Gullivers Travels Investigating Satire
Satire produces difficulties, not certainties. When used in prose form, it transforms an idea that seems preposterous into a believable concept that is to be accepted by the reader. In Gulliver's Travels, author Jonathan Swift uses satire to do just that. He takes a fairy-tale like setting and makes it acceptable to the audience, only to leave them with questions about their own doings. Through Gulliver's eyes, he illustrates a society that does not conform to the normal ideas of the human race. Gulliver is left by his shipmates on a far off island and discovers a culture most likely unknown to the rest of the world. It is run by Houyhnhnms, governing horses on the island that practice the true ideas of reason. Also inhabiting this island are Yahoos, formidable, deformed animals who exhibit the worst aspects of the human race. Swift uses these two character types to do two things. Firstly, he uses the truly vile characteristics of humanity, both physically and internally, and expresses them in an exaggerated way trough the actions of the Yahoos. Secondly, he depicts the Houyhnhnms as characters of true reason. As this satire was written during the Enlightenment Period, many people of the time strived to be truly enlig
The long repetitive list Gulliver gives only confuses his master. To live solely on the belief that there are sensible, explainable reasons for everything would be to live like robots, and Swift knew this. The popularity of the church in Europe, although slowly declining, was used to relate the creation of the Yahoos to the then universal belief of Adam and Eve. Here, Swift presents the question of whether one creates his language, or his language creates him. They were void of humor, creativity, passion and love. Paralleling this story to humans, and they're lives on earth, Swift creates a strong relation to the two species. The Houyhnhnms served as a great example of what Europe would be like had humans been capable of true reason. In addition to the aggressive features the Yahoos exude, Swift links these two races on a deeper level. The many aspects of true-reason that Swift touches upon reveal to the audience that living by reason-based laws and logic is a feasible reality.
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