“Being one Day abroad with my Protector the Sorrel Nag, and the Weather exceedingly hot, I entreated him to let me bathe in a River that was near. He consented, and I immediately stripped my self stark naked, and went down softly into the Stream. It happened that a young Female Yahoo standing behind a Bank, saw the whole proceeding, and enflamed by Desire, as the Nag and I conjectured, came running withal speed, and leaped into the Water within five Yards of the place where I bathed. I was never in my Life so terribly frighted; the Nag was grazing at some distance, not suspecting any Harm. She embraced me after a most fulsome manner; I roared as loud as I could, and the Nag came galloping towards me, where-upon she quitted her Grasp, with the utmost Reluctancy, and leaped upon the opposite Bank, where she stood gazing and howling all the time I was putting on my Cloaths,” (Swift 225).
Swift, Johnathan. Gulliver's Travels. 1. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2002.
This overly-amorous yahoo’s attack on Gulliver ultimately causes him to lose his ability to think and reason in a logical manner and prompts his transformation into an irrational and impractical being as he seeks to defy his own nature and become that which he is not, destroying his sanity and ability to reason in the process.
To the casual reader, the undesired contact with a yahoo only serves to emphasize Gulliver’s similarity to the yahoos, or more specifically, the similarity in appearance. Obviously, without clothing, Gulliver’s body closely resembles that of a yahoo, suggesting that clothing indeed makes the man and that, naked, Gulliver’s “humanity” ceases to exist. Even in his attempts to retain his civility and assert himself as a respectable sentient being Gulliver demonstrates his inherent barbarity, killing and skinning a beautiful creature that he might cover his nakedness and shame at being so like a yahoo (Swift 232). This act, reminiscent of the original sin of Adam and Eve, emphasizes his human nature and how unlike the virtuous Houyhnhnms he is, despite his best attempts.
Thus Gulliver seeks to atone for the sins of his human existence. He begins to criticize his own race with increasing frequency, expressing his extreme preference for the Houyhnhnms’ land, a place with
no Gibers, Censurers, Backbiters, Pick-pockets, Highwaymen, Housebreakers, Attorneys, Bawds, Buffoons, Gamesters, Politicians, Wits, Spleneticks, tedious Talkers, Controvertists, Ravishers, Murderers, Robbers, Virtuoso’s, no Leaders or Followers of Party and Faction; no Encouragers to Vice, by Seducement, or Examples… (Swift 233).
As he again and again rages against the vices of human civilization, he praises the virtue of the Houyhnhnms, beginning to gain himself the “natural Awe which the Yahoos and all other Animals bear towards them,” (Swift 234) as he adopts their thoughts and lifestyle. With the combined effects of Gulliver’s growing hatred for mankind and his veneration for the Houyhnhnms, Gulliver attempts to become more like the majestic beings who keep him as a pet, living simply in dirt shelter and animal skins, and emphasizing how “Nature is very easily satisfied” (Swift 233).
However, the Houyhnhnms pride themselves on their ability to reason, the basis for their unwavering belief in their superiority over the Yahoos and other beasts, and Gulliver. Yet they cannot comprehend “the Thing which was not,” (Swift 202), or deceit. Their conversation is limited to talks of “Friendship and Benevolence,” (Swift 234), and they fail to understand the differences between clothing and skin. The Yahoos understand the concepts of fraud and lies, but they cannot reason, else they—as a species—would not be subject to the Houyhnhnms. The only being in the land of the Houyhnhnms who possesses the ability to truly reason—Gulliver—cannot acknowledge such and thus seeks to improve himself and become like the virtuous Houyhnhnms, essentially dumb ponies.
As Gulliver grows closer to the glorified horses in their logic and thought processes, he becomes totally disdainful of and arrogant towards the human race, to the extent where he attempts to escape from the kind and reasonable Portuguese sailors who rescued him from the sea (Swift 242). His blatant dislike for his fellow “Yahoos,”—as he regards them—causes him to appear and act in a manner that might only be described as insane. He loathes the idea of covering himself with anything “that had been on the Back of a Yahoo,” (Swift 243), and thus washes his clothing constantly. Upon returning to shore, Gulliver confines himself within the captain’s home, refusing to come into contact with other people, (Swift 243), and when he finally returns to his wife and children, cannot stand them, demanding that their presences are removed from him while he dines and that they not touch his food or drink, lest he suffer the taint of such foul creatures, (Swift 244). These instances portray him as a crazed individual, ironically, almost a beast among men. Yet perhaps the most convincing sign of his insanity is that he now prefers horses to humans, spending “at least four Hours every Day,” (Swift 244) conversing with them.
However, none of this would have come about were it not for his disgust for his own human nature. Because of the young Yahoo girl’s attack upon him, Gulliver believes himself no better than a Yahoo, simply because of his outward appearance. Immediately after the encounter with the Yahoo, Gulliver seeks refuge amongst the Houyhnhnms, attempting to find safety in becoming like them, creatures vastly different from the Yahoos, but equally incapable of true reason. He thus relinquishes his sanity in the process, becoming inhuman even as he seeks to improve his humanity.
