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Rationality in excess: Swift’s critique in Book four of Gulliver’s Travels
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ENG150 essay on Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" for the University of Toronto. Essay received an A+ as the final grade.
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1ENG150: Literary Traditions
Rationality in excess: Swift’s critique in Book four ofGulliver’s Travels
Book four ofGulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift,discusses the topic of rationality;
namely, the failings of excessive rationality. Through demonstrating the irrelevance of
Houyhnhnm reason to Gulliver, the flaws in Houyhnhnm reason, and portraying Gulliver as an
unreliable narrator Swift conveys that excessive rationality is both inapplicable and flawed, and
thus should not be pursued.
Book four’s Houyhnhnmland, unlike Gulliver’s previous destinations, presents two races:
The Houyhnhnms and the Yahoos, who are in direct contrast with each other. The Houyhnhnms
are the embodiment of complete rationality, a race with a maxim of “to cultivate reason, and to
be wholly governed by it” (Swift, 324). Their behaviour and thought is described to be “ not
mingled, obscured, or discoloured, by passion and interest” (324) In contrast, Yahoos are the
embodiment of instincts and passions. They are demonstrated to be lustful, gluttonous, and
greedy in their behaviour: Their females are described to often seduce the males “with a
counterfeit show of fear” (320), they are described to have an “appetite to devour every thing
that came in their way” (317), and be “violently fond” of “certain shining stones” (316). Thus,
each respectively demonstrates a rational life at its extreme, and a passionate life at its extreme.
However, humanity is at a balance of both the rational and the passionate, having several
characteristics of both the Houyhnhnms and the Yahoos. Gulliver himself is initially identified
by the Houyhnhnms as a Yahoo in appearance but a Houyhnhnm in demeanour, where he is
described by the Houyhnhnms of the neighbourhood as: “a wonderful Yahoo, that could speak
like a Houyhnhnm” (292). However, Gulliver is neither completely Yahoo or Houyhnhnm-like in
either aspect. Gulliver is assessed to only be limited to “glimmerings of reason” by the
Houyhnhnms and is able to physically differentiate from the Yahoos through his cleanliness and
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hairlessness (292). Regarding the latter, Gulliver states that he often rolled up his sleeves to
demonstrate to the Yahoos that he was not one of their kind. Additional distinctions between
Gulliver and Yahoos in terms of demeanour are also acknowledged, although briefly. The
Houyhnhnm Master states that “he could find little or no resemblance between the Yahoos of that
country and those in ours. . .” in terms of “learning, government, arts, manufactures, and the
like” (318). Thus, humanity is neither completely rational, as the Houyhnhnms, or completely
governed by passion, as the Yahoos. Thus, the way of life of both extremes demonstrated by the
Houyhnhnms and Yahoos are wholly irrelevant and inapplicable to humanity.
This difference is further emphasised by the fact that, unlike the previous races that
Gulliver has encountered, the ones of Houyhnhnmland are strikingly different from humans in
physiology. In contrast to the Lilliputians or Brobdinagians who simply differ in size, the Yahoos
initially appear to Gulliver as animals rather than human and the Houyhnhnms are a different
species entirely. Hence, not only is Gulliver’s belief that humans are Yahoos incorrect and
ridiculous, but Gulliver’s attempts to emulate the Houyhnhnms both in ideals and “gait and
gesture” are also (335).
Gulliver is attempting to unattainably emulate a completely different being from himself:
a race of passionless horses. Unlike the Houyhnhnms, humans are not created passionless, and
hence their impersonal and ‘rational’ manner of living cannot be applied. Gulliver himself, in the
final chapter, recognizes this fact when advising that individuals only maintain “vices and follies
only which nature has entitled,” indirectly acknowledging that, unlike the Houyhnhnms, we
naturally possess “vices and follies,” that is ‘irrational passions’ (“vices” in Houyhnhnm
perspective) (353).
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