Essay, Research Paper: Gulliver's Brainwashing

"As soon as I entered the house, my wife took me in her arms, and kissed me; at which, having not been used to the touch of that odious animal for so many years, I fell in a swoon for almost an hour" (Gulliver's Travels, p. 292). This is Lemuel Gulliver's account of his homecoming. After having been away from his wife and family for many years, it is difficult to understand how a man could respond in such a fashion to his spouse, who had received him with great joy and compassion. Gulliver behaves in this manner due to the vast amount of brainwashing and psychological fatigue, which he underwent while in Houyhnhnmland. This brainwashing has a lasting effect on Gulliver's personality.
In the beginning of the story, Gulliver relates that, upon leaving for his voyage overseas, he was in a "very happy condition" (p. 246). He has great pride in his native country of England, and he maintains his proud nature when he first arrives in Houyhnhnmland.
Once arriving in this strange land, Gulliver encounters a group of animals known as Yahoos. Gulliver is utterly appalled by these creatures. He tells the reader, "The ugly monster...distorted several ways every feature of his visage...then rated so loud that a herd ...came flocking about me ...howling and making odious faces. Several of this cursed brood...leapt up in the tree, from whence they began to discharge their excrements on my head...[I] was almost stifled with the filth which fell about me on every side" (p.248-249). Gulliver does not consider the vile creatures to be similar to him. Therefore, he continues to search the land for "civilized" creatures.
When Gulliver first meets the Houyhnhnms he has a much different reaction. Gulliver pays great attention to their "conference," involving the shaking of their hooves and their neighing in deliberation. He states that the horses must be rational creatures. "I was amazed to see such actions and behaviors in brute beasts," he says, "and concluded with myself that if the inhabitants of this country were endued with a proportional degree of reason, they must needs be the wisest people upon earth" (p. 249).
Although Gulliver views the horses as rational creatures, since they have a language, he does not believe that the horses rule the island. Gulliver believes that there must be another race of people similar to himself, and that the horses are simply their servants.
Initially, Gulliver has no intention to stay in Houyhnhnmland. He decides to utilize the scarce resources of the land "till I could make my escape to some other country, and to creatures of my own species" (p. 254).
Gulliver's pride is quickly shaken when he is compared to a "detestable" Yahoo. He is "mortified" when he perceives that the Houyhnhnms believe him to be one of those detestable creatures. "I heard the word "Yahoo, often repeated betwixt them," he says, "the meaning of which word I could not then comprehend, although it were the first I had learned to pronounce; but I was soon better informed, to my everlasting mortification" (p. 252).
After his pride is weakened, Gulliver soon becomes very submissive to the Houyhnhnms. For example, at first, Gulliver refers to his host as "the master" of the house. However, after only a short period of residing in the horse's home, Gulliver begins to refer to the horse as "my master." Gulliver also makes great efforts to learn the Houyhnhnms' language. The Houyhnhnms, however, make no effort to learn Gulliver's language, deeming it as "inferior" to their own. The horses view the Yahoos, as well as Gulliver, as being inferior to them because they possess no reason. They believe that Gulliver, rather than possessing reason of his own, has merely been taught to "imitate a rational creature" (p. 255).
Gulliver soon adopts this standpoint of inferiority. When asked to relate the state of England to his master, Gulliver says that his account will "suffer...by translation into our barbarous English" (p. 262). Gulliver then attempts to tell his master of the "wonders" of his homeland, intending to glorify his country's virtues. Rather than relating "wonders," however, Gulliver tells his master of the atrocities of humankind, such as war, poverty, corruption, falsehood, and so forth. Gulliver soon begins to believe, aided by constant degradation of his homeland by his master, that his country has no virtues. His master continually attacks Gulliver, his country, his physical appearance, and even his species. This constant belittling eventually wears Gulliver down psychologically, and he becomes "brainwashed" to believe that the human race is inferior to that of the Houyhnhnms.
Gulliver recognizes the physical resemblance of the Yahoos to him, and he begins to assume that there is a corresponding moral resemblance as well. Therefore, Gulliver draws the conclusion that the Yahoos are men and that men are Yahoos. Gulliver eventually begins to despise his "Yahoo" race, while admiring the "noble" life of the Houyhnhnms.
Gulliver says "the many virtues of those excellent quadrupeds, placed in opposite view to human corruption had so far opened my eyes..." that he began to foster "an utter detestation of all falsehood or disguise, and truth appeared so amiable to me that I determined upon sacrificing everything to it." (p. 270) Eventually, Gulliver becomes so brainwashed by his master, that he makes the "firm resolution" that he "will never return to human kind" (p. 271). However, Gulliver's resolution proves to be infeasible, as he is banished from Houyhnhnmland because he is a "Yahoo."
Upon returning to "civilization" and encountering the Europeans, Gulliver finds it preposterous when the "Yahoos" speak. He says, "When [the seamen] began to talk I thought I never heard or saw anything so unnatural, for it appeared to be as monstrous as if a dog or a cow should speak in England, as a Yahoo in Houyhnhnmland" (p. 289).
Captain Mendez is extraordinarily kind and patient to Gulliver. He recognizes that Gulliver is deranged, but he does what he can to make Gulliver's return to human society as easy as possible. The captain demonstrates an important human virtue, charity. However, Gulliver, although he recognizes that Mendez is a good man, continues to respond to him as if he were a Yahoo. Gulliver has been so blinded by his experience on Houyhnhnmland that he is now incapable of responding to the human goodness, which he encounters. He continues to see Captain Mendez as a Yahoo, although the captain demonstrates more kindness to the Gulliver than the "noble" Houyhnhnms ever did.
After his experience in Houyhnhnmland, Gulliver exemplifies a psychological defense mechanism called "projection." Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud defined this defense mechanism as one in which a person is changes in order to "defend" himself from the horrors of a past traumatic experience. Freud believed that through projection, a person who is afraid of his own aggressive impulses obtains some relief for his anxiety by attributing, or projecting, aggressiveness towards other people. The person believes that others are the ones who are aggressive, not he. Such is the case with Gulliver. He believes that all humans are Yahoos. Being human, Gulliver believes that he too is an aggressive, detestable Yahoo. This realization is appalling to Gulliver. In order to defend himself from this realization, Gulliver attributes the detestable qualities of Yahoos to humans. He believes that all humans "stink." He will not cover [himself] with anything that had been on the back of a Yahoo," believing that the clothing would "defile" him (p. 290-291). Upon receiving a hug from his wife, Gulliver believing her to be an "odious animal," faints (p. 292). For the first year after his return home, Gulliver will not eat in the same room as his family, because "the very smell of them [is] intolerable." Upon his return to England, Gulliver , rather than conversing with humans, spends all of time in the company of his horses. The brainwashing in which the Houyhnhnms inflicted upon Gulliver has a made a lasting impression upon his mind and has warped his sense of reason.