Self & Society: British Lit @Hood College

I found it really interesting that Gulliver's main goal was to learn the language of the Houyhnhnms. He was so interested in these horse people. I'm not going to lie, I probably would be interested in them to because they aren't something that I would be used to seeing. Gulliver comes off very selfish because he leaves him pregnant wife to go on another voyage. Like, what kind of man leaves his wife, who is carrying their child, to sail across the sea? I know this book is suppose to be complete satire, but who is Jonathan Swift making fun of by making the house people 'smarter' than humans? That's kind of funny because I was once told that animals are way smarter than we might think.

So apparently the Houyhnhnms are horse people that are more intelligent then men. I find this funny and quite disturbing. Is swift trying to take a jab at human intelligence compared to animal intelligence? Are humans the less intelligent vessels on earth?either way I'm tired of the compatibility involving humans and other beings. I get it ok?! Humans are not the only thing in the universe. The sun does not shine because of humans. We are part of something much bigger.

The last place, the land of the Houyhnhnms is probably Gulliver’s favorite and most  ideal place to live, which possibly makes it a utopic society for him? It is surprising to me because one usually associates their home as a place of comfort and happiness. But that is not the case for Gulliver. Gulliver associates Houyhnhnms as a place that he can call his home. In my opinion the land of Houyhnhnms is not anything special . Gulliver has misperceived Houyhnhnm land.  The fact that Gulliver thinks this way demonstrates that he has a lot of issues going on. He seems selfish to me. He has a pregnant wife and child at home but does not want to return to them. And when he does, he is disgusted with his own family. He should be disgusted with himself for the way he is acting.

I found the last trip that Gulliver went on to be a little disturbing. Especially the part when he finally gets home. He hates everyone so much and no longer refers to humans as such but calls them Yahoos.  He also neighs as he speaks and since he hates everything that looks like a Yahoo he is disgusted by his own family. There’s probably some reason he ended it the way he did but I don’t know what that reason is.