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.

I'm a bit confused about specifically two things in this reading. The first is when Behn says, "I ought to tell you that Christians never buy any slaves but they give 'em some name of their own..." (2205). How exactly does that work? Unless I'm reading this wrong, this reads as if Christians are super in denial about slavery. The second thing that confuses me is at the bottom of 2205, where we're told that the slaves that Oroonoko comes across are the very same slaves he sold into slavery, yet here they are throwing themselves at his feet? Why would they do this? I do have to say that calling Oroonoko Caesar is basically foreshadowing of when the slaves betray him later on in the story and his fate of death. Also, the ending of this story is giving me some serious vibes of Braveheart , what with the disembowelment, draw and quartering, and the refusal to live in under the rule of another. .gif from Braveheart (http://media1.giphy.com/media/m12GiqBQywgbS

In the text Oroonoko is promised freedom over and over again without any follow through or sign of commitment to that guarantee. He's constantly assured that one day he will be free and his son won't be born into slavery but there is little evidence to support this promise. Still after all the deceit Oroonoko surrenders and accepts this. I'm curious why he still takes a man who has proven himself untrustworthy at his word. It think its very possible that he uses his hope as a way to cope and avoid dealing with the situation he's trapped in. In the end we see that all the promises were truly empty and that there was never any true intent of freeing him. Even though I know these promises where a manipulation tactic I still wanted to have that hope, like Oroonoko, that there was a chance.

While reading the second half of "Oronoko," I admit that I had trouble following the story at times. However, I feel that despite that problem, I was able to understand the main points that the author is trying to get across. The idea of a noble man and his wife, expecting a child, constantly tormented by the idea of being in servitude is upsetting, to say the least. Especially with the heartbreaking end to which Oroonoko and his wife are met. I understand that the author is trying to convey the brutality of slave masters, which I feel she did pretty well, but I found myself lost and sometimes troubled by the way she seemed to often objectify Oroonoko, making him seem like a valuable commodity that would be even more valuable if he was free. I wonder what points were supposed to really resonate with white women.