Gullivers Travels 2

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is to exemplify the two extremes of human nature, as well as show what position on that spectrum we humans should strive to achieve.
The “positive” extreme Gulliver encounters on his arrival to the island is the Houyhnhnm, a horse ruled by reason. Gulliver almost immediately admires these creatures as well as everything about them, especially their speech: “…their language approaches nearest to the High Dutch or German, of any I know in Europe, but is much more graceful and significant” (Swift 189). He tries throughout his visit to become a Houyhnhnm by learning their language, among other things, despite the fact that he looks nothing like them. Many things about their race impress him, especially the fact that there is no word for “lie” in their vocabulary. Instead, it is described as, “the thing which was not” (Swift 190). The Houyhnhnms seem to take their “life by reason” to the extreme: For example, they ...

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and a Houyhnhnm -- it seems they are unable to decide. At one point, one of the Houyhnhnms describes Gulliver’s body to be extremely inefficient: “That I could not walk with any security, for if either of my hinder feet slipped, I must inevitably fall. He then began to find fault with other parts of my body, the flatness of my face, the prominence of my nose, my eyes placed directly in front, so that I could not look on either side without turning my head…” (Swift 195). The Houyhnhnm even goes as far as to give examples of how even the Yahoo has certain physical traits that better those of Gulliver. This conversation takes a direct shot at the period of ...

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