What is the moral point of the Yahoos in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels?
The Yahoos in Gulliver’s Travels represent the negative image of humanity, which reveals the cruel judgment of Swift over human nature. They are depicted as dirty, greedy, lustful and irrational beings that are physically similar to humans but act in low and vile manners. Their primitive urges and utter lack of rationality are different from the Houyhnhnms, who are rational and morally ordered. Swift demonstrates this dichotomy when Gulliver notes, “the Yahoos were the most filthy, noisome, and deformed animals which nature ever produced.” (Swift chapter IX 346). In one scene, the Yahoos fight over shiny rocks they dig up out of the ground, which demonstrates their mindless greed and materialism, as a clear satire of human greed. Through the Yahoos, Swift would indicate that human beings, lacking reason and virtue, are not better than brutes. This ethical teaching is particularly apparent when the behavior of the Yahoos reflects the corruption, selfishness and savagery that Swift observed in European society. By showing them as the natural land residents, untouched by civilization, Swift suggests that the primitiveness of the human race is inherent, and not a factor of poor education or bad government.
Swift makes Gulliver identify himself as a Yahoo to come to terms with the ugly reality of human nature. First, Gulliver considers himself immensely superior to the Yahoos and denies having anything to do with them. However, the logical comparisons made by his Houyhnhnm master, which point out the similarities in the shape of the bodies and desires, slowly undo the denial of Gulliver. Ultimately, Gulliver must come to terms with the fact that even though he is dressed and speaks like a human, he has the same base instincts as the Yahoos. This point is the core of the satirical intention of Swift: to bring down human pride. The reader is supposed to be put through the same painful realization that Gulliver has been through, and question their own arrogant assumption of moral superiority and progress. Swift describes, “When I happened to behold the reflection of my own form in a lake or fountain, I turned away my face in horror and detestation of myself.” (Swift Chapter X 357). The fact that Gulliver is horrified by his own kind reflects the view of Swift, who believes that humanity, despite its claims of rationality and goodness, is fatally flawed. Gulliver is identified with the Yahoos by Swift as an attempt to demand that self-knowledge is the first step to wisdom, even though it is unpleasant.
Works Cited
Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver’s Travels. Planet eBook. (1726). https://antilogicalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/gullivers-travels.pdf
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