What is the allegorical significance of the floating island of Laputa?
Laputa means 'floating island'. This meaning has a resemblance with the thought and activity of the Laputans. They act less, think more. They lack spontaneity. They all have the theoretical knowledge, not the practical knowledge. The government uses technology to float over the rest of the kingdom. It shows the gap between the government and its subjects. The king and the other intellectuals always think abstract things and only wake up with the help of their flappers. They are far removed from the people and their needs. Jonathan Swift has used this allegory to satirise the government and the intellectual thinkers for their hypocrisy, callousness and inactivity.