In this final chapter, Swift returns to his normal, ironic joking. Gulliver swears that he tells the truth, slashing at lying authors of other voyage books. He denies that he uses political allusions; of course, however, Swift has attacked the Whigs almost continuously in the first three books. To make the joke even clearer to his literate audience, Swift has Gulliver quote Sinon (Virgil, Aeneid, II, 79–80). Sinon declares that he is telling the truth; in context, he is lying wholeheartedly.
In a last view of Gulliver's home life, we watch Gulliver still trying to become a horse. The scene is ridiculous, as if it is Gulliver's final warning against pride. The book ends on a note of deep irony; Gulliver is a prime example of the very pride he condemns.
