《格列佛游记》英语读后感(2)

　　Swifts satire of the houyhnhnms comes out in other ways as well.One of the most memorable scenes is when the dapple grey mare attempts to woo the horse that guenivre has brought with him to the island. first she acts flirtatiously,parading around the bewildered horse.But when this does not have the desired effect,she gets another idea: “as I watched in amazement from my perch in the top of a tree,the sorrel nag dashed off and returned with a yahoo on her back who was yet more monstrous than mr.Pope being fitted by a clothier.She dropped this creature before my nag as if offering up a sacrifice.My horse sniffed the creature and turned away.”

　　It might seem that we should take this scene seriously as a failed attempt at courtship,and that consequently we should see the grey mare as an unrequited lover.But it makes more sense if we see that swift is being satiric here:It is the female houyhnhnm who makes the move,which would not have happened in eighteenth century england. the houyhnhm is being prideful,and it is that pride that makes him unable to impress gullivers horse. gulliver imagines the horse saying,sblood,the notion of creating the bare backed beast with an animal who had held mr.Pope on her back makes me queezy.

　　A final indication that the houyhnmns are not meant to be taken seriously occurs when the leader of the houynhms visits lilliput,where he visits the french royal society.He goes into a room in which a scientist is trying to turn wine into water (itself a prideful act that refers to the marriage at gallilee).

　　The scientist has been working hard at the experiment for many years without success,when the houyhnmn arrives and immediately knows that to do: “the creature no sooner stepped through the doorway than he struck upon a plan. slurping up all the wine in sight, he quickly made water in a bucket that sat near the door.”

　　He has accomplished the scientists goal,but the scientist is not happy,for his livelihood has now been destroyed.Swifts clear implication is that even though the houyhnhmns are smart,they do not know how to use that knowledge for the benefit of society,only for their own prideful agrandizement.　　Throughout gullivers travels,the houyhnhms are shown to be an ideal gone wrong.Though their intent might have been good,they don't know how to do what they want to do because they are filled with pride.They mislead gulliver and they even mislead themselves.The satire on them is particularly well explained by the new born houyhnhm who,having just been born, exclaims,“with this sort of entrance,what must I expect from the rest of my life!”