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Subject: English

Language: English

Jonathan Swifts Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver in Houynhnmland

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. 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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