Jonathan Swift's Gulliver in the Land of the Houyhnhnms

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Jonathan Swift's Gulliver in the Land of the Houyhnhnms

In the last voyage in Jonathan Swift's book Gulliver's Travels, "A voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnms," Swift describes his idea of an ideal society. There are many examples provided in this part of the book to convince the reader that Swift is indeed illustrating his idea of a utopia. By using horses as the most reasonable creature, Swift not only defaces human society by making a beast a more powerful creature, but also shows that humans are unable to attain this perfectly reasonable society.

The society that the Houyhnhnms live in is unlike any society known to man. The Houyhnhnms are perfect in the way they live their lives; they are always doing what is best for the society as a whole, as opposed to thinking only of themselves as individuals. They truly believe that the best interest for themselves is the same as the best interest of the entire species. When they choose their mates they do so with the best interest of the race as a whole in mind. "Strength is chiefly valued in the male, and comeliness in the female, not upon the account of love...," (217). This quotation illustrates that even when it comes to something like choosing their mates, they are not concerned with their own happiness. It is not even a choice that they choose to act in the best interest of the society; they do not know of an alternative way to act. They are raised to put themselves secondary to the health and well being of others. The Houyhnhnms are so perfect that Gulliver has to explain many different basics of the human lifestyle that do not apply to their being.

The Houyhnhnms do not understand the idea of justice because they are not capable of doing anything wron...

... middle of paper ...

...to be extremely rational, in an effort to break away from his human tendencies. His attempt will not be successful as humans are full of passion, and therefore will never be purely rational. Gulliver eventually becomes insane in his attempt to be like the Houyhnhnms, which is Swift's way of showing that humans can not live in a society based on reason.

In this section of the book, it becomes unmistakable that Swift is describing his ideal society and at the same time proving that it cannot be attained by humans. By making the perfect society one in which the ruling creature is in fact a beast in the eyes of humans, Swift portrays his hate toward the human race. This also precisely shows, that this is in fact his utopia, but that it is never attainable for human beings.

Works Cited:

Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels. Mahwah, NJ: Watermill Press, 1983.

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