A Tale of a Tub

"A Tale of a Tub" by Jonathan Swift is a satirical prose fiction that uses allegory to poke fun at religion, extreme beliefs, and how people understand writings, plus it comments on the literature and politics of Swift's day, thinking about the difficult parts of human actions and society. The story starts by introducing the situation around this written work and the author acting funny when dedicating it to a rich person, showing how writers want both to be proud and get approval from important people. Then a Bookseller talks to the reader, suggesting that the writing is strange since it was released without the author knowing. He thinks about what people think of the author and how hard it is to be accepted in writing groups full of smart and critical people. This creates an introduction to the later funny and critical writing, which seems to be a multi-layered explanation of society and literature's problems, mixing silly jokes with real philosophical thoughts about what it means to be human.