Sunday, June 1, 2014
The Ultimate belief
Gulliver has had many encounters with civilizations of strange culture. One of his strangest encounters was with the Houyhnhnms, a breed of intelligent horses. Despite the absurdity in this travel, Gulliver actually develops a whole new perception of mankind; he thinks that humans are all savage and greedy beasts! This revelation completely transforms Gulliver in a way that he now believes that his own species has been feeding him lies and corrupting his mind with false notions of government and patriotic nationalism to his barbaric country.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I'd say this turning point in the book and as such is the closest thing to a Climax that the book has (as I usually perceive climaxes as exciting, which is hard to find in a book with little action). Gulliver finally resolves the conflict he has been having internally about English society throughout the entire book.
ReplyDeleteI don't usually think of climaxes to just exciting, but also an unexpected turn of events. With Gulliver encountering such strange civilizations like the Houyhnhnms, it feels that the book won't reach any higher point thus closely reaching the end.
ReplyDeleteThe Houyhnhnms are indeed civil and fair beings. However, Gulliver becomes slightly too carried away with his own notions of human perfection. Swift satirizes the insanities of humans in their ways of life, but also satirizes the insanity of people in their own fantisies, as exemplified by Gulliver.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of an utopia is also put forward by the virtually perfect and innocent society of the Houyhnhnms - but it goes to show that humans are by nature savage. This concept is easily described by Freud. Carnal and internal desires, the internal id (which has first priority), are superimposed by the superego to create the ego. The Houyhnhnms have their superego superimposed over their id, which allows them to create a peaceful, near-utopian society.