What Are Humans Simply Brute Animals?

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Are we humans simply brute animals, or are we capable of being rational, intelligent creatures? The satirical book Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift discusses this question, but the answer is primarily left up to the personal discretion of the reader. Both perspectives are analyzed. Much to his disgust, Gulliver bore an undeniable resemblance to the brutish Yahoos. However, he also showed the Houyhnhnm-like characteristics of reason and language. This satirical book is used to draw attention to how brutish and unreasonable humans can be, even though most of the time we don't recognize this about ourselves. The author gives both perspectives of the first question, and he suggests that humans have certain characteristics of both the …show more content…

Endlessly greedy, Yahoos would fight over a shiny rock that had no real value other than its attractive shine. “My master farther assured me, which I also observed myself, that in the fields where there shining stones abound, the fiercest and most frequent battles are fought, occasioned by perpetual inroads of the neighboring Yahoos” (272). This is obviously similar to humans’ greed for money and precious stones. Unfortunately, people do horrible things over trivial issues, similar to the Yahoos. In the land of the Houyhnhnms, Yahoos were the only animals to get sick. They made their own medicine, like humans, although the Yahoos’ crude cure was a mixture of their own excrements. The reason that the Yahoos became sick was because they did things that were obviously detrimental to their health, such as keeping awful hygiene and eating rotten food. On the contrary, the Houyhnhnms were perfectly rational, so they didn’t do anything that could endanger their health, unlike Yahoos. Gulliver confessed that humans as well Yahoos have bad habits that lead to …show more content…

They needed no laws, no government, and no discipline. Every action they performed was effortlessly reasonable, correct, and moral. Even the name of the species reflected their excellence. “The word Houyhnhnm, in their tongue, signifies horse,and in its etymology, the perfection of nature” (244). Because they were so rational, they were able to find truth. This book promotes the idea that there is only one truth, because all the Houyhnhnms reasoned to the same conclusions. They was no disagreement about what was right or wrong because they all instinctively knew the truth. Gulliver’s Travels is written to draw attention to the major flaws of mankind. When presented with truth and reason, Gulliver was able to see truth clearly. Gulliver was vehemently against returning to the imperfection of England because he had experienced the beauty of absolute rational. The virtuous Houyhnhnms represent an idealistic view of humans, and they expose the deep flaws of

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