Humanity In Gulliver's Travels

Perspectives of Humanity Lemuel Gulliver finds himself in a series of unique situations in unknown worlds with terrifyingly diverse inhabitants and ways of life. Jonathan Swift utilizes the gullibility of Gulliver in these strange places to display his satire based on the real world and to expose the true meaning in his writing. Of the four separate journeys, none are more telling of Swift’s view on mankind than Gulliver’s time in Houyhnhnmland. After a brief stay in England after his third journey, Gulliver is offered the position of captain on his very own ship. Being the selfish man he is, Gulliver accepts and sets sail with his crew. During the voyage, his men mutiny against him and gulliver is eventually abandoned in Houyhnhnmland to fend for himself. Houyhnhnmland is different from the other places Gulliver visited, this island is isolated from the rest of the world and is inhabited to two native species. The Houyhnhnms and …show more content…
With all these diverse experiences now within his mind, Gulliver has a greater understanding of the world beyond England. The issue in Gulliver’s widened perspective is that he now thinks he is better than the rest of the world. Lemuel has seen the entire spectrum of possible societies, from that of the Yahoos to Houyhnhnms, and now feels as though it is his duty to humanity to guide the rest of the world away from being Yahoo-like. The introduction to Gulliver’s Travels is a letter from Gulliver to England; from the language and phrasing found within the letter, it is clear to see that Gulliver has reached a level of thinking that he feels is beyond the reach of real world society. From Gulliver’s perspective, he is using what he knows to be true to help others, from the perspective of the rest ofthe world he is some crazy guy that quite literally talks to