From Passion to Reason

I think that one of the main aims of Gulliver’s account is to present us with four distinct groups, each with varying degrees of reason and passion. On one end, the Yahoos who are almost entirely void of reason, and then on the other the Houyhnhnms, who are all but void of passion. Leaving Gulliver and his crew as the two middle groups, each with an opposing allotment of reason and passion.

Gulliver’s crew, display a mixture of reason and passion in their mutiny, when on one hand “Their design was to turn pirates and plunder the Spaniards. . .” (Swift 438), yet at the same time they spare Gulliver’s life (and in fact go to some pains to do so). As for Gulliver, he is more reasonable than his crew, but when he first encounters a Yahoo, he responds to the Yahoo’s curiosity violently, and Gulliver takes his sword and “. . . gave him a good blow with the flat side of it” (Swift 439). The Yahoos demonstrate curiosity (as when Gulliver first encounters them), and some basic level of learning as they both recognize the Houyhnhnm, and for reasons we’re not shown, fear them. As for the Houyhnhnm, even though they avoid violence, they are not ignorant of it and understand (and even accept it), for self defense.

All four groups show a progression from passion to reason, but none of them is truly a pure form. The four groups while very distinct, all share the same basic characteristics of Passion and Reason, just in differing measures. While it may be a stretch, I believe that Swift was trying to demonstrate (through Gulliver’s story), how it is impossible to have one, without at least some measure of the other.