The Houyhnhnms in Gulliver’s Travels

In the last part of the novel Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift, a dichotomy is established which crtiticizes two extreme ideas of man. The Houynhnms, a race of horses, are meant to symbolize man as a supremely rational being and the Yahoos, a primitive, vulgar version of humans, are made to symbolize man as an animal. The narrator Gulliver is a sort of reference point between the two, since in physical appearance he seems …

…Houyhnhnms that he views them as primitive, ugly beast-like creatures and he is filled with contempt for them. In an effort to gain some form of Houyhnhmn companionship, he buys two horses and converses with then for hours upon end each day. Is this the way man will end up should he attempt to become a purlely logical being, such as the Houyhnhnms? This seems to be the point that Swift is trying to make.