Gullivers Supposed English Superiority Essay -- essays papers

Gullivers supposed(p) English Superiority Gullivers typical Anglocentric Enlightenment views are top hat exemplified in Chapter 1 of Part IV of Gullivers Travels. The long paragraph, in which he describes his encounter with the hay discriminateds as well as the circumstances track up to it, illustrates the climax of his Anglocentric views, after which his English pride begins to gradu on the wholey set down and his desire to emulate the Houyhnyms arises. His English pride in this paragraph is demonstrate by his resolution to trade his life with the local Savages using Toys as his only means, his judgment of the Yahoos lack of comprehensive spoken communication ability, and his ever-present disgust for bodily functions. As the passage opens, Gulliver considers his situation and decides to take over himself to the first Savages he should meet and purchase his life from them by some Bracelets, chicken feed Rings and other Toys, which Sailors usually provide themse lves with in those Voyages. Despite all his previous voyages in which Gulliver encountered masses who were not at all torment (and possibly more civilized than him), he automatically assumes again that people in territories outside of Europe will be inherently savage. not only does he underestimate their level of civilization, but he thence proceeds to assume that the Native people will be intellectually inferior when he believes he can buy his life with what he himself refers to as Toys. Gullivers belief, however, is not completely grounded in arrogance because imperialistic powers did trade cheap jewelry with the Native Americans for furs or even land. use this logic, Gulliver feels he can extend trading Toys for life. He feels that if they are dim enough to trade furs f... ...e from the Houyhnhnms. The excrement itself is not the reason behind his pride. nil would want to be covered in it. The excrement, however, is the major foundation for Gullivers loathing for the Y ahoos and he would not have been so affected by it had he not lived in a society which is ashamed of its essential processes. In his novel, Swift does not use the Yahoos to show the evil of mankind but rather, to show the potential for evil that man has. Gulliver, however, takes his notions of judgment, and presupposes his intellectual favourable position which feels he confirms based on the Yahoos lack of language and their not-so-warmhearted welcome. As he gradually begins to believe that all humans are at the Yahoo level, however, his Anglocentric pride fades. Thus, this passage is effectively the last time we really see Gulliver act on his presupposed English notions.