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Summary of Gulliver’s Travels Part 4 Chapter 7

Summary of Gulliver’s Travels Part 4 Chapter 7

The narrator’s great love of his native country is expressed. His master’s observations upon the constitution and administration of England, as described by the narrator, with parallel cases and comparisons. His master’s observations upon human nature are chronicled.

Impressed by the virtues of the Houyhnhnms, Gulliver decided to tell, freely and truthfully, as much as he could, about human beings. Gulliver had started to hate the Yahoos and had come to venerate the Houyhnhnms. He hoped to be able to stay among them for the rest of his life. Convinced by ‘a person of so acute a judgment’ as his master, who daily convinced Gulliver of a thousand faults in him that he had not perceived earlier, Gulliver sees in himself flaws that he had never considered infirmities. His master told him that he had considered all of Gulliver’s claims about his home country and had come to the conclusion that Gulliver’s people were not as different from the Yahoos as they might at first have seemed.

Gulliver’s Master reached the conclusion that the European Yahoos had only enough intelligence to make their natural corruption worse and to acquire new ones, which nature had not given them. By clipping their nails, cutting their hair, and generally growing soft, they had also deprived themselves of the natural protection the Yahoos of the Houyhnhnm Land had. Even though there were outward differences between Gulliver and the Yahoos in the land of the Houyhnhnms, their essential natures were the same: they hated each other more than other animals did and fought without a cause. The Yahoos of the land of the Houyhnhnms also loved shiny rocks, which none of the Houyhnhnms understood, but which seemed to be a trait common to the whole human species.

Yahoos were the only animals in Houyhnhnm land who fell sick. Gulliver’s Master did admit that European Yahoos had a lot more art than their local Yahoos. Still, their natures seemed essentially identical: for example, Yahoos of the land of the Houyhnhnm also liked to choose a leader, usually the weakest and the ugliest of the group. He also noted that Yahoos were unique in having both males and females fighting equally violently with one another. Gulliver’s Master continued that Yahoos loved filth more than most animals. Also, Yahoos sometimes fell into bad moods or thought they were sick for no reason; the only cure for this hypochondria was hard work.

He described all the flaws of the Yahoos, principally detailing their greed and selfishness. He admitted that Gulliver’s humans had different systems of learning, law, government and art but said that their natures were not different from those of the Yahoos.

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Summary of Gulliver’s Travels Part 4 Chapter 6

Summary of Gulliver’s Travels Part 4 Chapter 6

A continuation of the state of England under Queen Anne is given. The character of a first minister of state in European courts is described.

The discussion then turned to money and gold. The Houyhnhnm was unable to understand why human beings lied or injured fellow beings. Gulliver tried to explain the concept of greed and exploitation to his Master. He told him that when a human being had got a great store of money, he was able to purchase whatever he had a mind to; the finest clothing, the most luxurious houses, great tracts of land, and the best food. For this, the rich man enjoyed the fruit of the poor man’s labour, and the latter were a thousand to one in proportion to the former; that the bulk of people were forced to live miserably, by labouring every day for small wages, to make a few live plentifully.

He talked of the absurdities of importing and exporting, sending away necessities such as agricultural products and bringing in luxuries. He claimed that England grew enough food to support its population comfortably, but because they wanted luxury, they had to export what they grew in exchange for things that they didn’t need. A female Yahoo couldn’t get her breakfast without someone having circled the world three times for the tea she drank and the china cup she drank it from. This luxury of rich food led the English to diseases, the likes of which the Houyhnhnms had never seen. Another group of people had arisen to treat these diseases—to profit off them—using fake potions to make people cleanse their insides. This group of people, the doctors, made so much profit on disease that they encouraged people to think that they were sick even when they weren’t.

While discussing political thought, Gulliver accidentally mentioned a minister of state. At that Gulliver’s master wanted to know what a ‘Minister of State’ was. Gulliver told him that the First Minister of State was someone totally without any emotion besides ambition for money, power and titles. The chief qualifications for the First Minister of State were: to know how to get rid of an inconvenient relative; to undermine his predecessor; to shout endlessly against corruption at court.

Gulliver felt a wise prince was one who had corrupt ministers because they were given to flattery and bowed to the will and desire of their master. These ministers kept themselves in power, by bribing the majority of a senate or great council. They made laws to save themselves from being called to account on retiring. And they retired from office rich with the loot they had plundered from the nation. Chief Ministers of State bribed and intimidated others to follow their orders.

Gulliver’s tirade continued. He told his master that the nobility in his country were educated to be lazy and ignorant and that there was frequent mixing of classes that damaged noble blood lines. Despite their total uselessness, they still had authority over all lower-born people in the country.

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Summary of Gulliver’s Travels Part 4 Chapter 5

Summary of Gulliver’s Travels Part 4 Chapter 5

The narrator, at his master’s command, informs him of the state of England and the causes of war among the princes of Europe. The narrator begins to explain the English constitution.

Over the course of two years, Gulliver described the state of affairs in Europe. Gulliver spoke to his Houyhnhnm master about the English Revolution and the war with France, in which, probably, about a million Yahoos were killed, approximately a hundred or more cities taken, and five times as many ships burnt or sunk.

Gulliver was asked to explain the causes of war, and he did his best to provide reasons for war. He spoke about the ambition of princes who wanted more land or people to rule over. Sometimes, corrupt ministers led the country into a war, in order to draw attention away from their evil administration. Gulliver talked at length about the bloody wars fought for ‘religious reasons’. Likewise, he spoke about the wars fought over reasons as trivial as what is the best colour or length for a coat. He told the Houyhnhnm about colonization and wars over colonies.

Sometimes, a prince declared war for fear of an attack. Wars were fought to dominate a weak neighbour; to subdue a strong one; to plunder a country that had been all but ruined by famine or a natural disaster; to take over a country in order to have its natural riches. The trade of a soldier, maintained Gulliver, was held to be highly prestigious. He talked of mercenary soldiers who fought for money. At times people murdered each other, out of jealousy, for a government post. An invading prince, Gulliver said, would conquer a country, kill half the population, and enslave the rest, all in the holy name of civilization.

Gulliver’s master then told Gulliver that, with all of this warlike nature, it was lucky that humans couldn’t do too much damage to each other because their mouths weren’t designed for easy biting. Gulliver explained the weapons of war and the damage that humans could do to each other. He started describing the horrors of the battlefield when his Master commanded him to silence. He commented that, although his Yahoos were abominable, English Yahoos were far worse because they used their intelligence to magnify, yet excuse, their vices.

The Houyhnhnm then asked Gulliver about England’s legal system. He wondered how laws could be bad or ruin men, when they were designed to save them. Gulliver then explained the legal system in some detail, criticizing lawyers severely in the process. He explained how some lawyers were trained from babyhood to defend the wrong side. So, they had no sense of justice. What was more, judges often preferred to agree with what appeared obviously untrue. So, people with right on their side might only win if they pretended that right was wrong.

Gulliver talked about precedent: anything that had been done before may legally be done again. Lawyers liked to split hairs and talked about irrelevant details to distract from the simple facts of all their cases. They had their own private way of speaking, which excluded ordinary people from either understanding of making laws. People in power could decide to convict others accused of crimes against the state because they had influence over the judges. Gulliver’s master commented that it was a shame that they spent so much time training lawyers to be lawyers and not teaching them to be knowledgeable and wise.

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Summary of Gulliver’s Travels Part 4 Chapter 4

Summary of Gulliver’s Travels Part 4 Chapter 4

The Houyhnhnm’s notion of truth and falsehood. The narrator’s discourse disapproved by his master. The narrator gives a more particular account of himself, and the accidents of his voyage.

Gulliver and his master continued their discussion of concepts that were difficult for his master to comprehend—especially those related to lying and doing evil. Gulliver said he had occasion to talk of ‘lying’ and ‘false representation,’ both of which his master had great difficulty understanding. There were no words for ‘lying’ and ‘doubt’ in the Houyhnhnm language. The Houyhnhnm said that lying defeated the very purpose of language, which was to make the speakers understand one another. Gulliver tried to explain that the Yahoos were the governing creatures where he came from, and the Houyhnhnms asked how their horses were employed.

He told his master about the poor treatment horses often received, as work animals, in his home country. Gulliver explained that they were used for travelling, racing, and drawing chariots. Gulliver’s master was utterly disgusted to hear that Yahoos rode Houyhnhnms where Gulliver came from. The Houyhnhnms expressed disbelief that anything as weak as a Yahoo would dare to mount a horse that was so much stronger than it. Though Gulliver’s master continued to be outraged, he admitted that, if horses in Gulliver’s country were stupid, then it made sense that the Yahoos won out, because reason beat strength every time.

Gulliver’s master inquired if the Yahoos in Gulliver’s country were more like Gulliver or like the Yahoos of the Houyhnhnm Land. When Gulliver answered that they were more like him, Gulliver’s master actually thought that it was something of a disadvantage. Sure, they were better-looking than the Yahoos of Houyhnhnm, but they were physically weaker and less suited to survival. It took Gulliver a long time to explain to his Master about his own origins, because there were no words in Houyhnhnm language for things like deception, power, wealth, lust, or envy.

Gulliver explained that the horses were trained from a young age to be tame and obedient. He described the state of humanity in Europe and was asked to speak more specifically of his own country.

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Summary of Gulliver’s Travels Part 4 Chapter 3

Summary of Gulliver’s Travels Part 4 Chapter 3

The narrator studies to learn the language. The Houyhnhnm, his master, assists in teaching him. The language is described. Several Houyhnhnms of quality come, out of curiosity, to see the narrator. He gives his master a short account of his voyage. Gulliver spent most of his early days in the land of the Houyhnhnms endeavouring to leam the language of the horses, with the help of the sorrel nag and the grey horse and his children. Adept at languages, Gulliver learnt, rather quickly, to talk with the Houyhnhnms. Gulliver felt that the Houyhnhnm language sounded a lot like High-Dutch or German, but was more ‘graceful.’

Besides the Houyhnhnms teaching Gulliver, he too taught them. They had no books, so Gulliver showed them how to write. The Houyhnhnms were truly mystified by their visitor; he seemed to be so much like a Yahoo, but also seemed to be rational—a combination which they believed to be impossible. Gulliver’s host was very impressed with him and wondered how Gulliver was taught to imitate a rational creature. In his experience, Yahoos were ‘the most unteachable of all brutes.’ Ironically, though Gulliver might be impressive to the Houyhnhnms, he still hadn’t convinced them that he wasn’t a Yahoo.

After three months, he could answer most of their questions, and tried to explain that he came from across the sea, but the horses, or Houyhnhnms, did not believe that such a thing Was possible. They thought that Gulliver was some kind of Yahoo, though superior to the rest of his species. He asked them to stop using that word to refer to him, and they consented. They were impressed by his intellect and curiosity. Gulliver discovered that, in their language, ‘Houyhnhnm’ meant both horse and ‘perfection of nature.’ Many Houynhnhnms came to see Gulliver, staring in wonder at a Yahoo who seemed to possess reason.

The Houynhnhnms had thought Gulliver was a different kind of Yahoo as they thought his clothes were his skin. But one night, as Gulliver was getting ready for bed, the sorrel nag saw him. He thought that Gulliver changed skins as he slept. Gulliver had been trying to cover up the fact that underneath his clothes, he really was like the other Yahoos, but he realised he could not keep the secret much longer as his clothes and shoes would soon wear out, and would need to be supplied by some contrivance from the hides of Yahoos, or other brutes.

So Gulliver explained to Gulliver’s Master Horse that in the country where Gulliver came from, his people always covered their bodies with the hairs of certain animals to avoid the bad weather, both hot and cold. He removed his coat, waistcoat and shirt and Gulliver’s Master Horse was impressed by how different Gulliver was from the other Yahoos, because his skin was pale, soft, and relatively hairless.

Gulliver asked his Master to stop calling him a Yahoo and to keep the secret of his clothes. The Master agreed. He told Gulliver to learn the Houyhnhnm language with utmost diligence so that he could ask Gulliver more questions. Gulliver was finally able to tell Gulliver’s Master Horse that he had arrived at his island in a ship made by men and sailed by men, that he was set ashore thanks to an argument between men. Gulliver’s Master asked how the Houyhnhnms of Gulliver’s country allowed a ship to be sailed by brutes.

Gulliver made his master promise not to get angry, and then he explained that, in his country, the Houyhnhnms were the brutes and the men were the reasonable beings.