Gulliver's Travels, Part Four

This paper will discuss Part Four of Gulliver's Travels. The discussion will highlight some specific passages in the text which show how Gulliver's character evolved from the beginning chapters, to the middle chapters, and, finally, at the close of the book.

In the first chapter of Gulliver's Travels: Part Four, the author has set out on another voyage as captain of a ship. After his men conspire against him and confine him to a cabin, they then set him on the shore of some unknown land. Gulliver travels into the countryside, walking "very circumspectly for fear of being surprised, or suddenly shot with an [a]rrow" (Swift 211).

While some readers may think that Gulliver was just a little paranoid because of his recent abandonment by his crew members, a more likely interpretation of Gulliver's careful attitude is that he was walking in parts unknown to him. As an experienced traveler, Gulliver's attitude was that of any explorer treading on foreign soil. Within the same chapter, Gulliver continued with the same attitude, stating that he was afraid that the inhabitants of the land where he suddenly found himself alone might not welcome a stranger. Although he was hungry, he was especially careful not to "kill or maim any of their [c]attle" (Swift 213). Gulliver feared that, if he killed any animals belonging to the local people, they could turn against him.

The first change in Gulliver's character occurs in the first chapter, after he meets two Houyhnhnms. The Hou

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chapter of the fourth part of Gulliver's Travels, Gulliver learns to speak the language of the Houyhnhnms. He meets some important members in the community and tells them about his high sea travels. Surprisingly, he learns that the Houyhnhnms have no word in their language for a lie. The Houyhnhnms are equally surprised that the English have words for the "thing which is not" (Swift 226). The Houyhnhnms are not able to conceive of lying, which seems virtuous to Gulliver. But Gulliver also thinks that their inability to conceive of things which do not exist is also an indication of their profound lack of imagination. He decides that he prefers a culture full of imaginative liars, like in England, to that of a boring culture which has great truth at the expense of utter dullness. But his character is still in the process of changing. Gulliver's character really begins to evolve during the middle of Part Four when he realizes that the Houyhnhnms are more civilized creatures than the Yahoos, which resemble humans. He imagines himself returning to England and trying to explain to his friends that the creatures that looked like humans were brutes and the animals that looked like horses were the ones with all of the reasoning ab

Category: Literature - G