Houynhnmland in Gulliver's Travels
Houynhnmland in Gulliver's TravelsGulliver 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...
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