In Luggnagg, anyone granted an audience with the King must perform a humiliating ritual, which symbolizes the King’s absolute authority and the complete submission of his subjects.
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Swift introduces a darkly satirical element to this custom: if the King decides to execute a courtier, he secretly sprinkles the floor with a brown, poisonous powder.
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The courtier, unaware of the danger, ingests the poison while performing the licking ceremony and dies shortly afterward.
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This practice underscores both the cruelty of absolute power and Swift’s critique of arbitrary authority.
