At the beginning of the 18th century, an explosion of satire swept British literature. This period, often referred to as the "Age of Reason", was heavily influenced by a group of society's elite, who called themselves the Augustinians and were determined to live their lives according to "truth" and "reason ". Likewise, they often found themselves the object of much satire. Among the satirists of this era were such eminent authors as Daniel Defoe, Alexander Pope, and Jonathan Swift. Of the three, the most biting, stinging, and bitter writing came from Swift. Swift, who was not afraid to attack almost any institution, often found himself surrounded by controversy. His most controversial and greatest work, however, was a series of travel chronicles known as Gulliver's Travels. Through the adventures of Lemuel Gulliver, Swift ridiculed everything from English politics to human nature. Indeed, Swift declared that the purpose of his travels was to “wonderfully repair the world” (qtd. in Rowe 143). All four books of Gulliver's Travels are filled entirely with satire, which, simply put, is a type of writing that mocks the weaknesses and vices of a person, an institution, or society in general. “The satirist expects his readers to see a distorted image, and the reader must be shocked to realize that the image is his” (Dyson 673). The fourth book of Gulliver's Travels, "A Journey Among the Houyhnhnms", is particularly filled with satire, as Gulliver discovers a utopian society of horses (Houyhnhnms) who mock humans (Yahoos) as wild. Throughout the selection, Swift also includes irony in her work to aid her satire. Verbal irony (the one used by Swift) occurs when an author says one thing, but means something completely different. Although Swift's main aim in writing the Fourth Voyage of Gulliver's Travels was to emphasize the savagery of human nature, a closer reading reveals a more subtle and ironic caricature of the Augustinians. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayThere is no doubt that the main goal of The Fourth Voyage is to reveal the barbarity of humanity. The theme is found everywhere. The reader can't help but feel partly ashamed of himself after finishing the book. As Gulliver first descends on the island, he encounters a disgusting group of human-like animals known as Yahoos. Moreover, when he saw them for the first time, he said: “In short, I have never seen in all my travels such an unpleasant animal, nor against which I naturally conceived such a strong antipathy” ( Swift 2). Towards the end of the story, it becomes apparent that the Yahoos are an exaggeration of humanity itself. More specifically, they represent the wild side of humanity. “Disgusting as the image is, it nevertheless conveys an important moral lesson: it is a probable description of what humanity might become if exposed to the brutal influences of unregulated passions” (Kallich 70). Furthermore, the amoral characteristics of human society seem just as bad, if not worse, than those of the Yahoos. In fact, the horses in the utopian society are shocked when they hear Gulliver's descriptions of all the vices of people and society. Indeed, Gulliver's description of the causes of wars is particularly astonishing. The invasion of a country after its population has been devastated by famine, destroyed by plague, or embroiled in factionsbetween it is a completely legitimate cause of war. It is legitimate to go to war against our closest ally, when one of his cities suits us, or a territory of land, which would make our domains round and complete. If a prince sends forces into a nation where the people are poor and ignorant, he can legally put half of them to death and make slaves of the rest, in order to civilize them and reduce them from their barbaric way of life. (Quick13)Shortly after this selection, the horse to whom Gulliver explains the reasons for the war establishes many links between humans and the Yahoos by describing some of the very aggressive activities of the latter which strangely resemble the wars of humanity . Certainly, this passage shows how the rulers of many countries can hide their selfish quest for power behind honorable motivations. “The justifiable is stripped of the rationalizing euphemism of diplomacy and seen for what it really is: reason of state and Realpolitik are only abstract shields for inhuman opportunism and flagrant crimes” (Knowles 124 ). Likewise, this is a fairly obvious use of irony: Swift calls these actions "very justifiable" when the way he describes them indicates that he doesn't really mean it. This example is just one of many throughout Swift's journey satirizing greed and the primitive nature of humanity. Even though Gulliver becomes a misanthrope at the end of the book, this point of view is not the one that Swift offers the reader. At the end of the journey, Gulliver is forced to return home, by decree of the Houyhnhnms. When he arrives home, he cannot tolerate the sight of another human being (including his family) because he believes that deep down, they are real Yahoos. Many have argued that this is the view Swift wants her readers to adopt. After all, at one point he said, “I have always hated all nations, professions, and communities, and all my love is for individuals” (qtd. in Rowse 143). However, Swift made Gulliver far more misanthropic than he could reasonably expect anyone to be. After his trip, Gulliver forces his wife and son to dine at the other end of a very long table. Swift wanted the reader to perceive this as silly and perhaps think it a little crazy. "Swift, in constructing the narrative of Gulliver's transformation from a lover of humanity into a complete misanthrope, went out of her way to introduce various signs into the story whose natural effect would be to discredit, for readers attentive, the extreme conclusions drawn by Gulliver himself during his stay in Houyhnhnmland” (Crane 334-335). Likewise, Gulliver is rescued and brought back to Europe by a Portuguese captain named Don Pedro. The captain is extraordinarily kind to Gulliver, who always looks down on him for being a Yahoo. "The captain had often begged me to strip myself of my wild clothes and had offered to lend me the finest clothes he had. I would not be persuaded to accept, hating to cover myself with anything that had been on the back of a Yahoo" (Swift 35). Obviously, Gulliver's refusal to wear something that had merely touched a Yahoo is a bit extreme. The last character mentioned in the novel (other than Gulliver) happens to be a man blessed with many virtues. Swift obviously wants his readers to understand that because of his experiences, Gulliver's views on human nature are not entirely fair and rational. If Swift had wanted us to take Gulliver's antipathy towards humankind seriously, wouldn't he have made his savior an unmistakable Yahoo character? And is not his emphasis on the virtues of Don Pedro a clear indication, therefore, that hewanted us to think of Gulliver, at this final stage, as a person so infatuated with a false or one-sided theory of human nature that he is blind to it. to facts that contradict it? (Crane 335)Gulliver obviously shares the point of view of his equine friends. If this view is incorrect, it means that the Houyhnhnms are not the infallible beings originally described. Obviously, if their primary goal is not to create a perfect race to which man should be compared, they must have some other function in history. The Houyhnhnms, although apparently perfect beings, are in reality only skillful imitations of the Augustinians. As we said before, the Augustinians dedicated their lives to reason and truth. Just like the Augustians, everything the Houyhnhnms do is based on a scientific process. In their marriages they are careful to choose colors which will not create any unpleasant mixture in the breed. Strength is mainly appreciated in men and beauty in women; not out of love, but to preserve the race from degeneration; for where a female excels in strength, a wife is chosen according to her beauty. (Swift 25) This is a great example of Swift's use of irony to aid in her satire. Throughout the story, he frequently mentions how good the society of the Houyhnhnms is when, through his description of their way of life, he actually shows the opposite. The life of horses lacks passions, pleasures and ideas. Even if they have no harm in their society, they do not derive any real benefits from it either. If removing all risks from life is what it takes to eliminate vice, shouldn't humanity accept the necessity of a little evil? The world the Houyhnhnms live in is far from perfect. "Horses actually have no passion. Their 'virtue' is not a triumph over impulse and temptation, but a total immunity from these things and an immunity which is also, by its very nature, a absence of life and vitality? If they are incapable of human bestiality, they are still less capable of human glory or sublimity” (Dyson 681). is the way the Augustians strove to live their lives Later, in the Romantic era, they would be criticized for their scientific approach to everything and their strict adherence to reason. In this way, Swift was ahead of his time. time and, although his book did not glorify emotion or anything like that, it certainly ridiculed the Augustinians and their ideals. "Book IV is still valid, in fact, as a satire of Augustanism. -even. The Augustians, in their most characteristic form, disapproved of strong emotions as necessarily disruptive, subordinating even those they could not exile to the severe control of "Right Reason." ” and found no place for “feeling” in their search for “truth” (Dyson 682). see how foolish a life devoted to reason truly was. Therefore, the ironic ridicule of the Augustinians was just as integral to Book IV as the depiction of humans as that of the Yahoos. The entire Houyhnhnmland system is, in fact, an allegory. the reason and pure emotion of the Yahoos. Either taken to the extreme is dangerous. If people let emotion rule them completely, they end up with a society without order, like that of the Yahoos. On the other hand, if people dedicate themselves entirely. According to logic, they produce a society with much order, but without vitality. A healthy community has a good mix of both. Swift leaves subtle clues like misanthropy at the end