Swift’s Views on Human Behaviour
Swift was often criticized of misanthropy based on his satirical writings in “Gulliver’s Travels” and his other works. However Swift uses the his book Gulliver’s Travels as a way to make a mockery of what western society (particularly England) had become and to warn against excess of any one form of thought not to show a personal hatred of mankind. He uses allegory, satire and exaggeration to figuratively beat his point into his readers; humans in his mind were nowhere near what he thought they could be yet this does not mean he was misanthropic. The fourth section of “Gulliver’s Travels” deals with the risks of becoming too reasonable, that is to spend all ones effort to logical and reasonable pursuits. Swift was specifically warning that the “Age of Reason” in which he lived could be taken too far, and that would be as detrimental to mankind as if they were to return to primitive states.
Swift uses Gulliver’s description of the Yahoos (both those of the island and those of the “real” world) to show the worst aspect of human society at the time. Swift describes the Yahoos as the end result of many generations of humans stranded on the island a devolving if you will. Swift seems to say that a human without the support of other humans will fall prey to their more animalistic tendencies, that the animal side of humans is not completely gone and without the help and support of society humans can and will revert to a animal. Gulliver takes the presence of the humans in a different way; he sees them as the majority of humans, despising them and all others. In his eventual return to his home he can barley stand being in the presence of other humans, in his mind they were “Yahoos in Shape and Disposition, perhaps a little more civilized, and qualified with the Gift of Speech, but making no other use of Reason, than to improve and multiply those Vices.” Gulliver also says that when he sees himself that he “turned away my Face in Horror and Detestation of myself.” Swift warns in this way that for a human being to disdain other humans is to hate oneself and it is not possible to both hate oneself and keep a sane mind.
In his descriptions of Houyhnhnm society Swift attempts to show what society should also avoid attempting to become, a strict and ordered society devoid of all pleasure. Unlike most representations in western literature that portrayed orderly, strict, and reasonable societies as also being intellectual and scientific, Swift portrays the Houyhnhnms as being simplistic in technology and stubborn in their minuscule knowledge of the world around them. He seems to be warning people that to become too reasonable is to lose all imagination beyond what is required. The Houyhnhnms have very little in the way of innovation because they believe they have all basic needs cared for and thus need nothing more.
Although humans in Swift’s mind could become less barbarous and more like the majestic and reasonable Houyhnhnms, he also warned that this idea could be taken to far with detrimental effects to self. Swift allowed Gulliver to over-exaggerate this idea to the point of despising everything about humans and in turn Gulliver began to despise himself. To Swift the Hhouyhnhnm society went too far in avoiding all forms of pleasure and passion that they were lacking in the qualities that made life enjoyable. Swift says that although the way western society was becoming was at risk of becoming like the Yahoos, he also says that human society should strive not to become like that of the Houyhnhnms. Thus humans should strive to find a balance between the chaotic animalistic world of the Yahoos and the overly reasonable and ordered passionless world of the Houyhnhnms.
Swift does not just tell the reader what they should think; he instead leads them to a certain point and allows them to decide whether or not he is indeed right and if so by what degree. In his wisdom Swift uses Gulliver to show the wrong way to use this information. By allowing Gulliver to completely miss interpret the way humans should behave Swift steers the reader away from the both the idea of misanthropy and excessive reason.