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
             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
             ...