Essay Analysis of Book IV of "Gulliver's Travels"

Are we rational? In Book IV of Gulliver's Travels, Gulliver sure seems to think not, nor does the Houyhnhnm society in which the traveler finds himself living for years. In the most curious of circumstances, Gulliver finds himself in a place where he is thrust upon living amid a land where his fellow bipeds are little more than uncultured, filthy "brutes" called Yahoos and the ruling population is comprised of rational, reasonable horses referred to as Houyhnhnms.

What Jonathan Swift, the author of this masterpiece, is doing here is presenting to the reader a coin whose two sides really are heads and tails. He prefers not to confuse the picture by combining in one body two different ideas---he clearly draws a metaphorical line in the sand, dividing "rational" beings from ugly animals. Is Gulliver the conduit between these oppositions? No. Captain Don Pedro is. But he will be discussed later. Before getting into the grander scheme of Gulliver's Travels, a discussion of some literary techniques and other related matters are to be first at hand.

Primarily, it is important to mention that the book is written in the first person, by the observer. This is stated because it conveys a sense of authenticity, in that we realize Gulliver himself has both testified to and is recalling his adventure in Houyhnhnmland. This helps relieve somewhat from the reader's mind that this the work is little more than hearsay or the exaggeration of a fable. Perhaps making the work even more "believable" is the seeming lack of embellishment in the work. Rather, Gulliver seems to be reporting what he sees, writing down his accounts in a journalistic style. Swift was wise to employ this method in the work. It is less as though Gulliver is a storyteller and more an adventurer who wants to tell others what he is seeing. Needless to say though, the audience is still left wondering as to whether the events are actual or but a figment of Gulliver's mind.