This document provides background information on Jonathan Swift and his satirical novel Gulliver's Travels, published anonymously in 1726. It describes the four voyages of the protagonist Lemuel Gulliver, including visits to the lands of Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa, and the Houyhnhnms, who represent disciplined society in contrast to humans, called Yahoos. The excerpt to be analyzed is from the fourth voyage, in which Gulliver describes human society and flaws to the Houyhnhnms.

1. Gulliver’s Travels
by Jonathan Swift
published anonymously in 1726 as Travels into Several
Remote Nations of the World.

2. Jonathan Swift
1675 - 1739
Introduction
 Anglo-Irish Satirist
 Clergyman
 Writer
 Political
Pamphleteer
 Poet
 Master of Satire

3. Gulliver's Travels – 1726
four-part satirical novel
Lemuel Gulliver dreamt of travelling the world. But when a
violent storm claims his ship and casts him adrift among
unchartered lands, he is taken to places that he had never
imagined could exist.
Gulliver travels to Lilliput, where the inhabitants measure just
centimeters tall, and to Brobdingnag, where they tower into the
sky like giants. Then he goes to an island floating above the
clouds, after which he visits a race of immortals, and finds
himself stranded in a land ruled by horses. Face to face with
warring armies and power-hungry kings, each new journey
makes Gulliver more desperate to find a way back home. But
once he discovers the truth about his own land and himself,
returning home becomes the last thing he desires.

4. Gulliver’s Travels
Four Voyages of Lemuel Gulliver
1. A Voyage to Lilliput
2. A Voyage to Brobdingnag
3. A Voyage to Laputa
4. The land of Houyhnhnms
Voyages 1 and 2 focus on criticism of various aspects of
English society at the time, and man within this society, while
voyages 3 and 4 are more preoccupied with human nature.
The excerpt on pages 100-102 is from the last voyage.

5. Characters on Pp 100-102
• Gulliver - the protagonist and
the narrator of the story.
• Gulliver’s Houyhnhnms master
• Houyhnhnms - represent
disciplined, cultured society
• Yahoos - they represent savage
human society
YAHOO
This word was invented by the Jonathen Swift and means brave and
enthusiastic person. Founders Jerry Yang and David Filo call them "Yahoos".

6. Satire Definition
“Satire is genre of literature, and sometimes
graphic, and performing arts, in which vices,
follies, abuses, and shortcoming are held up to
ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming
individuals and/or society into improvement”
The novel can be read as a powerful attack on
man's wickedness and stupidity.

7. Fourth Voyage
The Land of Houyhnhnms:
Satire on human moral shortcomings and on
mankind:
Gulliver quickly learns the language of
houyhnhnms and tells them about his
country where human beings rule and
horses are trained to work for them.
Houyhnhnms find this unbelievable.

8. Fourth Voyage
The Land of Houyhnhnms:
• Gulliver talks about what leads to war.
• Gulliver tells them about law and order in his nation
• Humans (Europeans) are described as yahoos.
• Greed and selfishness is a part of human nature.
• Houyhnhnms live in social harmony and have more
humanity than humans.
• Swift challenges the traditional idea that humans are
rational animals.