Monday, October 27, 1997

A Combined Analysis of Jonathan Swift - A Modest Proposal and Gulliver's Travels

In examining two works by Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels and A Modest Proposal, one must take into account the political and social history of Ireland in the early seventeenth century. Swift created these works to comment upon Ireland’s desperate condition; socially and economically, his country was depressed, almost primitive, when compared the rest of Europe at that time. Specifically, he addressed England’s policy of colonial rule that was imposed on Ireland, which drained the country of its material and human resources. Additionally, he uses this as a basis to explore the human consequences of living under such conditions, and to question whether human nature is inherently evil or if such is forced upon an individual in dire circumstances. Found at a more basic and technical level, ideological structure is a further relation between the two texts: each of them uses logic and irrationality to clarify Swift’s opinions.

Historically, one of the main causes of Ireland’s miserable social and economic state was the foreign policy that detrimentally tied it to Britain. Much of the land was owned either by British or Irish landlords who lived in England and remained indifferent to anything except that which ensured their own wealth. They imposed a quasi-feudal system upon the farmers who worked the land, taxing the majority of their labour. Such absentee landlords were bitterly condemned by Swift, especially in A Modest Proposal. He viewed them as parasites who consumed Ireland whole. Indeed, such consumption was the metaphorical basis for the text: instead of England profiting from the devouring of Irish workers, Ireland itself should profit by eating the infants of the poor. He notes the abuses of the landlords directly, as the infants would be “very proper for [them], who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children” (MP, 298). In many ways this theme harkens back to Gulliver’s Travels, which was published three years before. Notably, Swift outlines the preparation of meat in the two texts, which in each case brings torment to the poor in order to sate the rich. Such is obvious in A Modest Proposal; in Gulliver, Swift emphasizes the economic misery caused by luxury, represented by the exotic dressing that is required in the preparation of food for the rich (GT, 244). Interestingly, Swift seems to foreshadow his later work with a few sporadic phrases. When Gulliver first encounters the Houyhnhnms, he discovers that he cannot eat their food, but instead will “absolutely starve, if [he does] not get to some of his own species” (GT, 223). Later on he describes a difference in opinion among the Europeans: “whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh” (GT, 238). He provides a solution for the problem of the literal and economic famine in Ireland, similar in each of the texts. Irish people had to adopt an almost mercantilist approach to manufacture and consumerism: goods were not to be exported until the local population was satisfied, and only goods manufactured in Ireland were to be purchased (GT, 245; MP, 302).

Notably, in each of the texts Swift is despondent, believing that humankind is far too engulfed in its faults to heed his advice. Indeed, in both works he draws elaborate lists of the flaws of human nature and thereafter provides a few examples to vindicate his convictions (GT, 236; MP, 298). Significantly, he seems to assign such ‘evil’ tendencies to those who lack the financial means to support themselves, and who are brought to such ends by an oppressive foreign country. These outcasts are forced to turn to such practices as stealing and prostitution for survival. Importantly, Swift describes these actions as if they were admirable occupations; he does, in fact, place stealing in the same sentence among a list of professions including farming and craftsmanship. Therefore, one is left to infer that Swift actually sympathizes with those who’s nature has been corrupted by elements outside their control. Within certain passages of Gulliver’s Travels, Swift seems to use the Houyhnhnms to vocalize his own beliefs. In describing the Yahoos, one of the Houyhnhnms states that he does not hate them for their ‘evil’ nature any more than he does a “sharp stone for cutting his hoof” (GT, 240). Yet, his prose is not always so straightforwardly logical; cause does not necessarily have to lead to effect. The hero of Swift’s travelogue, Gulliver himself, upon close examination, truly is the embodiment of the negative qualities in mankind. While ignoring the lesser vices of stealing and cheating (although one may argue that he can be accused of perjury, as the contents of his “real” journeys are quite fantastical), he does seem to have a predisposition towards a deviant sexuality, particularly of a violent nature. This can seen in his dealings with the Lilliputians, the Brobdingnagians, and most especially, the Yahoos. Gulliver seems to have a sexual desire for young, or at least small, children; at one point he describes a twenty-eight-year-old as being “past his prime” (GT, 15). In Lilliput, he allows the tiny people to dance on his hand and play in his hair, and entertains a few of them, young females, in private (GT, 23 and 52 respectively). In both the land of the Brobdingnagians and the Yahoos, he exposes himself to children (GT, 83 and 258). Indeed, in those two circumstances, Gulliver does more than merely strip himself naked. He engages in sex-play with a young Brobdingnagian by manipulating her natural curiosity, and interacts with a Yahoo infant in such a manner that leads one to suppose that he is molesting the child. To escape from the land of the Houyhnhnms near the end of the text, Gulliver fashions a sail out of the skins of infant Yahoos (GT, 275); one can only imagine the extent to which a soul must be corrupted in order to complete such an undertaking. Yet, unlike the ‘innocent’ victims of British colonial policy found in A Modest Proposal, Gulliver’s criminal tendencies do not stem from social oppression; alternately, it seems as though he fails in society because of his dubious constitution. Therefore, early in the novel he fails to establish himself as a doctor not because of excessive taxation or famine, but instead due to his deviency, which was noticed by his patients (GT, 3). These disagreeable inclinations can very easily remain undetected by the reader; indeed the many editions of Gulliver’s Travels retold for children exist as proof that many readers have seen Gulliver as an admirable character. Perhaps such was Swift’s intention: in order to demonstrate the universality of moral corruption, he forces readers to sympathize, or even to admire, Gulliver.

In order to more emphatically indicate his beliefs, Swift distances the reader from the subject. He accomplishes this similarly in each of the works studied. He places a third party between the narrator and the audience, which acts as mediator and interpreter, refining communication between the two. In each of the two texts this filter is reason. In Gulliver’s Travels, the reader observes humanity through the eyes of the Houyhnhnms, who are themselves the embodiment of ultimate reason. By filtering the reader’s observances through another species, and using reason as a tool for judgement, Swift’s beliefs in the flaws of humanity become more readily apparent. The Houyhnhnms analyze and condemn virtually every aspect of humanity, from institutions to the basic emotional characteristics upon which they are built. Similarly, he uses pure logic—in a very legal, scientific manner—when describing his suggestion to eat the infants of the poor. While the subject matter may be utterly abhorrent to most readers, by using such rational, indeed almost pure, language, Swift legitimizes his proposal to the reader. The Houyhnhnms themselves had used virtually the same argument when they decided to exterminate the Yahoos. Fundamentally, Swift’s use of logical arguments appeals to the reader as being irrefutable. By such means he conveys to the reader the irrationality, and thus the abominable nature, of the issues that he explores, from the slaughter of infants and undesirable species to the oppression of his home country. It is interesting to note that while Swift seems to criticize reason as being a destructive force, for the reader of these two texts, it serves as an enlightening instrument by which Swift’s true opinions can be more deeply understood.

After examining A Modest Proposal and Gulliver’s Travels, it is quite clear that Jonathan Swift finds human nature utterly contemptible. His most well-known hero, Gulliver, is in fact one of the most vile characters in early modern literature. At the same time, however, he addresses the argument that people can be forced to explore such nether regions of their souls in extreme conditions; this is examined by A Modest Proposal. Yet, in his prose Swift has always proven himself to be a man of contradictions and oppositions. While he seems to detest reason, it is in fact his most important tool for conveying his ideology to the reader. These two texts, because of their focus upon human nature, are among the most enlightening, indeed revealing, works created.

Bibliography

Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver’s Travels. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc, 1948.

Swift, Jonathan. A Modest Proposal. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Gen. Ed. Maynard Mack. 6th ed. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1992. 296-303.

Saturday, October 04, 1997

Forced Conformity in Crime and Punishment and the Inferno

The drive to find reason and order is the basis for nearly all human endeavors, and such an impetus is well represented in literature. Yet, as the protagonists of Crime and Punishment and the Inferno develop in their respective narratives, they soon come to the realization that the logic that they once applied to the world may not be valid. These intellectual metamorphoses can be summed up in a quotation from La Celestina. Both Raskolnikov and Dante view their world as rational and just. This rational ideology provides the former a sense of certainty and constancy, yet the latter initially cannot reason through the chaos of his situation. However, as they progress through their stories, each character quickly recognizes the error of such beliefs and becomes pressed by forces both internal and external to modify their ideologies. For Raskolnikov, such a reformation is gradual, complete, and ultimately unsatisfying; his reformed ideology is in accord with the quotation, as from his logical mind springs disorder. Conversely, the transformation of Dante’s character is more abrupt yet more subtle, and the change itself is the reverse of that of the character paraphrased from La Celestina: rejecting the chaos of reason he finds order in the truth of the divine.

For Raskolnikov, the world is governed by certain cardinal laws that could be learned and subsequently utilized by man for his own purposes. His interpretation of these laws was obviously influenced by his isolation for the majority of his adult life--they do not translate well to the practical world. Raskolnikov developed a highly theoretical system of beliefs that he was to realize by murdering the moneylender and her sister. He hypothesized that certain men could be worthy of transcending established law and creating a new world order:

...I know...that he who is strong in mind and spirit will be [the commoners’]
master. He who dares much is right....He who dismisses with contempt what
men regard as sacred becomes their law-giver, and he who dares more than
anyone is more right than anyone....that power is given only to him who dares
to stoop and take it. (Dostoyevsky, 431)

Raskolnikov frequently uses the model of Napoléon as justification for his actions; he does in fact view himself as a modern Bonaparte throughout the early stages of the novel. Therefore, he does not believe that by killing the old woman he is committing a crime, but instead freeing himself from any hindrances to his future greatness. Yet, while such a philosophy is perfectly valid when analyzed cognitively, its application to the physical world is greatly flawed. The most damaging of all the “wilde Beasts” (La Celestina) that accost Raskolnikov is his own conscience. He had failed to include the human element in his equation, and he often acknowledges this error in the final parts of the text; the con of his reason was his exclusion of his emotions. While he rationally scrutinized every detail concerning his upcoming action--from the method of concealing his hatchet to what hat he should wear--he falsely judged his emotional control:

If only [he could] succeed in keeping [his] will and [his] reasoning faculties
unimpaired, then all the difficulties will be overcome....there was consequently
no danger of his reason or will-power being in any way affected during the
carrying out of his plan, simply because what he intended to do was ‘not a
crime’. (Dostoyevsky, 90-1)

Raskolnikov ultimately does not control his emotions during the murder and loses himself in the moment. He mechanically kills the sister of the moneylender and leaves behind the trail of physical evidence that he had planned to conceal. The death of the moneylender herself does not seem to weigh greatly upon his conscience, but the ‘accidental’ murder of her sister is of great agitation to him. Frequently assaulted by his guilt, Raskolnikov feels oppressed every time a possible path to freedom presents itself: after another man confesses to his crime, he “[felt] as though an enormous weight had pinned him to the ground, as though he had been drugged. Ever since that scene with Nikolay in Porfiry’s office he had begun to feel cramped and stifled” (Dostoyevsky, 458). There is definitely “no certainty in [the] calmes [of the world]” (La Celestina), the “calmes” in this instance being Raskolnikov’s apparent freedom. His anxiety in such moments ultimately leads to an understanding of the importance of uncertainty and disorder in the world. By the end of the text he has recognized the flaws in his ideology and consequently confesses his guilt. Conversing with Sonia, he blames his crime not on a Nietzsche-esque ‘superman’ ideal, but on the devil: “...I had no right to possess the power....I was not a Napoléon....the devil had dragged me there, and that it was only afterwards that he explained to me...that I was the same kind of louse as the rest” (Dostoyevsky, 432-3). Apparently he has completely rejected his formal ‘great-man’ ideology in favour of Christian supplication. Such a metamorphosis is somewhat unsatisfying, as Dostoyevsky’s skilful manipulation imparts in the reader a desire to witness Raskolnikov succeed in transcending from the plight of the average person. His character becomes uninspired and uninteresting, and one does not get the sense that he will ever become a ‘superman’ in the future. Perhaps the reader is left to ponder their own “Dance full of changes” (La Celestina), and modify their own rationale. Yet it cannot be ignored that when Raskolnikov finally finds peace after experiencing the chaos of his idealism, there cannot be a continuation of his story.

While the minutiae of Dante’s elementary ideology are not described explicitly, the details concerning his philosophical transformation are apparent. He is introduced in the text as having gone “astray/ from the straight road and [waking up] to find [himself]/ alone in a dark wood” (Dante, p. 1286, 1-3). Feeling inspired when he sees the light of the sun, which he interprets as a sign of hope, he attempts to escape from this wood by climbing over the first hill that he sees; such to him is the most logical solution to his entrapment. This easy resolution is not attainable, however, as Dante’s progress is arrested by three beasts representing the vices of worldliness. Driven back to the darkness of ignorance, the figure of Virgil appears to guide him down through the slope of Hell. Initially reacting to his isolation by relying on his rationality to guide him from the wood demonstrates one of the principal elements of Dante’s ideology: his faith in human logic. Taken in its obviously Christian context, such was contrary to divine truth and constitutes the primary deficiency of all humanity and can be traced to the fall of Adam and Eve. The wood itself could represent this error inherent in mortal life. Dante’s descent through the underworld is an attempt for his reason to bring him closer to that divine truth. Yet, while his initial confidence in logic hindered his progress, such logic was unguided and unbounded. By introducing Virgil as a guide, Dante’s reason becomes refined to see only what must be seen in order to acknowledge sin. Through logic Dante is to transcend logical thought and achieve divine grace. This paradox remains incomprehensible to him until he encounters the various sinners in hell. Through a gradual and labyrinthine process of acquaintance and cognizance of their sins, Dante realizes that all the sinners have been condemned for subjecting themselves to the same vices that originally led him “from the True Way” (1286, 12). They are then subject to the unearthly logic of hell and punished according to their crimes. Therefore, in accordance with this logic, for his faith in logic Dante is ‘punished’ by being led through hell by the personification of reason. In this instance the punishment allows the criminal the freedom to sublimate himself and change his philosophy to conform to the will of the condemner; Dante is the only ‘sinner’ in the text allowed this freedom. The souls are withheld from the divine light of truth because of their inability to see beyond reason, and they are therefore damned to an eternity without hope. Indeed, the poet seems to suggest that there is not even a place for hope in the world, which the pilgrim had originally relied on, as it must literally be abandoned before journeying towards spiritual enlightenment. Dante has in fact abandoned any thoughts of hope for the journey through hell: he shows no desire or excitement toward the prospect of exiting from the underworld. Alternately, he demonstrates a resignation to the journey itself; he has learned that there is no reason for either despair or hope as his ordeal is governed entirely by divine reason. Thus Dante becomes more sure of his path and more certain of his future. He no longer wanders lost in the “valley of evil/ whose maze had sapped [his] very heart with fear” (1287, 13-14) as he had before his journey, but “without thought of rest/...climb[s] the dark” (1423, 139-40) certain that he is on the path to enlightenment. Dante’s philosophical transformation, therefore, is opposite to that suggested by the quotation from La Celestina. While he once looked at the world rationally and found only chaos, he rejected human logic in favour of divine reason and found the world to indeed be “governed by order and ruled by reason” (La Celestina).

The common belief shared by both Raskolnikov and Dante at the end of their respective texts is a faith in divine order. Initially, each of them subscribed to human logic and reason yet ultimately found such an outlook erroneous. While Dante became liberated and enlightened by such a realization and ultimately found salvation, it seems as though Raskolnikov lost his soul during his metamorphosis. Certainly his appeal is diminished in the eyes of the reader. Originally observing the world in a rational manner, he was driven into a state of chaos. Yet upon rejecting his logic and accepting divine will, he became insipid and lifeless. Conversely, Dante became rejuvenated by his subjugation to the machinations of the divine, and consequently remains an interesting character. Such shifts in the ideologies and consequent salvation or damnation of these two disparate characters are both Pro or Con.

Bibliography



Alighieri, Dante. Inferno. Trans. John Ciardi. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces.
Gen. Ed. Maynard Mack. 6th ed. Vol. 1. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1992.
1286-1423.

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. Trans. David Magarshack. London: Penguin
Books, 1951.