architecture of he city. Later the dead great philosophers disappoint Gulliver's expectations on the island of sorcerers (glubbdubdrib), His frustration is aggravated by meeting the exhausted immortals of Luggnagg.

Munodi was the lord of Laputa. Among all Laputans, he seemed to be the only man with practical intelligence. He was the one who accompanied Gulliver on a tour of the kingdom. He was satisfied with what he was able to preach and practice. He was different from other Laputans as he was able to think critically on all issues. Unlike other Laputans, he was kind to Gulliver. 

The people of Laputa were absent-minded scientists. They had theoretical knowledge in astronomy, mathematics and other subjects but they failed miserably when it came to practical understanding.  

The tailor who was ordered to make a suit for Gulliver used a quadrant and a ruler and then drew Gulliver’s whole body on a sheet of paper. However, even after this when he came with the set of clothes, it was found that they were badly made and were out of shape. This was because he had made a mistake in his calculation.

Besides this, these people always had a fear in their mind regarding heavenly bodies. They believed that the earth would one day be swallowed by the sun or the sun would become dark and therefore give no more light to the world.  

The third part is a satire on the chief aspirations and perceptions of the humanity. Swifts has undercut the idea of simpleminded  obsession over science and advancement, it kills the basic human instincts and runs for the artificial, as illustrated by the scientists of  the academy. He has also undercut the idea of glorified past. Swift is simply trying to focus on present and nullifies the idea of absurd scientific advancement and gloried past principles. He has also ridiculed immortality as it fails to construct the idea of "present" and fuses the past, present and future. The author is emphasizing the idea of "now" and present in the third part of the book.