In part IV we get a look inside the Houyhnhnms society. We begin to see Gulliver is no longer hesitant, rather he longs to be a part of their society. Of course, the Houyhnhnms see him as a yahoo (a rude, noisy, or violent person), and they insist that Gulliver leaves them. This suggests that the Houyhnhnms are innately complete opposites of Gulliver. Aside from physical characteristics, even after Gulliver tries to adopt their ideals and practices, the Houyhnhnms never accept him as one of their own and always view him as a yahoo. This implies that something “innate” about the Houyhnhnms is decent, calm and controlled. Either that or they just simply hate Gulliver. This concept helps speak towards the Irish and their transition into “whiteness”. White European Americans viewed White Irish Americans as lesser, even though physically there was no difference, which means that internally they believed that something about them was different. However, this idea works better with the story of Gulliver because we are discussing societies that are actually different species (Lilliputians, Houyhnhms, Europeans), and not just because of the social hierarchy of race.
In class we discussed how Gulliver saw the society of these “magical horses” as perfect, and challenged whether an utopian society could exist without any action towards it. The Houyhnhnms were very intelligent and sat around all day and discussed, but didn’t actually do anything, yet their society was “perfect”. I would argue that the idea of a Utopia worked for the Houyhnhnms because they all shared a common desire and understanding. And although there were different animals a part of the society, they still fit within the structure of the society. If the society is already perfect, then I think it can remain perfect without any physical contribution. I think Gulliver is forced to leave because he threatened their society as an outsider who brought, not only a physical difference, but different views, beliefs and ideals. They always saw Gulliver negatively, therefore, he could not be apart of their society. Ironically, them kicking Gulliver out is a step in them taking action and maintaining their perfection.
This is a really excellent and interesting point. In the context of hybridity in the Black Atlantic, which we read in Gilroy, I recognized Gulliver’s hybridity. After all, he returns to England speaking like a horse, which shows the impact the society of the Houyhnhyms has on him. Yet I didn’t think of the danger, from the horses’ perspective of undergoing change as well. Gulliver definitely threatens their “perfection” and challenges what it means to be a rational creature in their world. Her outsiderness threatens to attack whatever the Houyhnhms consider to be essential about being part of their society