A study of Human satire with reference to "Animal Farm" and the forth voyage of "Gulliver's Travels"
Abstract:
Man has spread chaos in every age, every time and every situation in one way or another. Humans do not know where they have reached in order to get ahead of themselves. This nature of human beings has been criticized by the writers and other artists in their works from years. Any artist or literary man tries to depict the real nature, original picture and true to life's image of human nature. Thus human beings are constantly changing from time to time, are changing mainly through nature, yet one thing has not changed. In one way or another, the human race has always put down its dignity & moral in the pursuit of the best in itself and has somehow become inferior. In novels, poems, and stories, humans are satirized with a focus on animals and other characters. In our Indian children's literature also there has been an attempt to teach the values of morality from the stories of the "Panchatantra" and from other myths.
Now, let’s discuss about human satire which is described as unkindly kind throughout both novel.
Before discussing about human satire with reference to these novels, let’s try to get idea about satire.
Satire:
Satire is an indirect way to strike the reality of a person, organization, community or anyone else. A satire is a work which uses humor, irony or wit to highlight the vices, follies and pretensions of individuals, institutions, communities or ideas. Satire is somehow criticizes an aspect of society through humor. Human satire becomes unbearable in George Orwell's "Animal Farm" & fourth voyage of "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift.
It is said for Swift that…
“Pen in the hands of Swift is just like a dangerous instrument in the hands of child.”
The book can unified it does seem to be a collection of four separate satirical voyages. Swift who was saying that all mankind are worthless; it was Gulliver who thought. So, Swift set up the antithetical worlds of Yahoos and the Houyhnhnms to shock, not to define. Ironically, he worships reason but is almost wholly devoid of reason. The kind of a man Swift is and the kind of man Gulliver is are antithetical to one another. Swift let us see beyond Gulliver's narrative. Swift shows us that Gulliver is incapable of critical thinking and reasoning.
Houyhnhnms Voyage Man simply can't depend on abstract, impersonal, inhuman reason reason. Nor can he depend on technological innovation on history or on the "Modern" human studies.
Contrast between the houyhnhnms and the yahoos is extreme. Yahoos seem familiar but who or what they are is obscure. Gulliver wonders in island and discovers many kinds of tracks, human and animal. Gulliver's description of the Yahoos displays one of Swift's most effective satire. Here he doesn't identify the Houyhnhnms as rational horses. The horses are clean and sweet-smelling; their diet is temperate and vegetation. Yahoo, on the other hand, are human in form and feature. They are just like filthy beast and stink. Gulliver marked Yahoo-like self is hidden, Gulliver's identity is also hidden. He is, simply, more of a Yahoo than a Houyhnhnms. He lacks the humanity to see himself as a sort of Yahoo.
Swift has established the distinction between Gulliver, the horses and the Yahoos by using physical and concrete objects.
Perfection of nature:
Here Swift gives absurd idea about human nature and perfection of nature.
The idea of Yahoo's controlling a country is itself absurd. Every animal he swears abhors the Yahoo intuitively. His motive will be to "reduce them from their barbarous ways of living."
But question is that...
"Men lust for luxury, but once they have it, it breeds sickness. And who treats the sick?"
As we know that, Gulliver impressed by the virtues of the Houyhnhnms. Yahoos are directly and lascivious, lewd and coquettish. "The pig, Gulliver says, is sweeter than a Yahoos."
The Houyhnhnms base their society on their rational, passionless and innocent nature. They are a breed of moral animal, different from the Yahoos or Europeans (They have no literature, but do compose poetry which is moral and accurate.) Yahoos- unnatural beasts, he argues and we hated by every other animal.
Here, Swift puts Gulliver as a representative of the human race and by nature he finds himself as Yahoo. It is totally concerned with Gulliver's rehabilitation. Irony is a constant ingredient in Swift's description.
Simon declares that he is telling the truth; in context, he is lying whole heartedly. One of the most satires comes here that Gulliver still trying to become a horse or accepted by a horse or Houyhnhnms. Gulliver's gullibility and his simplicity are responsible for his downfall. He does not realize that human beings are infinitely more complex than Yahoos or the Houyhnhnms.
Animal farm:
Animal Farm satirizes the breakdown of political ideology and the misuse of power, and does so in the ingenious form of a beast fable. Animal Farm is covered with creative outreach and literature. Here George Orwell's central idea is something a little different and fun, because all the animals, pig eliminates the owner of the Manor Farm for their freedom and self-esteem and the special emphasis is on the fact that animals need to be separate from humans in order to stay good. This is the biggest sarcasm.
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again;
but already it was impossible to say which was which.
(chapter 10)"
Orwell's satire is an attempt to echo Russia and Stalinist times, but it becomes universal, not limited to just a specific time. Orwell describes it to humanity to the extent that this satire on humanity raised the reader's fury.
"Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all animals.”
Just as houyhnhnms are shown to be intellectually superior, Orwell has shown animals to be superior to humans. In each and every part of the novel, with every line, on the verbosity of human beings grows, and eventually the reader becomes overwhelmed. Leader of Pig says
that…
"And remember, comrades, your resolution must never falter. No arguments must lead you astray. Never listen when they tell you that Man and the animals have a common interest, that the prosperity of the one is the prosperity of others. It is all lies. Man serves the interests of no creature except himself. And among us animals let there be perfect unity, perfect comradeship in the struggle. All men are enemies. All animals are comrades."
Major pig's last words reflect the reader's tolerance to such an extent that the reader's blood withers.
His words are:
"I merely repeat, remember always your duty of enmity towards Man and all his ways. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. Whatever goes upon for legs, or has wings, is a friend. And remember also that in fighting against Man, we must not come to resemble him. Even when you have conquered him, do not adopt his vices. No animal must ever live in a house, or sleep in a bed, or wear clothes, or drink alcohol, or smoke tobacco, or touch money, or engage in trade. All the habits of Man are evil. And Above all, no animal must ever tyrannies over his own kind. Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers. No animal must ever kill any other animal. All animals are equal."
Here, Orwell strikes all the weak and harsh realities of mankind. The race to move past each other, even at the expense of darker competitions, to stay further from one another, to be in luxuries, and to ridicule all sorts of habits are condemned in one way or another. The concepts and principles of animalism are shown to be superior & greater than humanism. Most importantly, Orwell has used capital "M" everywhere where the word "Man" is used.
"Four legs good, two legs bad" this contained essential principle of Animalism and crucial satire upon human race. Whoever had thoroughly grasped it would be safe from human influence.
Is this not enough satire that weeps and groans to human race?
It was always the pigs who put forward the resolutions. The other animals understood how to vote, but could never think of any resolution of their own! As the novel progresses, the nature of pigs have been compared to the changing nature of humans. So to be certain, in imitation of human habits and walking on the way of human beings, the animals were destroyed. In the pretense of being human, the desire to suffer like human beings lost everything and eventually the freedom was also destroyed.
"War is war. The good human beings is a dead one."
Here we find that, as criminal victim himself - becomes suppressive. "Death to Humanity."
As human nature changes its rules according to its convenience, animals change their rules and change the fact of life.
EPILOGUE
Thus, through this discussion, we can say that through the ages, human has suppressed to other animals or to the other human beings in one or another way. Just because of this, with the passage of time, different critics of history has just tried to throw flashes upon humanity by satirizing it in different ways. Though this both novels, “Forth voyage of Gulliver’s Travels” and “Animal Farm” both are political satire and can also be considered as children’s literature. But genius and deep thinker can easily finds that it is not only foolish takings or stories to entertain or to enjoy, but this is something just like which must be accepted by us and we should have to do try to come out from this satire.
This both were written before decades, but this represents human nature and just because of this Swift and Orwell both are still living in this 21st century as satirist.
This both satirists have given quite unique reflection of human nature in such a way that though they are satirizing upon us, still we are enjoying this reading and watching the scenes which shows that still we have impact of, which has shown by them.
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