I would like to point out how Don Pedro is also an experienced, seafaring traveler that has experienced the world and all it has to offer, such as Gulliver himself, who should by all accounts succumb to his "yahoo" nature and benefit from Gulliver's plight as a stereotypical corsair. However, we find his immediate response is to embrace him, feed him, and shelter him back home rather than ransom him for selfish gain. This again reiterates your argument that even the institution that Gulliver willingly adheres and explains to the Houyhnhnms is not 100% accurate.
Also, I think Swift might be poking fun at the micro/macro perspective of the Enlightenment as well. At the tales resolution, Gulliver is looking down the wrong end of the telescope. He perceives humanity at a blurry distance that blobs us all together as a misshapen construct, or "yahoos," rather than seeing clearly the miniature acts of kindness magnified before him that separates humans from the "yahoos."
It's worth noting that despite all his encounters, Gulliver never meets any group that displays an ideal conception of a human or human society. Large or small, rational or humane, all are flawed, incomplete. No utopian human exists.
Great read, yet again!
I would like to point out how Don Pedro is also an experienced, seafaring traveler that has experienced the world and all it has to offer, such as Gulliver himself, who should by all accounts succumb to his "yahoo" nature and benefit from Gulliver's plight as a stereotypical corsair. However, we find his immediate response is to embrace him, feed him, and shelter him back home rather than ransom him for selfish gain. This again reiterates your argument that even the institution that Gulliver willingly adheres and explains to the Houyhnhnms is not 100% accurate.
Also, I think Swift might be poking fun at the micro/macro perspective of the Enlightenment as well. At the tales resolution, Gulliver is looking down the wrong end of the telescope. He perceives humanity at a blurry distance that blobs us all together as a misshapen construct, or "yahoos," rather than seeing clearly the miniature acts of kindness magnified before him that separates humans from the "yahoos."
Thanks, Robert--great points. Yes, we have here two men who have "seen the world," and yet they respond so differently.
Gulliver's weak mind! Alas, he is all too familiar. But he reminds us of our call to be humane humans.
Thanks, Gull!
It's worth noting that despite all his encounters, Gulliver never meets any group that displays an ideal conception of a human or human society. Large or small, rational or humane, all are flawed, incomplete. No utopian human exists.
Yes, exactly. The Brobdingnagians are pretty good, but not perfect, which, as you suggest, is the point.