gulliver's travel's 'A voyage into the country of the houyhnhnms'

Gulliver's travels is a wonderful book that satirizes human nature . Read the parts in bold to see what I mean. Maybe then I can entice you to read the book.


Jonathan Swift is renowned for his very satirical style of writing. His essays and novels are mainly satires about European society. One such book is Gulliver’s Travels. Gulliver’s Travels is divided into four parts in which Swift mock certain aspects of human behavior. The fourth part of Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, “A Voyage into the Country of the Houyhnhnms” is about a man (Gulliver) who finds himself in a society governed by horses (Houyhnhnms) and plagued with horrific creatures (Yahoos). In this story Swift satirizes human pride, greed and treachery.
Human pride is a major theme in the story however, it is ridiculed by Swift. The Yahoos are vile and hideous creatures, yet they believe that they are beautiful. Gulliver’s master (a Houyhnhnm) states, “…the Yahoos were known to hate one another mores than they did any different species of animals; and the reason usually assigned, was the odiousness of their own shapes, which all could see in the rest, but not in themselves.” This statement shows human vanity and their instinctual dislike for any creature they think are not as beautiful as themselves. Swift draws a parallel between the Yahoos who are repulsive and the nobility in his society who are described as having a “…weak, diseased body, a meager countenance and sallow complexion…”
The Houyhnhnms are the opposites of the Yahoos. They reflect an ideal because they live a simple life and are ignorant of human vices. However they depict pride because they consider themselves better than Gulliver and refuse to accept or acknowledge the concept of anything outside of their norm. Excessive pride is shown in their mating habits since they are extremely careful to choose a mate that “…will not make any disagreeable mixture in the breed.” Gulliver himself shows his pride when he refuses to be seen as a Yahoo and thinks of his fellow men as Yahoos. He tries to be like the Houyhnhyms whom he also sees as ideal and perfect creatures.
A contrast between the Yahoos and the Houyhnhnms is that they live to satisfy their wants and needs respectively. The Houyhnhnms live simply and eat a very simple diet of oats and milk in order to sustain them. However the Yahoos are gluttonous creatures and gorge themselves on any rotting meat or food they can find. The master says, “ For if you throw among five Yahoos as much food as would be sufficient for fifty, they will, instead of eating peaceably, fall together by the ears, each single one impatient to have all to itself…” He (the master) also points out that the yahoos fight over a stone that is abundant in the country yet they cannot have enough.(remind you of how we act over useless gems)
The Houyhnhnms compare the greed and excessiveness of the Yahoos to the people in Gulliver’s society. Swift ridicules the people of his own society and their want for the ‘exotic’. The gluttony of the Yahoos could be compared to the fussiness of the nobility who do not eat to satisfy their needs but instead demand exotic and elaborate dishes to please their palette. Another parallel is drawn with the stone that the Yahoos collect to that of a diamond. The stone is pretty but has no real value when it comes to being useful in aiding the livelihood of the Yahoos. Nevertheless they are greedy and want all the stones that they can find because it is coveted amongst them. Similarly a value can be seen as useless because it only holds monetary value and the only reason people want a lot of it is because it is attractive and sought after.
In his explanation of his native land, Gulliver states the unfairness of the law because men in authority use it to fulfill their own selfish means in becoming richer. Swift satirizes the lawyers and affirms their greed by saying that the profession is very unjust and they do not protect morals and virtue but in fact tries to debilitate the virtues in society. He says that a lawyer can be bribed (which is most often the case) and that the only reason they will refuse a bribe is if it contradicted the evils of their profession and made them actually fight for justice. In satirizing the lawyers he (Swift) also ridicules his society because they have forged the law to satisfy their own greed because they can use it to steal the riches of another in the name of justice.
Treachery is a rather unfortunate drawback to human nature. We see a definite contempt of human treachery when the master of the house compares the behaviors of the Yahoos to the people in Gulliver’s society. The master of the house, (a Houyhnhnm) believes that Gulliver has “said the thing which is not” (lied) when he explains his about society and the murderers in it. The Houyhnhnm cannot understand the reasons that warrant men to be deceitful and murder one another.
Gulliver tries to explain the reasons for war amongst his people to the Houyhnhnm however, in doing so Swift illustrates the pettiness and trivialities that lead men to detest one another and be treacherous. Swift writes (on the reasons for war), “…the corruption of ministers, who engage their master in a war in order to stifle or divert the clamor of the subjects against their evil administration. Differences in opinions hath cost millions of lives…” When viewed through the eyes of Gulliver, who is amongst the peaceful Houyhnhnms we see that war and treachery are simply products of human vices. The master commented that he could not blame the Yahoos for their cruelty, because it was not something that they could control. On the other hand he said that humans were void of reason and had only the quality to increase their vices because Nature did not outfit them as She did the Yahoos, with claws nor a body to maim each other.
“ A Voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnms”, is a remarkable illustration of human nature because it shows humans at their worst (the Yahoos) and a picture of what we should strive to be like (the Houyhnhnms). However in portraying an ideal for society he also points out that we cannot rid ourselves of all our vices because the Houynhnhnms were also very vain creatures. One can learn from these almost comical characters and see that if we succumb to our vices and fight each other then we are no better than the hideous Yahoos.