Compare and contrast 'the Yahoos' and 'the Houyhnhnms.
The Yahoos Beyond the discovery that we humans are all Yahoos, the main point of interest in Gulliver's long descriptions of these people is the comparison between European and Houyhnhnm Land Yahoos.
The Yahoos are creatures that belong outdoors and not among people of class. Gulliver begins to compare and simulate the Yahoos to the Humans in Europe.. Humans show pride unlike the Yahoos and the Houyhnhnms.. Gulliver began to treat his own kind as the Houyhnhnm s treated the Yahoos.. Word Count: 900; Approx Pages: 4; Grade Level.
Gulliver’s Travels reflects conflicts in British society in the early 18th century. By narrating Gulliver’s adventures in Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa, and Houyhnhnm, the novel reveals and criticizes sins and corruption of British ruling class and their cruel exploitation towards people of Britain and neighboring countries in the capital.
In a 1794 essay, Thomas Sheridan is one of the first to sing the praises of the Houyhnhnms as the moral ideal. Sheridan asserts that they are intended to inspire humanity to cultivate reason and suppress the bestial nature depicted by the Yahoos. On this point, we find no fault with Sheridan’s view.
Exploring the Utopian Land(s) of Houyhnhm and El Dorado In an Utopian society, everyone is entitled to what they need, such as land, food, materials. Guilliver compares himself to this lifestyle that his world is perceived in such a way. The Houghuhums had no concept of another place existing.Gulliver is faced to live with these yahoos.
The contrast between the Houyhnhnms and the Yahoos is extreme. The horses are clean and sweet-smelling; their diet is temperate and vegetarian. Their habits constitute the temperance that the eighteenth century thought characterized reasonable man, stoics, and Adam before the fall. The Yahoos, on the other hand, are human in form and feature.
Thus, the Yahoos’ fur is used for making clothes and they furthermore work as slaves for the Houyhnhnms. Here, the question of what justice arises and it can be said, that as a consequence of these aspects there is no justice at all and it is reminiscent of a totalitarian system rather than an ideal society.