Houyhnhnms and Yahoos Animal Rationale or Rationis Capax What do the Yahoos and the Houynhnmns stand for? What moral was Swift drawing from them? The answer to the second question depends on the solution of the first. One solution could be that the Yahoos represent man has he actually is, self-seeking, sensual and depraved, while the Houyhnhnms symbolize what man ought to be, unselfish, rational, cultured. In the fourth voyage, Swift presents a case study …showed first 75 words of 947 total…

…showed last 75 words of 947 total…to show that it should be only rationis capax. Upon this great foundation of Misanthropy . . . . . . the whole building of my travels is erected; and I will never have Peace of Mind until all honest Men are of my Opinion. To Swift, men were not like the Houyhnhnms, rational creatures; they were only capable of reason. This takes the edge off his misanthropy. Gulliver, then, was not Swift. He was another mask, or persona of Swift.