英语的读后感

英语的读后感

英语的读后感（一）

《格列佛游记》读后感

One

of

the

most

interesting

questions

about

Gullivers

Travels

is

whether

the

Houyhnhnms

represent

an

ideal

of

rationality or whether on the other hand they are the butt of

Swift's satire. In other words, in Book IV, is Swift poking fun at

the

talking

horses

or

does

he

intend

for

us

to

take

them

seriously as the proper way to act? If we look closely at the way

that the Houyhnhnms act, we can see that in fact Swift does

not take them seriously: he uses them to show the dangers of

pride.

First we have to see that Swift does not even take Gullver

seriously.

For

instance,

his

name

sounds

much

like

gullible,

which

suggests

that

he

will

believe

anything.

Also,

when

he

first

sees

the

Yahoos

and

they

throw

excrement

on

him,

he

responds by doing the same in return until they run away. He

says,

"I

must

needs

discover

some

more

rational

being," even though as a human he is already the most

rational

being

there

is.

This

is

why

Swift

refers

to

Erasmus

1

Darwins discovery of the origin of the species and the voyage

of the Beagle-to show how Gulliver knows that people are at

the top of the food chain. But if Lemule Gulliver is satirized, so

are

the

Houyhnhnms,

whose

voices

sound

like

the

call

of

castrati. They walk on two legs instead of four, and seem to be

much

like

people.

As

Gulliver

says,

"It

was

with

the

utmost astonishment that I witnessed these creatures playing

the

flute

and

dancing

a

Vienese

waltz.

To

my

mind,

they

seemed

like

the

greatest

humans

ever

seen

in

court,

even

more

dextrous

than

the

Lord

Edmund

Burke" .

As

this

quote

demonstrates,

Gulliver

is

terribly

impressed,

but

his

admiration

for

the

Houyhnhnms

is

short-lived

because

they

are

so

prideful.

For

instance,

the

leader

of

the

Houyhnhnms

claims that he has read all the works of Charles Dickens, and

that

he can

singlehandedly

recite the

names

of

all

the

Kings

and

Queens

of

England

up

to

George

II.

Swift

subtly

shows

that this Houyhnhnms pride is misplaced when, in the middle

of the intellectual competition, he forgets the name of Queen

Elizabeths husband.

Swifts satire of the Houyhnhnms comes out in other ways

as well. One of the most memorable scenes is when the dapple

grey

mare

attempts

to

woo

the

horse

that

Guenivre

has

2

brought

with

him

to

the

island.

First

she

acts

flirtatiously,

parading around the bewildered horse. But when this does not

have

the

desired

effect,

she

gets

another

idea:

"As

I

watched in amazement from my perch in the top of a tree, the

sorrel nag dashed off and returned with a yahoo on her back

who was yet more monstrous than Mr. Pope being fitted by a

clothier. She dropped this creature before my nag as if offering

up

a

sacrifice.

My

horse

sniffed

the

creature

and

turned

away."

It

might

seem

that

we

should

take

this

scene

seriously

as

a

failed

attempt

at

courtship,

and

that

consequently we should see the grey mare as an unrequited

lover.

But

it

makes

more

sense

if

we

see

that

Swift

is

being

satiric here: it is the female Houyhnhnm who makes the move,

which

would

not

have

happened

in

eighteenth-century

England. The Houyhnhm is being prideful, and it is that pride

that

makes

him

unable

to

impress

Gullivers

horse.

Gulliver

imagines the horse saying, Sblood, the notion of creating the

bare backed beast with an animal who had held Mr. Pope on

her back makes me queezy .

A final indication that the Houyhnmns are not meant to be

taken seriously occurs when the leader of the Houynhms visits

Lilliput, where he visits the French Royal Society. He goes into

3