Jonathan Swift's satirical prose, Gulliver's Travels, is the subject of.
a wide variety of literary critique and social interpretation. Although.
many readers, at first glance, take this tale to be simply a fantastic.
narrative of a common man and his encounters with unusual locations and.
people through several journeys, further inspection reveals Swift's true.
purpose of creativity--satire. Using the contemporary style of the Travel.
Narrative, Swift is able to insert his own personal criticisms of modern life.
into the experience of Gulliver. Swift focuses entirely on satirizing.
humanity in Book IV of Gulliver's Travels.
Gulliver, representing a common man, encounters a wide variety of.
characters along his travels, each representing a subject Swift wishes to.
criticize. His satire ranges from relatively simple political criticism in his.
experiences in Book I and II to a socio-political criticism in Book III, to.
the social, philosophical criticism of man in Book IV. .
If Book IV is read literally, with no knowledge of satire, it appears.
to be another bizarre journey of Gulliver, no more unusual than his other.
travels. It is obvious, however, that Book IV criticizes the nature of man.
as a rational being. Of interest to the readers of today is Swift's choice of.
creatures inhabiting this land; There is a barbaric, man-like creature.
dubbed the Yahoo and the civilized, good-natured horse-like creature, the.
Houyhnhnms. "Upon the whole, I never beheld in all my Travels so.
disagreeable an Animal, or one against which I naturally conceived so.
strong an Antipathy" (IV,193). His opinion of the Yahoos contrasts with.
his opinion of the Houyhnhnms. .
The Houyhnhnms think Gulliver is another Yahoo capable of.
outstanding intellect, but Gulliver is offended that they want to classify.
him as a Yahoo. "I expressed my Uneasiness at his giving me so often the.
Appellation of Yahoo, an odious Animal, for which I so utter an Hatred.