FREE ESSAY ON GULLIVER'S TRAVELS: INVESTIGATING SATIRE

GULLIVER'S TRAVELS: INVESTIGATING SATIRE

Satire produces difficulties, not certainties. When used in prose form, it transforms an
idea that seems preposterous into a believable concept that is to be accepted by the
reader. In Gulliver's Travels, author Jonathan Swift uses satire to do just that. He
takes a fairy-tale like setting and makes it acceptable to the audience, only to leave
them with questions about their own doings. Through Gulliver's eyes, he illustrates a
society that does not conform to the normal ideas of the human race. Gulliver is left by
his shipmates on a far off island and discovers a culture most likely unknown to the rest
of the world. It is run by Houyhnhnms, governing horses on the island that practice the
true ideas of reason. Also inhabiting this island are Yahoos, formidable, deformed
animals who exhibit the worst aspects of the human race. Swift uses these two character
types to do two things. Firstly, he uses the truly vile characteristics of humanity, both
physically and internally, and expresses them in an exaggerated way trough the actions of
the Yahoos. Secondly, he depicts the Houyhnhnms as characters of true reason. As this
satire was written during the Enlightenment Period, many people of the time strived to be
truly enlightened, which meant acting solely from a reason-based logic. Thus, these
characters represent a superior way of life to Gulliver. Swift uses these human like
characteristics to allow the audience to easily connect themselves to both character
types: the vile aspects of humanity that everyone posses, and the feelings of the
Enlightenment that everyone strived to uphold. Swift however, does not use these
characters to educate the readers, or leave them with a moral. His purpose here is solely
to create questions, to leave the audience wondering not only about the story, but
themselves and their society as well. 
As Gulliver first lands on the island, the first beings he encounters are the Yahoos.
Yahoos in appearance resemble certain characteristics of human beings. Following the
tracks of human feet, Gulliver finds several of them playing in a field, many more of
them on trees. Covered in thick hair, long beards and extended claws on their feet and
hands, Gulliver believes that he has never beheld in all his travels so disagreeable an
animal, or one that exuded so strong an antipathy . The exaggerated beastlike features
mentioned here are described as resembling humans, but in a deformed manner. The Yahoos
were presented as violent creatures, referred to as brute on several occasions, along
with indocile, and mischievous. When Gulliver provokes a member of the "herd" they begin
chasing him and throwing feces at him. Gulliver describes an encounter with a young
animal in which the "imp fell...and biting with such violence [Gulliver] was forced to
let it go" . Swift makes sure that even the reader's are able to recognize his attempt in
connecting humans with Yahoos. In addition to the aggressive features the Yahoos exude,
Swift links these two races on a deeper level. The popularity of the church in Europe,
although slowly declining, was used to relate the creation of the Yahoos to the then
universal belief of Adam and Eve. The origin of the Yahoos explains that two members of
the culture appeared on a mountain, and then multiplied at increasing rates, only to
"overrun and infest the whole nation" . Paralleling this story to humans, and they're
lives on earth, Swift creates a strong relation to the two species. He leaves the
audience with the impression that these creatures are violent by nature, also implying
the feasibility of humans also being created with the same qualities.
Living along side of the Yahoos, are the governing horses of the island, the Houyhnhnms.
Swift uses the Houyhnhnms to represent the reason-based society that was strongly growing
in Europe at the time. One of the most apparent aspects of their practice of true-reason
is their language. There is no lying, deception or doubt among their speech. Gulliver's
"master," a member of the Houyhnhnm society explains that:
The use of speech was to make us understand one another, and to receive information of
facts; now if anyone said the thing which was not, these ends were defeated. 
The language spoken by the Houyhnhnms is a simple beautiful language that is based solely
on their wants and passions. If the point of a common language is to communicate and
produce certain facts, there is no place, nor is there a reason, for lying. Acting in a
deceptive manner would defeat the purpose of communicating ideas or events to one
another. In a similar conversation between Gulliver and his master, Gulliver is asked to
explain how he was able to persuade men from different countries to join him on his
voyages. The long repetitive list Gulliver gives only confuses his master. Although
"drinking, whoring, gaming...murder, theft, prisoning, robbery, perjury, and forgery" are
all acceptable reasons to flee one's country, the Houyhnhnms see no use or necessity in
practicing those vices. In the Houyhnhnm language, there are no words for these actions,
let alone a need to practice these actions. Here, Swift presents the question of whether
one creates his language, or his language creates him. 
The many aspects of true-reason that Swift touches upon reveal to the audience that
living by reason-based laws and logic is a feasible reality. However, what he intends to
show through the Houyhnhnm culture was that living in such a society would not make the
society a perfect one. The Houyhnhnms lacked emotion. They were void of humor,
creativity, passion and love. Perhaps the reason Swift creates horses that are capable of
living by true reason alone is because of their limited culture. On this island, it is
clear that there is no real need for romantic ideas such as originality, inventiveness,
or even enthusiasm. However, when these solid ideas of logic and sense are applied to the
human race, the need for creative feelings ties directly into them. Humans are incapable
of leaving out emotions and opinions when making decisions. To live solely on the belief
that there are sensible, explainable reasons for everything would be to live like robots,
and Swift knew this. The Houyhnhnms served as a great example of what Europe would be
like had humans been capable of true reason. 
Swift uses the Houyhnhnms and the Yahoos to play with the minds controlled by
Enlightenment thinking. In addition to the ideas of true reason, one of the most
important aspects of the Enlightenment was that there are answers to every question,
everything exists for a reason, and questioning logic is wrong and pointless. Playing
with the idea that everything is "knowable," Swift presents questions and situations
which imply that NOTHING is knowable. His satirical writing style presents everything,
from human nature, to what humans strive to accomplish, in a manner never seen before.
Perhaps not an enlightened thinker himself, Swift introduces questions on larger issues
because they have no answers. There is no black and white when dealing with issues of
humanity. There is no right and wrong when answers are based on opinion and emotion.
Similarly, no one question can be answered without considering both the logical and
emotional aspects of the issue. Even today, as such romantic ideas are more strongly
apparent, Swift leaves the audience with nothing but questions, lost in the large
spectrum of grey areas that any issue produces. 
Bibliography
Jonathan Swift. "Gulliver's Travels, Book IV." The Norton Anthology of World
Masterpeices. Ed. Maynard Mack. New York: W.W. Norton & Company
1995. 431-483.