Another very satirical piece appears in the following chapters of Gulliver's Travels. This time it's a conversation between one of the Houyhnhnm's and Gulliver talking about Yahoo's and Houyhnhnm's. "... he desired to know, 'whether we had Houyhnhnm's among us, and what was their employment?' I told him, 'we had great numbers; that in the summer they grazed in the fields, and in winter were kept in houses with hay and oats, where Yahoo servants were employed to rub their skins smooth, comb their manes, pick their feet, serve them with food, and make their beds." pg 187. This is a very comical piece that is going on between a Houyhnhnm and Gulliver, because even though it's not exactly what horses are for, he's not saying anything that's not true to him. He says this in order for him not to get mad, which would be the result if he had said to him that humans actually rode on them.
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It's as if we were told that cows in another place on earth ride humans over pastures, using them as transport and a machine of war. It would be something completely unthinkable for us if we were told about that, and would most likely not believe it, or scold them for something so atrocious. That would be the same reaction that the Houyhnhnm's would have if Gulliver had told him the real use for humans. And it doesn't stop there. As the Houyhnhnm hears Gulliver saying this, he responds: "I understand you well, said my master, it is now very plain, from all you have spoken, that whatever share of reason the Yahoo's pretend to, the Houyhnhnm's are your masters." pg 187. Now it becomes even funnier. You can't but laugh at the words he is saying, and even more coming from such a wise figure as the one from which it is coming from. This part can be anything but serious, but the way in which it is described shows it's supposed to be so, so the only thing that makes it funny is the sarcasm that is used by Swift. His use of techniques such as this one help him make out of the serious story it is supposed to be, into something made to make us laugh.
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It's as if we were told that cows in another place on earth ride humans over pastures, using them as transport and a machine of war. It would be something completely unthinkable for us if we were told about that, and would most likely not believe it, or scold them for something so atrocious. That would be the same reaction that the Houyhnhnm's would have if Gulliver had told him the real use for humans. And it doesn't stop there. As the Houyhnhnm hears Gulliver saying this, he responds: "I understand you well, said my master, it is now very plain, from all you have spoken, that whatever share of reason the Yahoo's pretend to, the Houyhnhnm's are your masters." pg 187. Now it becomes even funnier. You can't but laugh at the words he is saying, and even more coming from such a wise figure as the one from which it is coming from. This part can be anything but serious, but the way in which it is described shows it's supposed to be so, so the only thing that makes it funny is the sarcasm that is used by Swift. His use of techniques such as this one help him make out of the serious story it is supposed to be, into something made to make us laugh.
I think you got spammed Edgar or is that really a blog you follow?
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And who usually do horses serve?
ReplyDeleteIf you are talking about the thing at the top right corner that says followers, that's not a blog I follow, it's someone that is following my blog.
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