A Tale Of A Tub

In the story, vapor represents the true essence of a person. It is what the Aeolist Priests belch out into the air in order to share their ideas with each other. This is how the philosophers teach their students. They look on their bodies as vessels, and Swift notes that in this case, that is true, as they are the vessels for this vapor that they emit as knowledge. Everybody has this vapor, which might be called the core of a person—their soul. Using satire, Swift turns this concept on its head by depicting the religious figures as expelling flatulence into the mouths of their followers, thereby “passing” their essence.

The tub represents the diversion that sailors would throw out so that whales would not overturn their ships. Here, Swift suggests that the whale is representative of “Hobbes’s Leviathan, which tosses and plays with all other schemes of religion and government” (20). In this case, the whale is trying to destroy the steady ship of government and religion, and those in power are throwing out a diversion, but the whale keeps coming. Although “A Tale of a Tub” within the text would seem to be a diversion, it is designed as a commentary on the state of religion and government in England.