Through the metaphors found in Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift demonstrated that humanity's self-indulgence will lead to their ultimate failure unless they learn to become kinder and altruists. Each island in Gulliver's Travels displays a different trait that makes it equally negative as well as self-indulgent. This type of failure will cause separation and isolation, which could lead to mental instability. The book, Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, begins with a young, recently married surgeon. This young surgeon, Gulliver, is a family man who starts working as a surgeon on a ship. Gulliver at the beginning of the book is just like any other man of this age, as seen in this quote from Gulliver's Travels: “But, my good master Bates died two years after, and I had few friends, my business began to fail; for my conscience would not suffer me to imitate the evil practice of too many of my brethren. After consulting with my wife and some of my acquaintances, I decided to set sail again. I was surgeon [sic] successively on two ships, and made several voyages, for six years, to the East and West Indies, by which I increased my fortune" (Swift 26). But during his voyage, Gulliver loses track of himself and becomes a completely different person. The first island he goes to is Lilliput, but he visits the neighboring island, Blefuscu, after being disappointed with the people of Lilliput. The miniature people of Lilliput and Blefuscu were full of pride and always fighting for the highest rank. In Lilliput, government officials were elected through contests to see who was the best, as seen in this quote: “Sometimes the Emperor holds one end of the staff and his first… half of paper... .ll, Howard. Swift: "Gulliver's Travels" Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1993. Print.Kelly, Ann Cline. "Gulliver as Pet and Pet Keeper: Talking Animals in Book 4." Modern Critical Interpretations of Bloom: Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2009. 211-34. Print.Marshall, Ashley. "Gulliver, Gulliveriana and the problem of Swiftian satire". Modern Critical Interpretations of Bloom: Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2009. 119-44. Print.Rabb, Melinda. "The Secret Memoirs of Lemuel Gulliver: Satire, Secrecy, and Swiftness." Modern Critical Interpretations of Bloom: Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, New York: Infobase Publishing, 2009. 165-92. Print.Swaim, Kathleen M. A Reading of Gulliver's Travels. The Hague: Mouton, 1972. Print.Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels. 1726. New York: Penguin Group, 1960. Print.