Knowledge (XXG)

Houyhnhnm

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Houyhnhnms' lack of passion surfaces during the scheduled visit of "a friend and his family" to the home of Gulliver's master "upon some affair of importance". On the day of the visit, the mistress of his friend and her children arrive very late. She made no excuses "first for her husband" who had died just that morning and she had to remain to make the proper arrangements for a "convenient place where his body should be laid". Gulliver remarked that "she behaved herself at our house as cheerfully as the rest". A further example of the lack of humanity and emotion in the Houyhnhnms is that their laws reason that each couple produce two children, one male and one female. In the event that a marriage produced two offspring of the same sex, the parents would take their children to the annual meeting and trade one with a couple who produced two children of the opposite sex. This was viewed as his spoofing and or criticising the notion that the "ideal" family produces children of both sexes.
243: 258: 375:, a level-headed individual albeit full of concern for others, whose temperament at one level appears intermediate between the calm, rational Houyhnhnms of Houyhnhnmland and the norm of corrupt, European humanity, which Gulliver no longer distinguishes from Houyhnhnmland's wild Yahoos. Gulliver can speak with him, and though now disaffected from all humanity, he began to tolerate his company. Gulliver is returned to his home and family, finds their smell and look intolerable and all his countrymen no better than "Yahoos", purchases and converses with two stabled horses, tolerating the stable boy, and assures the reader of his account's utter veracity. 52: 156: 387: 298:
is the keystone, in some ways, of the entire work, and critics have traditionally answered the question whether Gulliver is insane (and thus just another victim of Swift's satire) by questioning whether or not the Houyhnhnms are truly admirable. Gulliver loves the land and is obedient to a race that
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views on race, or one could regard Gulliver's preference (and his immediate division of Houyhnhnms into color-based hierarchies) as absurd and the sign of his self-deception. It is now generally accepted that the story involving the Houyhnhnms embody a wholly pessimistic view of the place of man and
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creatures who are no better than beasts of burden, or livestock. Whereas the Yahoos represent all that is bad about humans, Houyhnhnms have a settled, calm, reliable and rational society. Gulliver much prefers the Houyhnhnms' company to the Yahoos', even though the latter are biologically closer to
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based on their analyses of benefit and cost. They have no religion and their sole morality is the defence of reason, and so they are not particularly moved by pity or a belief in the intrinsic value of life. Gulliver himself, in their company, builds the sails of his skiff from "Yahoo skins". The
364:). The Houyhnhnms embody both the good and the bad side of reason, for they have the pure language Swift wished for and the amorally rational approach to solving the problems of humanity (Yahoos); the extirpation of the Yahoo population by the horses is very like the speaker of 206:
islands to the east. The map is somewhat careless with the scale, however; Edels Land to Lewins Land are shown adjacent, while in reality they are some 1000 km apart, while the sweep of the Great Australian Bight, from Cape Leeuwin, Australia's south-westerly point to the
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On one hand, the Houyhnhnms have an orderly and peaceful society. They have philosophy and a language that is entirely free of political and ethical nonsense. They have no word for a
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Gulliver describes the land as "divided by long rows of trees, not regularly planted but naturally growing", with a "great plenty of grass, and several fields of oats".
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concerns, especially in Gulliver's account of how horses are cruelly treated in his society and the reversal of roles. The story is a possible inspiration for
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viewed the Houyhnhnm society as one whose members try to be as close to dead as possible while alive and matter as little as possible in life and death.
810: 858: 982: 319:(and must substitute a circumlocution: "to say a thing which is not"). They also have a form of art that is derived from nature. Outside 992: 656: 339:, expressed a preference for the Ancients (Classical authors) because their art was based directly upon nature, and not upon other art. 933: 460: 452: 195: 882: 866: 842: 818: 925: 987: 633: 729: 649: 277:
the meaning of his existence in the universe. In a modern context the story might be seen as presenting an early example of
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It is possible to interpret the Houyhnhnms in a number of different ways. One interpretation could be a sign of Swift's
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On the other hand, Swift was profoundly mistrustful of attempts at reason that resulted in either
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is not like his own. The Houyhnhnm society is based upon reason, and only upon
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Gulliver's visit to the Land of the Houyhnhnms is described in Part IV of his
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are a fictional race of intelligent horses described in the last part of
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The map shows Houyhnhnms Land to be south of Australia; it indicates
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beings and are masters of the land, contrasting strongly with the
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Cambridge/New York/Melbourne: Cambridge University Press 1997.
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Politics vs. Literature — An examination of Gulliver's travels
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Gulliver Taking His Final Leave of the Land of the Houyhnhnms
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Gulliver in discussion with Houyhnhnms (1856 lllustration by
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Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants
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to the north-east, on the mainland with the islands of
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(1951). 1: 246:Houyhnhnms driving a herd of 221:The Houyhnhnms are rational 983:Fictional species and races 1009: 993:Fictional island countries 926:Saban's Gulliver's Travels 918:The Adventures of Gulliver 252:Metropolitan Museum of Art 211:, off the southern tip of 198:further east, and Sweers, 569:Carnochan, W. B. (1963). 49: 39: 851:The 3 Worlds of Gulliver 483:GT Pt IV, ch 1: OWC p208 411:List of fictional horses 215:, is over 3000 km. 86:'s satirical 1726 novel 27:Fictional race of horses 373:Portuguese sea captain 269: 254: 168: 875:Jajantaram Mamantaram 745:Lilliput and Blefuscu 406:Lilliput and Blefuscu 260: 245: 158: 575:Studies in Philology 330:Battle of the Books 988:Gulliver's Travels 934:Gulliver's Travels 883:Gulliver's Travels 867:Gulliver's Travels 843:Gulliver's Travels 819:Gulliver's Travels 678:Gulliver's Travels 628:"Houyhnhnms"  472:Gulliver's Travels 423:Gulliver's Travels 352:Gulliver's Travels 350:or in Book III of 333:and in general in 321:Gulliver's Travels 296:Gulliver's Travels 288:Planet of the Apes 270: 255: 209:Maatsuyker Islands 186:to the north, and 169: 161:Gulliver's Travels 89:Gulliver's Travels 71:Gulliver's Travels 42:Gulliver's Travels 960: 959: 366:A Modest Proposal 357:A Modest Proposal 77: 76: 16:(Redirected from 1000: 978:Fictional horses 891:Gulliver Returns 835:The New Gulliver 764:Other characters 666: 659: 652: 643: 638: 630: 613: 605: 599: 598: 566: 560: 559: 519: 513: 512: 506: 498: 490: 484: 481: 475: 469: 463: 441: 395: 390: 389: 325:English language 146: 145: 142: 141: 138: 135: 132: 129: 120: 119: 116: 115: 112: 109: 106: 103: 100: 66:First appearance 54: 32: 21: 1008: 1007: 1003: 1002: 1001: 999: 998: 997: 963: 962: 961: 956: 940: 910:The Mind Robber 897: 827:Gulliver Mickey 790: 759: 703: 694:Lemuel Gulliver 682: 670: 625: 622: 617: 616: 607:George Orwell: 606: 602: 568: 567: 563: 540:10.2307/2871830 521: 520: 516: 499: 492: 491: 487: 482: 478: 470: 466: 442: 438: 433: 391: 384: 381: 348:A Tale of a Tub 336:A Tale of a Tub 240: 153: 126: 122: 97: 93: 61: 58:J.J. 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Index

Houyhnhnms
Gulliver's Travels

J.J. Grandville
Gulliver's Travels
Jonathan Swift
Gulliver's Travels
/ˈhɪnəm/
/ˈhwɪnəm/

New Holland
Edels Land
Lewins Land
Nuyts Land
St Francis
St Pieter
Maatsuyker
De Wit
Maatsuyker Islands
Tasmania
equine
Yahoos
humanoid

Yahoos
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sawrey Gilpin
liberal
animal rights

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