Gulliver’s Travels PART IV

Chapter 1-4

Gulliver, true to his adventurous nature, leaves his home to captain a ship named “Adventure.” The voyage results in many deaths early on, and the people he hires as replacements turn out to be pirates. The pirates organize a mutiny and lock up Gulliver, who is abandoned on a strange island yet again. Here he sees large animals that are unlike any he has previously seen. He also meets the horse-shaped creatures on this island. After several failed attempts, Gulliver is able to properly pronounce the words “Houyhnhnm” and “Yahoo.”

As Gulliver prepares to be presented in front of the court, he expects to meet the human owners of the horses. However, he is surprised to see more horses sitting in a clean room. The master horse is colored gray, and Gulliver gradually realizes that the dirty creatures who had initially accosted him were humans, though a wilder version of humans. On this island, a human is referred to as a Yahoo. It turns out that the horses have mistaken Gulliver for a Yahoo. When he is offered raw meat, the food typically offered to Yahoos, Gulliver refuses and makes oatcakes instead. Rather fittingly, the grey horse assigns a lodging space to Gulliver that is neither in the horses’ territory nor part of the Yahoo stable. He is assigned a space between these two spaces.

Gulliver learns the Houyhnhnm language and the place’s history under the tutelage of a master horse. The master horse is unable to believe that Gulliver, a creature bearing close resemblance to the Yahoos, could be capable of reason and learning. Gulliver’s accounts of his world shock the master to the point; he finds it difficult to believe that Yahoo-like creatures could practice governance.

Notably, the Houyhnhnm language does not have a word for “lie.” Gulliver, given that his skin looks similar to a Yahoo’s skin, is accidentally discovered by some horses, but the master lies and calls him a perfect Yahoo in a bid to protect him. Further, Gulliver recounts his story to the master, which also causes disbelief. Deducing from Gulliver’s accounts, the master shares that the “European Yahoos” seem weaker and more immoral than the Yahoos on this island. He also notes that the European Yahoos could not have become the masters of the European Houyhnhnms without ample rational abilities. Gulliver observes that the island has no cultural or linguistic understanding of dark forces, such as power, evil, punishment, etc.

Analysis

Gulliver’s overpowering at the hands of the pirates gives readers the opportunity to reflect on the differences between brute strength and the strength of the intellect. However, it is telling that it is his “weakness,” as the pirates see it, that sets Gulliver off on his next journey. His first impressions of the Yahoos and the humanoid horses are extremely telling, too. Even before he interacts with either of the creatures, he forms opinions about them based almost entirely on their physical appearance. He sees Yahoos as creatures lesser than humans, as monsters. On the other hand, he is equally struck by the propriety and sophistication of the horses. This points to the fact the human outlook is largely self-centered and anthropocentric.

The horses are quick to recognize that Gulliver is a more civilized version of the Yahoos. Gulliver’s assigned lodging is neither here nor there, a liminal space between the “house” that the horses live in and the stable that shelters the Yahoos. This also shows that, as per the horses’ perspective, of Gulliver himself is characterized by “in-betweenness.” This encounter also widens his perspectives on politeness and propriety.

Houyhnhnms do not have concepts such as evil, punishment, power, and lies. This illustrates that their lives are largely authentic and honest. The master also believes that though the European Yahoos can wield reason, they lack the physical strength of the original Yahoos from his island. Gulliver’s desire to distinguish himself from the Yahoos (he does by keeping the secret about his clothes intact) is a comment on the need for humans and Europeans to present their “culture” as a sign of superiority. This also symbolizes humans’ disconnect from nature.