In examining two works by Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels and A Modest Proposal, one must take into account the political and social history of Ireland in the early seventeenth century. Swift created these works to comment upon Ireland’s desperate condition; socially and economically, his country was depressed, almost primitive, when compared the rest of Europe at that time. Specifically, he addressed England’s policy of colonial rule that was imposed on Ireland, which drained the country of its material and human resources. Additionally, he uses this as a basis to explore the human consequences of living under such conditions, and to question whether human nature is inherently evil or if such is forced upon an individual in dire circumstances. Found at a more basic and technical level, ideological structure is a further relation between the two texts: each of them uses logic and irrationality to clarify Swift’s opinions.
Historically, one of the main causes of Ireland’s miserable social and economic state was the foreign policy that detrimentally tied it to Britain. Much of the land was owned either by British or Irish landlords who lived in England and remained indifferent to anything except that which ensured their own wealth. They imposed a quasi-feudal system upon the farmers who worked the land, taxing the majority of their labour. Such absentee landlords were bitterly condemned by Swift, especially in A Modest Proposal. He viewed them as parasites who consumed Ireland whole. Indeed, such consumption was the metaphorical basis for the text: instead of England profiting from the devouring of Irish workers, Ireland itself should profit by eating the infants of the poor. He notes the abuses of the landlords directly, as the infants would be “very proper for [them], who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children” (MP, 298). In many ways this theme harkens back to Gulliver’s Travels, which was published three years before. Notably, Swift outlines the preparation of meat in the two texts, which in each case brings torment to the poor in order to sate the rich. Such is obvious in A Modest Proposal; in Gulliver, Swift emphasizes the economic misery caused by luxury, represented by the exotic dressing that is required in the preparation of food for the rich (GT, 244). Interestingly, Swift seems to foreshadow his later work with a few sporadic phrases. When Gulliver first encounters the Houyhnhnms, he discovers that he cannot eat their food, but instead will “absolutely starve, if [he does] not get to some of his own species” (GT, 223). Later on he describes a difference in opinion among the Europeans: “whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh” (GT, 238). He provides a solution for the problem of the literal and economic famine in Ireland, similar in each of the texts. Irish people had to adopt an almost mercantilist approach to manufacture and consumerism: goods were not to be exported until the local population was satisfied, and only goods manufactured in Ireland were to be purchased (GT, 245; MP, 302).
Notably, in each of the texts Swift is despondent, believing that humankind is far too engulfed in its faults to heed his advice. Indeed, in both works he draws elaborate lists of the flaws of human nature and thereafter provides a few examples to vindicate his convictions (GT, 236; MP, 298). Significantly, he seems to assign such ‘evil’ tendencies to those who lack the financial means to support themselves, and who are brought to such ends by an oppressive foreign country. These outcasts are forced to turn to such practices as stealing and prostitution for survival. Importantly, Swift describes these actions as if they were admirable occupations; he does, in fact, place stealing in the same sentence among a list of professions including farming and craftsmanship. Therefore, one is left to infer that Swift actually sympathizes with those who’s nature has been corrupted by elements outside their control. Within certain passages of Gulliver’s Travels, Swift seems to use the Houyhnhnms to vocalize his own beliefs. In describing the Yahoos, one of the Houyhnhnms states that he does not hate them for their ‘evil’ nature any more than he does a “sharp stone for cutting his hoof” (GT, 240). Yet, his prose is not always so straightforwardly logical; cause does not necessarily have to lead to effect. The hero of Swift’s travelogue, Gulliver himself, upon close examination, truly is the embodiment of the negative qualities in mankind. While ignoring the lesser vices of stealing and cheating (although one may argue that he can be accused of perjury, as the contents of his “real” journeys are quite fantastical), he does seem to have a predisposition towards a deviant sexuality, particularly of a violent nature. This can seen in his dealings with the Lilliputians, the Brobdingnagians, and most especially, the Yahoos. Gulliver seems to have a sexual desire for young, or at least small, children; at one point he describes a twenty-eight-year-old as being “past his prime” (GT, 15). In Lilliput, he allows the tiny people to dance on his hand and play in his hair, and entertains a few of them, young females, in private (GT, 23 and 52 respectively). In both the land of the Brobdingnagians and the Yahoos, he exposes himself to children (GT, 83 and 258). Indeed, in those two circumstances, Gulliver does more than merely strip himself naked. He engages in sex-play with a young Brobdingnagian by manipulating her natural curiosity, and interacts with a Yahoo infant in such a manner that leads one to suppose that he is molesting the child. To escape from the land of the Houyhnhnms near the end of the text, Gulliver fashions a sail out of the skins of infant Yahoos (GT, 275); one can only imagine the extent to which a soul must be corrupted in order to complete such an undertaking. Yet, unlike the ‘innocent’ victims of British colonial policy found in A Modest Proposal, Gulliver’s criminal tendencies do not stem from social oppression; alternately, it seems as though he fails in society because of his dubious constitution. Therefore, early in the novel he fails to establish himself as a doctor not because of excessive taxation or famine, but instead due to his deviency, which was noticed by his patients (GT, 3). These disagreeable inclinations can very easily remain undetected by the reader; indeed the many editions of Gulliver’s Travels retold for children exist as proof that many readers have seen Gulliver as an admirable character. Perhaps such was Swift’s intention: in order to demonstrate the universality of moral corruption, he forces readers to sympathize, or even to admire, Gulliver.
In order to more emphatically indicate his beliefs, Swift distances the reader from the subject. He accomplishes this similarly in each of the works studied. He places a third party between the narrator and the audience, which acts as mediator and interpreter, refining communication between the two. In each of the two texts this filter is reason. In Gulliver’s Travels, the reader observes humanity through the eyes of the Houyhnhnms, who are themselves the embodiment of ultimate reason. By filtering the reader’s observances through another species, and using reason as a tool for judgement, Swift’s beliefs in the flaws of humanity become more readily apparent. The Houyhnhnms analyze and condemn virtually every aspect of humanity, from institutions to the basic emotional characteristics upon which they are built. Similarly, he uses pure logic—in a very legal, scientific manner—when describing his suggestion to eat the infants of the poor. While the subject matter may be utterly abhorrent to most readers, by using such rational, indeed almost pure, language, Swift legitimizes his proposal to the reader. The Houyhnhnms themselves had used virtually the same argument when they decided to exterminate the Yahoos. Fundamentally, Swift’s use of logical arguments appeals to the reader as being irrefutable. By such means he conveys to the reader the irrationality, and thus the abominable nature, of the issues that he explores, from the slaughter of infants and undesirable species to the oppression of his home country. It is interesting to note that while Swift seems to criticize reason as being a destructive force, for the reader of these two texts, it serves as an enlightening instrument by which Swift’s true opinions can be more deeply understood.
After examining A Modest Proposal and Gulliver’s Travels, it is quite clear that Jonathan Swift finds human nature utterly contemptible. His most well-known hero, Gulliver, is in fact one of the most vile characters in early modern literature. At the same time, however, he addresses the argument that people can be forced to explore such nether regions of their souls in extreme conditions; this is examined by A Modest Proposal. Yet, in his prose Swift has always proven himself to be a man of contradictions and oppositions. While he seems to detest reason, it is in fact his most important tool for conveying his ideology to the reader. These two texts, because of their focus upon human nature, are among the most enlightening, indeed revealing, works created.
Bibliography
Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver’s Travels. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc, 1948.
Swift, Jonathan. A Modest Proposal. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Gen. Ed. Maynard Mack. 6th ed. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1992. 296-303.
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