Summary: Chapter V
Over the course of two years, Gulliver describes the state
of affairs in Europe, speaking to his Houyhnhnm master about the
English Revolution and the war with France. He is asked to explain
the causes of war, and he does his best to provide reasons. He is
also asked to speak of law and the justice system, which he does
in some detail, criticizing lawyers severely in the process.
Summary: Chapter VI
The discussion then turns to other topics, such as money
and the different kinds of food eaten in Europe. Gulliver explains
the different occupations in which people are involved, including
service professions such as medicine and construction.
Summary: Chapter VII
Gulliver develops such a love for the Houyhnhnms that
he no longer desires to return to humankind. His master tells him
that he has considered all of Gulliver’s claims about his home country
and has come to the conclusion that Gulliver’s people are not so
different from the Yahoos as they may at first have seemed. He describes
all the flaws of the Yahoos, principally detailing their greed and
selfishness. He admits that Gulliver’s humans have different systems
of learning, law, government, and art but says that their natures
are not different from those of the Yahoos.
Summary: Chapter VIII
Gulliver wants to observe the similarities between Yahoos
and humans for himself, so he asks to go among the Yahoos. He finds them
to be very nimble from infancy but unable to learn anything. They
are strong, cowardly, and malicious.
The principle virtues of the Houyhnhnms are their friendship and
benevolence. They are concerned more with the community than with
their own personal advantages, even choosing their mates so as to
promote the race as a whole. They breed industriousness, cleanliness,
and civility in their young and exercise them for speed and strength.
Summary: Chapter IX
Gulliver’s master attends a Grand Assembly of Houyhnhnms, where
the horses debate whether or not to extinguish the Yahoos from the
face of the Earth. Gulliver’s master suggests that instead of killing
them, they should, as the Europeans do with their horses, merely
castrate them. Eventually, unable to breed, the Yahoos will die
out, and in the meantime the Houyhnhnms can breed asses to take
their place.
