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Jack Koki
Mr. Oravec
AP Literature and Composition
5 March 2015
The Ethics of the Houyhnhnm, Yahoo, and European Societies
As a result of his first three sea voyages to various parts of the world, Lemuel Gulliver
found himself stranded on several island nations inhabited by a single society under the rule of a
monarch. Likewise, Gulliver’s crew aboard the Adventure marooned their captain on yet another
landmass in the fourth part of the Gulliver’s Travels as well; however, the principal difference on
Houyhnhnm Land was that two distinct societies—the Houyhnhnms and the Yahoos—coexisted
on the island and governed themselves according to the guidelines of a republic. These
differences were the main focus of Jonathon Swift’s central satire on European society in the
final part of his novel. With time, Gulliver discovered that Houyhnhnms were a unique society
guided by an equally distinct set of values as opposed to the guiding powers in Europe circa the
eighteenth century. Their near-perfection lead Gulliver to change his views of humanity entirely,
for the connections he derives between himself and the inferior Yahoo race were eerily similar.
By the time he was shunned from Houyhnhnm Land and returned to England, Gulliver’s
encounters on the fourth island nation permanently altered his self-image, self-respect, and views
regarding European society.
Unlike the human societies present on the first three islands, the Houyhnhnms of
Houyhnhnm Land were a society of horses guided by reason and nature. Swift intentionally
created this society to serve as a stark contrast to the Lilliputian, Brobdingnagian, Laputan, and
European ways of life on multiple accounts. The Lilliputians, Laputans, and Europeans all lived
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in close proximity to other nations, and with their powerful naval forces, their geographic
locations were suitable for extending their rule and societal views on others. The island nation of
Houyhnhnm Land, however, was confined to an isolated area on the globe, so there were no
foreign nations available for the Houyhnhnms to conquer or force their views upon in the first
place. Therefore, their society saw no reason to maintain a potent naval presence surrounding
their island at all. Despite their naval strengths, the Lilliputians, Laputans, and Europeans could
have devoted their ships and vessels solely for defending the borders of their nations during
times of war. Nevertheless, the monarchs of all three societies allowed their vices of power,
greed, and superiority to cloud their abilities to think rationally. As requested by their leaders, the
navies of each nation consequently carried out imperial domination as a primary objective.
In addition to their desires to conquer surrounding nations, Swift also used the
Houyhnhnm society to expose the Europeans’ tendency to lie. The only way Gulliver’s master
could perceive the concept of lying was as “…the thing which was not…” (Swift 238). The
Houyhnhnm master was baffled as to why the Europeans would have such an audacious motive
to state the opposite of what was true. In Houyhnhnm society, either a particular event truly
happened, or the event in question never occurred in the first place. Because of their societal
beliefs in fact and reason, Gulliver’s master saw no logical explanation for any European,
including Gulliver, to obscure the truth, implying that the Europeans lack rationality.
Swift further satirizes this point by uncovering the significant value that the Europeans
placed on personal testimony in the legal system. When attempting to explain the process to his
master, Gulliver “remember[ed] it was with extreme difficulty that I [Gulliver] could bring my
master to understand the meaning of the word opinion, or how a point could be disputable…”
(Swift 268). His Houyhnhnm master had difficulty understanding why occupations like lawyers
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and attorneys served such fundamental roles in European politics. The legal system in Europe
involved two different attorneys representing the two opposing parties in a court hearing. After a
series of debates and disputes, the verdict of the case was reached based on which attorney could
better present the evidence of a particular case to a panel of jurors. However, a hearing based on
personal testimony would never transpire in Houyhnhnm society because they are guided by
reason; in their eyes, only one of the parties truly committed the criminal act in question, and
they would expect the guilty party to be convicted and punished for their wrongdoings. Due to
their guidance by facts, Gulliver’s master viewed the role of lawyers in Europe as trivial and
completely unnecessary, the exact opposite of how Gulliver felt about the importance of the
profession. Through its inability and unwillingness to rule over others complemented by its
reliance on fact and reason, the Houyhnhnm society satirizes a myriad of human vices embodied
in the Lilliputians, Laputans, Gulliver, and most notably, his European equivalents.
Gulliver arrived on Houyhnhnm Land unaware of the numerous vices engrained in his
character; his obliviousness even caused himself to consider the Europeans, particularly
Englishmen, as a superior race. However, his time and experience on the island nation forever
changed his views of humanity. Gulliver’s thoughts regarding the superiority of the English race
quickly subsided after observing his Houyhnhnm master and the rest of the Houyhnhnm race
while stranded on the island. Gulliver became aware of their near-perfection as he observed their
lack of nearly all human vices existent in European society, including destructive emotions,
lying, greed, a desire to attain power, and even jealousy. Nonetheless, the Houyhnhnms also
lacked some characterizing qualities that would differentiate one human from another, such as
humor and wit. Thus, the only minor flaw Gulliver noticed in the Houyhnhnms is that they
lacked personal identity; the Houyhnhnms were so alike and lacked so much individuality to the
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point that they were interchangeable with one another. Despite this minor flaw, however,
Gulliver’s observations of the Houyhnhnms drove him to realize that the Europeans were
undeniably an inferior race when put in perspective to Houyhnhnms.
Likewise, Gulliver became aware of his race’s subsidiarity through observing the
Yahoos, the species inferior to the Houyhnhnms. When he first encountered the creatures after
landing on the island, Gulliver made several observations of the Yahoos. “Their heads and
breasts were covered with a thick hair…” (Swift 221), “they had beards like goats…” (Swift
221), “[they] climbed high trees, as nimbly as a squirrel…” (Swift 221), and the females even
had “…dugs [that] hung between their fore-feet…” (Swift 222). When one of the Yahoos
initially approached Gulliver, he retaliated violently by hitting it with the blunt edge of his
sword. From there, the Yahoos resorted to the heinous act of throwing their feces at Gulliver
until his Houyhnhnm master appeared, scaring the savage beasts away. After reviewing the
incident, Gulliver noticed multiple similarities that existed between the beastly Yahoos and his
own European race. In terms of physical appearance, men typically developed thick beards,
women usually had immense breasts, and both species had heads covered in thick hair. They also
behaved similar from a psychological standpoint. Both species were violent and easily
frightened; additionally, they lacked morality along with rationality. Due to all the parallels he
established between the two races, Gulliver discovered further evidence suggesting that the
Europeans, just like the Yahoos, were an inferior race when .compared to the Houyhnhnms.
With this newfound realization of inferiority, Gulliver aspired to assimilate to the societal
standards of the Houyhnhnms to regain his sense of superiority. During his stay on Houyhnhnm
Land, Gulliver devoted himself to learning the native language of the Houyhnhnms. In doing so,
he grew extremely fond of the island and Houyhnhnm culture and abandoned any desires of
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returning back to England and his family. Nevertheless, the Houyhnhnms themselves grew
weary of Gulliver’s presence on their island. Although he respected their society and made
attempts to become a member, the Houyhnhnms viewed Gulliver more as a Yahoo than a
Houyhnhnm. After all, Gulliver and the Yahoos shared numerous characteristics; if anything,
Gulliver was a slightly superior Yahoo in the eyes of the Houyhnhnms on account of his slight
capacity for reason. Therefore, the Houyhnhnms grew concerned that slightly superior Gulliver
would be capable of organizing the Yahoos to revolt against the Houyhnhnms if they allowed
him to stay on their island permanently. As a result of their worries, Gulliver’s master took
action to prevent such an uprising and evicted him from the island of Houyhnhnm Land entirely.
Following his expulsion, he roamed the surrounding islands helplessly until a ship passing
through a nearby channel spotted Gulliver and brought him back to England safely.
Nevertheless, his time spent on Houyhnhnm Land permanently altered his self-image and selfrespect from this point onward. Gulliver would forever view himself as an inferior individual
part of an equally inferior race and society.
Gulliver’s experiences and encounters on Houyhnhnm Land opened his eyes to the true
subsidiarity of Europe’s society during the late eighteenth century. The nearly-perfect
Houyhnhnms along with the substandard Yahoos helped him realize that human nature is
contaminated with an abundance of vices and immoralities, and that Europe’s societal norms
were far from matching those of the truly superior Houyhnhnm society. In short, Lemuel
Gulliver’s fourth and final sea voyage to Houyhnhnm Land was one that eternally altered his
opinions of European society and the rest of humanity.
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Work Cited
Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels. New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books Publication, 1972. 221-268.
Print.