Gulliver's Travels Book IV: Comedy and Fantasy - Essay Example

?Introduction Gulliver's Travels is a book that is an allegory, and it doesn't necessarily always take a good view of humanity. Case in point is BookIV, in which Gulliver lands on the land of the Houyhnhnms. The Houyhnhnms are a strictly rational creature, and, as such, they always act in their own and others' best interests, and do not let emotion or passion enter into the equation. This makes for a peaceful society, where there are not wars, no lying and no need for law. They are humans without emotion. On the other hand, the Yahoos are humans without reason. They act only on emotion, so they are savages and reviled. Swift implies that humans are much more aligned with the Yahoos then the Houyhnhnms, and this makes it appear that perhaps Swift is a misanthrope with a dim view of humanity. However, this is contradicted by some critical thought that states that Swift actually has hope for humanity that they can be more like the Houyhnhnms. The Book does make it seem like humanity is doomed by avarice and greed, but, in the end, there is a hopeful note. Discussion The fourth book of Gulliver's travels definitely does associate humanity with a base, carnal nature that is in marked contrast to the reason which is displayed by the Houyhnhnms. The reason for this is because the Houyhnhnms are horses, and, as such, Swift pictures the Houyhnhnms to be gentle, amiable and reasonable creatures who rule the land like Utopia. The etymology of the word Houyhnhnms was “The Perfection of Nature.” On the other hand, the Yahoos are a disgusting, vile creatures – they are described as deformed and decomposed, with beards like goat, hairy backs and bare bodies. They also feed upon the flesh of animals, specifically asses and dogs (Swift, 1961, pp. 198-199). Yet, the creatures resemble human beings, except that they are naked. Further descriptions show the contrast between the gentle Houyhnhnms and the man-like Yahoos, and how the Yahoos resembled man and resembled heathens at the same time. It is clear throughout that the Yahoos are simply humans who are naked, because the running commentary is that Gulliver looked exactly like a Yahoo, except that he had “different covering from others of my kind” (Swift, 1961, p. 204).The Houyhnhnms felt that Gulliver must be a Yahoo, but his clothing confused the animals, as did Gulliver's “teachableness, civility and cleanliness” (Swift, 1961, p. 203). This implies that the Yahoos were not teachable, civil or clean. The next paragraph confirms this - “the Yahoos...were observed to be the most unteachable of all Brutes” (Swift, 1961, p. 203). The Yahoos are also marked by cunning and mischief. The Yahoos were widely abhorred for their nature (Swift, 1961, p. 210). On the other hand, the Houyhnhnms are so honest and forthright, that they do not have a word in their language to express lying or falsehood. This is because the Houyhnhnms do not have the concept of doubting or not believing, because the Houyhnhnms do not have the concept of deception or lying (Swift, 1961, p. 209). Thus, Swift contrasts the peaceable, rational nature of the Houyhnhnms with the savage, cunning, bestial nature of the Yahoos, while also making clear that the Yahoos were humans, and humans were Yahoos. The Houyhnhnms represents, perhaps, the way that man may aspire if he were to lead with his reason and not his base nature. Men are emotional creatures, and are driven by a variety of instincts – power, lust, greed, etc. Because of these base instincts, man's reasonable nature is corrupted. For example, the very wealthy in this country who ship jobs overseas would know, if they have the reason of the Houyhnhnms, that this will eventually lead to conditions where the economy collapses because people are being thrown out of work because all the jobs are going overseas. This is reasonable and rational. Yet, this is not how it is in this country – jobs are going overseas, and the profit and greed motive are the main reason why. If man were rational, he would see that this policy will be against his vital interests and pursue a different policy that would benefit the people. Since men are not rational, and let greed get in the way, this policy remains. Indeed, Gulliver expounds on some of these same themes in his conversations with the Houyhnhnms. He explains that man goes to war because the Prince thinks that he needs more land and people to govern, and that the Prince never believes that he has enough (Swift, 1961, p. 213). This shows an example of man being driven by greed. Gulliver also explains how religion drives war, when he states that differences of opinion, such as “whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh” is one reason why wars wage (Swift, 1961, p. 213). This shows an example of how man is not reasonable in his behavior, as differences of religion should be able to be overcome without going to war, if man were reasonable. Swift also minimizes the actual differences between religions, when he states that the differences in opinion include “whether the juice of a certain berry be blood or win; whether whistling be a vice of a virtue; whether it be better to kiss a post, or throw it into the fire; what is the best colour for a coat, whether black, white, red or grey; and whether it should be long or short, narrow or wide, dirty or clean” (Swift, 1961, p. 213). In other words, the differences in religion are a matter of externals and aesthetics, and they are certainly not as deeply-rooted to fight over, yet man goes to war over these trivial matters. Therefore, man is portrayed as not reasonable or rational, and driven by irrationalities. McManmon (1966) states that his portrayal is consistent with Christian thought, in that it represents the fall of man and the fall of human nature (McManmon, 1966, p. 59). There is also indication that the Yahoos and the humans were slightly different, and that is that the Yahoos did not display any degree of reason. Rather, they appear to be completely ruled by base instinct. This is obvious in the passage that states that “when a Creature pretending to Reason, could be capable of such enormities, he dreaded lest the Corruption of that Faculty might be worse than Brutality itself” (Swift, 1961, p. 215). In other words, the Yahoos were brutal, but they did not possess reason, and the Houyhnhnms took a kind of pity upon them for this reason, whilst they also detest them “although he hated the Yahoos of this country, yet he no more blamed them for their odious qualities then he did a gnnayh for its cruelty, or a sharp stone for cutting his hoof” (Swift, 1961, p. 215). The Yahoos are what man would be like if they did not have reason at all, for they purely reacted by instinct. But, this is not abhorrent to the Houyhnhnms so much as the possibility that there could be a creature who acts like the Yahoos, yet claimed to have reason, as does man. The implication is that man really only says that he uses logic and reason, when, in fact, he, like the Yahoos, only reacts by instincts and passions. This would be the reason why man acts in the way that he does – perpetuating violence on other men for trivial matters or because of greed. Gulliver also stated that, because man is not governed by reason, he has a need for law to keep him in line. The Houyhnhnms, who are governed entirely by reason and do not know of deception, do not understand the meaning of law. As the Houyhnhnms explain, simply having reason and living by reason negates the need for having law, because reason should show what a creature should do, and, in the world of the Houyhnhnms, reason is enough, for the creatures always follow what it is they should do. Gulliver further states that law is pretty much useless - “there is a society of men among us, bred up from their Youth in the Art of proving by Words multiplied for the Purpose, that white is black and black is white, according as they are paid”(Swift, 1961, p. 215). In other words, lawyers will twist the law in the favor of the person who is paying them, which makes the law superfluous. Gulliver further states that heads of state are the greediest of them all – they are a “Creature wholly exempt from Joy and Grief, Love and Hatred, Pity and Anger; at least makes use of no other Passions but a violent Desire of Wealth, Power, and Titles...that he never tells a truth, but with the intent that you should take it for a lye; not a lye, but with a design that you should take it for a truth. That those he speak worst of behind their Backs, are in the surest way to Preferment” (Swift, 1961, pp. 221-222). Swift also stated that heads of state do not become that way by legitimate means, but, rather by corruption and betrayals (Swift, 1961, p. 222). Because Gulliver describes the humans in such a term, this convinces the Houyhnhnms even more that humans are simply Yahoos, even though Yahoos are uncivilized brutes without reason. “Gulliver's account of human civilization does not cause of a reevaluation of the Houyhnhnms' opinion of his nature but a confirmation of their view of him as a Yahoo” (Flohr). This is a commentary on the nature of man, as Yahoos are creatures who are violent creatures, who fight over trivial matters, and fight over things that they don't really need. The Yahoos also devour anything that comes their way, and they are gluttonous – if their prey holds out “they would eat till they were ready to burst” (Swift, 1961, pp. 227-228). They are also prone to diseases, unlike the Houyhnhnms, and they would fight over a certain root, that makes them “hug, and sometimes tear one another; they would howl and grin, and chatter, and reel, and tumble, then fall asleep in the mud” (Swift, 1961, p. 228). The root sounds like drugs. Therefore, it seems that Swift is really down on humanity. He adversely compares humans to Yahoos, saying that they are identical in many ways, although the Yahoos do not wear clothing and they do not exercise reason. That said, the evaluation of mankind is not entirely negative or without hope. Middleton Murry (1961) states that “reason exists, according to Swift, as a mere latent potentiality in humans, and only becomes operative when the mind is free from passion or interest” (Middleton Murry, 1961, p. 337). Monk (1961) concurs in this analysis, stating that men become misanthropic if they have an unrealistic view of humanity. Further, Monk states that Swift's satire is not necessarily misanthropic, but philanthropic, in that Swift harbors idealism about what man can aspire to, instead of despairing about man's current nature (Monk, 1961, p. 285). In other words, there is a veiled idealism that underlies this book. Swift realizes that man can become so much better than what he is, and he uses the horses as an example of how man can achieve enlightenment. The Houyhnhnms are only reason, and, because they are, they are able to function in society and get along well, even without laws, and without wars and fighting. This is how humans would be if they would simply apply the same logic and reason, and not let emotions and passion color our perception about the world. The Houyhnhnms may represent Utopia, in that they have none of the vices that humans have – greed, avarice, violence, disease, war, etc. - but they also represent the best of what man can achieve. Swift therefore has a love of mankind, or at least the potentialities of it, and the potentials of mankind are represented by the Houyhnhnms. Still, Gulliver must, in the end, leave the land of the Houyhnhnms. As a human, he doesn't belong there, even if he recognizes the value of the Houyhnhnms. Perhaps there is a lesson there, too, according to Flintoff in her analysis of the theme of society in Gulliver's Travels, in that she states that “we cannot recreate this perfect society because that would mean abandoning the individuality that we hold so dear” (Flintoff). She comes to this conclusion because she points out that the Houyhnhnms, while the model of the ideal citizens in a civilized world, are a collective, as opposed to be individualistic, as they do not “even have names or individual personalities” (Flintoff). In this way, perhaps it is not necessary or even desirable to be like the Houyhnhnms, if one values freedom and individuality. In other words, perhaps it is a trade off that man has freedom and individuality, and that we also have to put up with the baser nature of man to be able to appreciate this individuality. For, if man were to form the perfect society of the Houyhnhnms, this would mean a loss of just these freedoms. On another note, perhaps it is not necessarily desirable to do away with emotion and passion, either. These are the characteristics that bring down society, in that man reacts with their emotions and passions, and this leads to the ills of society. By the flip of a coin, though, these same emotions and passions brings color and life to our world. In the land of the Houyhnhnms, there would not be Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, or a Sistine Chapel or a Mona Lisa. There would not be The Old Man and the Sea or any other masterpiece. These are all artistic endeavors, and they require a certain amount of passion and emotion to create. This is something that is not necessarily touched upon by the book itself, but it certainly is worth noting. Conclusion The Fourth Book of Gulliver's Travels does have a dim view of humanity. They are portrayed in a harsh light, so much so that they are compared to Yahoos, which are basically humans without reason. That said, there is some hope to Swift's words, and critics have actually detected a note of philanthropy, as opposed to blatant misanthropy. Swift realizes that man has a way to go in evolution, and that, if he would simply set aside emotion and approach situations with a clear head, there would be no need for laws, and there would be no war. On the other hand, without passion, there would be no color, either. Man might have a base instinct, and it leads him into greed and war. However, the alternative, to be like the Houyhnhnms, would not necessarily be better. Sources Used Flintoff, B. Themes in Gulliver's Travels: Society. Available at: http://www.watermill.org.uk/uploads/documents/education/63_010010_Gulliver's%20Travels%20Education%20Pack.pdf?download=true Flohr, B. Swift's attitude to reason. Available at: http://www.itp.uni-hannover.de/~flohr/papers/m-lit-18-century1.pdf McManmon, J. (1965) The problem of a religious interpretation of Gulliver's Fourth Voyage. Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 27, no. 1: pp. 59-67. Middleton-Murry, J. (1965) Gulliver's conversion amongst the Houyhnhnms. In Gulliver's Travels: An Annotated Text with Critical Essays, New York: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., pp. 335-339. Monk, S. (1965) The pride of Lemuel Gulliver. In Gulliver's Travels: An Annotated Text with Critical Essays, New York: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., pp. 281- 295. Swift, J. (1965) Gulliver's Travels. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc. Read More