Chapters 9-12

Gulliver describes a Houyhnhnms council proceeding involving a debate on the question of exterminating Yahoos on the island. The master horse argues that the Yahoos may be a strain on the resources, but they are not beyond control. Drawing from a discussion he’d had with Gulliver, the master suggests castration as a means to control the horses. Gulliver had once pointed out to the master that humans castrate horses to make them more manageable.

In this section, Gulliver also sheds light on the Houyhnhnms’ versatility: their infrastructure is just as laudable as their poetry. They also do not lament death. Away from other humans, Gulliver enjoys his life in this setting. Gulliver also becomes fond of the Houyhnhnms’ governance. Interestingly, he even finds himself wanting to physically imitate the Houyhnhnms. However, the council decides that he must be sent back, even though the master horse is not happy about this decision. Gulliver is so upset by this news that he faints, but when he regains consciousness, he builds a canoe out of Yahoo skin to set sail back home. Gulliver kisses the master’s hoof in gratitude. He then plans to live out the rest of his life on an uninhabited island as the thought of returning to the Yahoos in England is repulsive to him. He is unfortunately chased away from an island by savages, only to be discovered by a Portuguese ship captained by Don Pedro de Mendez. Gulliver tries to kill himself by jumping into the sea, but is rescued and chained to the captain’s cabin. On Don Pedro’s carefully considered advice, Gulliver agrees to return to his family in England. The captain also helps Gulliver re-acclimatize to the human world.

Once back home, Gulliver is extremely repulsed by the smell, sight, and proximity of his wife and two children. He buys two horses. He doesn’t ever ride them; in fact, he doesn’t even saddle them. As time passes by, he realizes that he has spent five years with his family, but still hasn’t acquired familiarity or fondness for them. Notably, he was presumed dead by his family before he returned to them.

The novel ends with Gulliver declaring that what he has written is nothing but the truth. He also declares that the truth in his writing sets him apart from other travel writers who write merely to entertain. He claims he writes for public good. He even hopes that more travel writers would follow his path. He wishes that his account of the many adventures and misadventures would encourage readers to want to lead a virtuous life. Pronouncing himself a writer beyond blame, he claims to have presented only facts; there is nothing emotional about his work, he claims. Gulliver disagrees with critics who argue that he should have laid claim on these lands on behalf of England. He retorts by saying that the lands he has visited are not there to be conquered. He is also keen to dispel any comparison with pirates. In fact, he compares English colonization with piracy, though he does make a sharp distinction: the pirates, he argues, are upfront about usurping land and property from other people, whereas English colonizers claim that they’re doing others a favor by subjugating them. He ends the novel by expressing his desire to bring about some enrichment and upliftment among the “Yahoos” of his family. He also warns humans afflicted by pride to stay well away from him.

Analysis

Gulliver’s admiration for the Houyhnhnms makes him want to emulate their ways, including their physical appearance. However, in the process, much like how he viewed the animals back at home, he views the Yahoos as an inferior race, both to the Houyhnhnms and humans. Additionally, his self-pride gives way to self-loathing in this section. In a moment illustrative of Gulliver’s immense love and support for the Houyhnhnms, he kisses the master horse’s hoof.

After he leaves the island, Gulliver is without a destination, a home. Until now, accidents, fate, and ambition had led Gulliver from place to place. However, being asked to leave puts him in a difficult position, since he’d made up his mind to spend the rest of his life on the island. He decides that the best course of action is to spend his life on an uninhabited island, but this does not seem possible. The dire nature of this decision sheds light on his own sense of identity: he is neither a human nor a “cultured” Yahoo.

Don Pedro’s role in these chapters is highly commendable: he brings a suicidal Gulliver back to his senses, thus enabling him to return to his family. Given his unfavorable opinion about human nature, Don Pedro’s display of humanity comes as quite the surprise. Though he does return home. his aloofness has only magnified. He spends more time with his newly adopted horses than with his family.

The last chapter focuses on Gulliver’s virtuosity and his drive to complete the travel writing volumes. Here we get a glimpse of how Gulliver would like the readers to evaluate him. His claim to objectivity does not take into account the fact that no one human being can record facts. Through his ironic dig at the magnanimity of the English nation, Swift points to England’s vicious imperial and colonial mission. In particular, he compares English colonizers to pirates. He ends the novel with one more declaration of his belief that humans are wretched and vain, that humans need to learn how to lead and pursue a moral life from the Houyhnhnms.