Did he really urinate on the palace to put out the fire?

Did he really urinate on the palace to put out the fire? …Prior to reading this book we had been told that Swift uses quite fowl language. Within the first part alone I came across the words “urinate,” “erect,” and “intercourse.” While these inappropriate terms distracted me, I also became distracted by the long paragraphs. Much of the reading was describing the scenery, and though this did help to create some powerful images in my head, it also seemed a bit irrelevant at times. Was there more significance to the excessive descriptions and fowl language then what appears on the surface? Of all things, why make the main character pee on a fire to put it out?

            So, his boat capsized, everyone drowned, he lived and swam to shore, fell asleep, woke up and saw tons of tiny people surrounding him with arrows in their hands. It’s quite interesting to me how quickly this character went from being an intruder to being waited on and fed by all the people of this island. I suppose it has to do with the fact that he sucked up to their emperor. Though he was significantly bigger in size, instead of fighting back he was kind to the people and the emperor and was quickly respected, later even worshiped. While reading this I couldn’t help but think of other books we’ve read with trickery. I immediately thought of Satan in Paradise Lost. Maybe this seems like a bit of a stretch, but both this main character and Satan fell (or swam) into a world that soon became their own. They quickly gained power and were well respected. It seems that “power” is a very prominent idea in many books we have read. How come some characters that don’t deserve power manage to get it so easily? This character swam onto a land that wasn’t his own and was soon referred to as “Nardac,” the highest title of honor for these people. Does he really deserve this honor?