Previous
Allusions
Definition of Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics, emotions, and behaviors to animals or other non-human things (including objects, plants, and supernatural beings). Some famous examples of anthropomorphism include Winnie the Pooh, the Little Engine... read full definition
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics, emotions, and behaviors to animals or other non-human things (including objects, plants, and supernatural beings). Some famous examples of anthropomorphism include Winnie... read full definition
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics, emotions, and behaviors to animals or other non-human things (including objects, plants, and supernatural beings). Some famous... read full definition
Book 4, Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Houyhnhnms:
Most of the fantastical locations in Gulliver's Travels are inhabited by beings who, despite differences in size and culture, are easily recognizable as human beings. The one exception is the land of the Houyhnhnms, which is inhabited by intelligent horses. Jonathan Swift uses anthropomorphism to attribute human characteristics, emotions, and behaviors to the Houyhnhnms, who act like humans in many ways. In fact, when Gulliver first encounters them in Book 4, Chapter 1, his limited perspective leads him to assume that they must be humans who have been magically transformed into horses:
[T]he Behavior of these Animals was so orderly and rational, so acute and judicious, that I at last concluded, they must needs be Magicians, who had thus metamorphosed themselves upon some design.
Related Themes:
