write a short note on houyhnhnms

Small children love stories about talking animals. However, Swift did not write about Gulliver's trip to the land of the houyhnhnms to entertain toddlers. It contains some of the bitterest satire that I have ever read.

In the following summary, I shall keep in mind that children might be interested in reading about these delightful talking animals. Therefore, while discussing this interesting work of art, I shall omit anything that would shock their tender ears.

The plot is simple. Five months after returning from Japan. Gulliver embarks on another voyage. This time he sails as captain of a ship called theAdventure.Since many of his sailors die of some tropical fever, he has to hire replacements at Barbados in the West Indies. These new sailors have a piratical nature. They persuade the crew to join them in a mutiny. Gulliver becomes a prisoner on his own ship. Eventually the mutineers set him ashore on an unknown island.

Gulliver finds that intelligent talking horses rule this strange island. They are called houyhnhnms. In contrast, the human beings on the islands are irrational animals called yahoos. Yahoos happen to be the smelliest and most obnoxious animals on the island.

One of the houyhnhnms befriends Gulliver. He notes that Gulliver resembles the yahoos, but he is puzzled by his intelligence and by the clothes that he is wearing. Many days pass before he realizes that the clothes are not part of his body. He also notes that Gulliver is weaker and less agile than the yahoos.

Gulliver quickly learns the language of the houyhnhnms. He lives in a place next to the residence of the houyhnhnm that befriended him, whom he called his master. The place where Gulliver stays is separate from the stable of the yahoos, who are beasts of burden.

When Gulliver has made sufficient progress is the language of the houyhnhnms, his master asks him about the customs of the country from which he came. Since Swift's interest is satire, Gulliver emphasizes the vices of the English and other Europeans. He dwells on lying, corruption, wars, and the like. After hearing all that Gulliver says, his master concludes that Gulliver's people are typical yahoos. He believes that the yahoos of his own country would act the same way if they had a little intelligence.

Swift presents houyhnhnm society as a sort of utopia. Like most utopian schemes, it has good and bad elements. However, Gulliver thinks that everything in houyhnhnm society is good.

An admirable feature is their faithfulness in marriage. Adultery is unknown in the land of the houyhnhnms. Moreover, houyhnhnms are absolutely truthful. They are not even tempted to lie.

Gulliver becomes totally enamored of houyhnhnm society and begins to imitate them. He begins to talk with a sort of whinny and walks like a horse. He learns to be more virtuous by communing with the houyhnhnms.

However, to the houyhnhnms, Gulliver is still a yahoo, though more intelligent than the others. At a General Assembly of the houyhnhnms, his master is urged either to treat Gulliver like a beast of burden or else compel him to swim back to his own country. In the days that follow, the neighbors of his master pester him to carry out the exhortation of the General Assembly.

His master knows that Gulliver cannot swim across the ocean. He suggests that Gulliver build a wooden structure that floats on the water and use it to return to his country. (The houyhnhnms do not have any boats. They do not know what they are. However, his master knows something about them, because Gulliver has explained to him how he arrived at the island.)

Gulliver has spent several years in the land of the houyhnhnms. During that time, he has developed a deep-seated aversion to the human figure. He cannot even stand to look at his reflection in water. So he does not want to live in human society again. However, he has no choice. He is compelled to leave the land of the houyhnhnms.

With the help of a sorrel nag, Gulliver builds an extra large Indian canoe. He sails eastward until he reaches New Holland, now called Australia. The natives are unfriendly and wound him in the leg.

A ship comes to the beach where Gulliver is hiding. A landing party finds Gulliver. Because the sailors look like Yahoos, he tries to avoid them, but they force him to come along. The Portuguese captain is kind to him, brings him to Lisbon, and persuades him to return to his family in England.

When he returns, Gulliver's aversion to the human figure makes it impossible for him to enjoy his wife and children for many years.