Gulliver Four: Here We Go Again

Gulliver Four is multi-leveled and contains a layer of meaning which has hitherto remained recalcitrant to the ingenuity and sensitivity which have been lavished on it.1 Thus, while there are other readings of Gulliver Four which are covalent with that which I am about to present—and others which are not—the coherence of the argument advanced here provides a strong reason for approving some and discarding other previous interpretations of the book, depending on the degree to which they are compatible with it. For example, Wedel's finding of Hobbes and Locke in the Yahoos and Houyhnhnms is congruent with this interpretation and thus acceptable.2 One of the most controversial points about Gulliver's last voyage is whether the Yahoos are human beings. Frye, Landa, and Tuveson have all provided excellent statements of the affirmative position, and it is difficult not to feel that the weight of the evidence lies on their side. But there are objections to be overcome. First, it is true that Gulliver consistently considers the Yahoos as animals. One of the most telling effects in the book is that, although Gulliver first describes them in Chapter I (p. 223 ),3 it is not until Chapter II that he even notices they are human in form (pp. 229-230). Second, he uses