The Satire of Gulliver's Travel

The Satire of Gulliver's Travel

In Jonathan Swift's masterpiece, Gulliver's Travels, he uses satire to exaggerate the pitfalls of the human race. Swift makes the human an unsavory animal. He then takes a horse, a simple work tool for humans, and makes them the sublime being. In this land, Gulliver soon discovers that he is unable to tolerate any Yahoos and his devotion is for the Houyhnhnms.

Gulliver, after being mistreated by his men on his ship, finds himself in a mysterious land. Ironically, he finds that humans, called Yahoos, are the lowest form of animals. Everything undesirable in humans is magnified in the Yahoos. The intelligent animals are horses, called Houyhnhnm that illuminates all the commendable traits of humans.

Gulliver quickly learns to communicate with the Houyhnhnm. In doing so, he inadvertently displays the undesirable attributes of the Yahoos of England. "I told him, we fed on a thousand things which operated contrary to each other; that we ate when we were not hungry, and drank without the provocation of thirst; that we sat whole nights drinking strong liquors without eating a bit, which disposed us to sloth, inflamed our bodies, and precipitated or prevented digestion." (Swift, 371) This makes they Houyhnhnm think that the Yahoos from England have no respect for each other and live to fulfill their own vices and desires.

The rational Houyhnhnm explains to Gulliver that even though he is well behaved and can learn, he is still a Yahoo in his eyes. "He added, how I had endeavored to persuade him, that in my own and other countries the Yahoos acted as the governing, rational anima, and held the Houyhnhnms in servitude; that he observed in me all the qualities of a Yahoo, only a little more civilized by some tincture of reason, which however was in a degree as far inferior to the Houyhnhnm race, as the Yahoos of their country were to me;Ð'..." (Swift, 383)

Gulliver is unable to find where he belongs. He finds serenity in the life with the Houyhnhnm, but they reject him and see him as a barbaric Yahoo. The Yahoos are foul creatures with disgusting habits and Gulliver is repulsed at the thought of having to live among them. Gulliver is held captive among some Yahoos and he is willing to take great risks to escape. "Ð'...when I thought the crew was at dinner, and getting to the side of the