CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Houyhnhnms are a fictional race of intelligent horses described in the last part  of the novel. The word ‘Houyhnhnmn’ etymologically means ‘perfection of Nature’ .Houyhnhnms are rational equine beings and are masters of the land contrasting strongly with Yahoos. Here Swift uses anthropomorphism.The Houyhnhnm’s society is based upon reason and they have no religion .The master horse teaches Gulliver their language. Gulliver is impressed by their intelligence  and good behaviour.The Houyhnhnms have an orderly and peaceful society. They have a language and they speak clearly they act justly and they have simple laws.They had no word for lie. Houyhnhnms have also have a form art that is derived from Nature.They are untroubled  by greed, politics  or lust. They lives a life of cleanliness and exist in peace and serenity. Houyhnhnms live by the maxim “cultivate Reason  and be totally governed  by it”. According  to them the only word for evil is Yahoo.

       Houyhnhnms are untarnished  by the greedy, politically motivated or lustful intentions, that Gulliver  has observed in humankind. Houyhnhnm’s hooves are able to use tools or do farming work as humans do. They live upto 70-75 years and they usually die of old age. The Houyhnhnms train up their youth to strength, speed, and hardiness, by exercising them in running races up and down steep hills, and over hard stony grounds.Two principal virtues in Houyhnhnms culture  are friendship and benevolence. As a result  war is completely unknown in the Houyhnhnms culture. The Houyhnhnms believe that Nature and reason are sufficient guides for a reasonable animal.These are the reason why ,Gulliver  entered on a firm resolution never to return to humankind, but to pass the rest of his  life among these admirable Houyhnhnms, in the contemplation and practice of every virtue.

MASTER IN HOUYHNHNM’S LAND

The Houyhnhnm  who first discovers Gulliver and takes him into his own home. Wary of Gulliver’s Yahoo like appearance at first, the master was hesitant to make contact with him, but Gulliver’s ability to mimic the Houyhnhnm’s own words persuades the master to protect Gulliver. The master’s domestic cleanliness, propriety, and tranquil reasonableness of speech have an extraordinary impact on Gulliver. It is through this horse that Gulliver is led to revaluate the differences between humans and beasts and to question humanity’s claims to rationality.

YAHOO

The term yahoo is a synonym for  a rude, noisy, or violent person.Yahoos are humanlike beasts who live in servitude to the Houyhnhnms.Yahoos seems to belong to various ethnic groups,as they  there are blond Yahoos as well as dark haired and read headed ones.They are naked filthy and extremely primitive in their eating habits.They are unteachable among all animals. They are cunning ,malicious,treacherous  and also revengeful. They are strong and hardy, but of a cowardly spirit, and by consequence, insolent, abject, and cruel. When Gulliver  thought of his family,  friends,  countrymen, or the human race in general, he considered them as they really 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.Yet despite Gulliver’s   revulsion for these disgusting  creatures,he ends his writing referring to himself as a yahoo.

DON PEDRO DE MENDEZ

Don Pedro de Mendez is the  Portuguese captain who takes Gulliver back to Europe after he is forced to leave the land of Houyhnhnm.Don pedro is naturally benevolent and generous ,he offered Gulliver his own best suit of clothes. Gulliver meets his generosity with repulsion as he cannot bear the company of Yahoos .

JAMES BATES

An eminent  London surgeon under  whom Gulliver serves as an apprentice after graduating from Cambridge. Bates helps get Gulliver his first job as a ship’s surgeon and then offers to set up a practice with him. After Bates’s death, Gulliver has trouble maintaining the business, a failure. Bates is hardly mentioned in the travels.

WILLIAM PRICHARD

William Prichard is the master of the Antelope, the ship on which Gulliver embarks for the South Seas at the outset of his first journey, in 1699. When the Antelope sinks, Gulliver is washed ashore on Lilliput. No details are given about the personality of Prichard, and he is not important in Gulliver’s life or in the unfolding of the novel’s plot.