Gulliver

’s Travels Essay, Research Paper


One of the most interesting questions about Gullivers Travels is


whether the Houyhnhnms represent an ideal of rationality or whether on


the other hand they are the butt of Swift’s satire. In other words, in


Book IV, is Swift poking fun at the talking horses or does he intend


for us to take them seriously as the proper way to act? If we look


closely at the way that the Houyhnhnms act, we can see that in fact


Swift does not take them seriously: he uses them to show the dangers


of pride.


First we have to see that Swift does not even take Gullver


seriously. For instance, his name sounds much like gullible, which


suggests that he will believe anything. Also, when he first sees the


Yahoos and they throw excrement on him, he responds by doing the same


in return until they run away. He says, “I must needs discover some


more rational being,” (203) even though as a human he is already the


most rational being there is. This is why Swift refers to Erasmus


Darwins discovery of the origin of the species and the voyage of the


Beagle–to show how Gulliver knows that people are at the top of the


food chain.


But if Lemule Gulliver is satirized, so are the Houyhnhnms, whose


voices sound like the call of castrati. They walk on two legs instead


of four, and seem to be much like people. As Gulliver says, “It was


with the utmost astonishment that I witnessed these creatures playing


the flute and dancing a Vienese waltz. To my mind, they seemed like


the greatest humans ever seen in court, even more dextrous than the


Lord Edmund Burke” (162). As this quote demonstrates, Gulliver is


terribly impressed, but his admiration for the Houyhnhnms is


short-lived because they are so prideful. For instance, the leader of


the Houyhnhnms claims that he has read all the works of Charles


Dickens, and that he can singlehandedly recite the names of all the


Kings and Queens of England up to George II. Swift subtly shows that


this Houyhnhnms pride is misplaced when, in the middle of the


intellectual competition, he forgets the name of Queen Elizabeths


husband.


Swifts satire of the Houyhnhnms comes out in other ways as well.


One of the most memorable scenes is when the dapple grey mare attempts


to woo the horse that Guenivre has brought with him to the island.


First she acts flirtatiously, parading around the bewildered horse.


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But when this does not have the desired effect, she gets another idea:


“As I watched in amazement from my perch in the top of a tree, the


sorrel nag dashed off and returned with a yahoo on her back who was


yet more monstrous than Mr. Pope being fitted by a clothier. She


dropped this creature before my nag as if offering up a sacrifice. My


horse sniffed the creature and turned away.” (145) It might seem that


we should take this scene seriously as a failed attempt at courtship,


and that consequently we should see the grey mare as an unrequited


lover. But it makes more sense if we see that Swift is being satiric


here: it is the female Houyhnhnm who makes the move, which would not


have happened in eighteenth-century England. The Houyhnhm is being


prideful, and it is that pride that makes him unable to impress


Gullivers horse. Gulliver imagines the horse saying, Sblood, the


notion of creating the bare backed beast with an animal who had held


Mr. Pope on her back makes me queezy (198).


A final indication that the Houyhnmns are not meant to be taken


seriously occurs when the leader of the Houynhms visits Lilliput,


where he visits the French Royal Society. He goes into a room in which


a scientist is trying to turn wine into water (itself a prideful act


that refers to the marriage at Gallilee). The scientist has been


working hard at the experiment for many years without success, when


the Houyhnmn arrives and immediately knows that to do: “The creature


no sooner stepped through the doorway than he struck upon a plan.


Slurping up all the wine in sight, he quickly made water in a bucket


that sat near the door” (156). He has accomplished the scientists


goal, but the scientist is not happy, for his livelihood has now been


destroyed. Swifts clear implication is that even though the Houyhnhmns


are smart, they do not know how to use that knowledge for the benefit


of society, only for their own prideful agrandizement.


Throughout Gullivers Travels, the Houyhnhms are shown to be an


ideal gone wrong. Though their intent might have been good, they dont


know how to do what they want to do because they are filled with


pride. They mislead Gulliver and they even mislead themselves. The


satire on them is particularly well explained by the new born Houyhnhm


who, having just been born, exclaims, “With this sort of entrance,


what must I expect from the rest of my life!” (178).

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