Gullivers Travels vs Pride and Prejudice

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Gullivers Travels vs Pride and Prejudice

Civility, as stated in the Webster’s Dictionary, as polite or courteous is represented in the novels Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin and in Part IV of Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift. Civilization, as seen in the novels Pride and Prejudice and Gulliver’s Travels, is depicted as an act of human nature as compared to the act of savages. Human beings can be civilized and uncivilized depending on the way the reason things out or the way they act in a certain situations. The following essay will contain several ways in which civility is represented in the two novels. Human beings may be civilized in the way they act but the way they think may be contradictive or uncivilized. In Pride and Prejudice the characters may act civilized in all human ways but really they are uncivilized in the way they think because they live in a world that seems too perfect, yet they are not satisfied with it, “the more I see of the world the more I am dissatisfied with it and everyday confirms my belief of the inconsistency of the human characters…”. In Gulliver’s Travels, Gulliver believes the exact same thing when he says, “when I happen to behold the reflection of my own form in the lake or fountain I turned away my Face in Horror and detestation of myself; and could better endure the Sight of a common yahoo, than of my own Person. Yahoos may be represented as uncivilized savages in Gulliver’s Travels yet the civilized human being of Pride and Prejudice act as savages in other ways.

Yahoos are creatures that demonstrate the nature of human sinfulness. They are represented as evil, savage and vicious animals without feeling or emotion. Swift describes them as filthy and are supposed t...

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...ed and uncivilized depending on the way the reason things out or the way they act in a certain situations Swift stated, “never doubt that man should make use of reason to control bad instincts where he can not live by reason alone is neither possible nor desirable if we are to remain human beings. In other words, human beings should not live by reason alone because they will not get far in life. The characters of Pride and Prejudice do not act like savages in ways that they are uncivilized but in ways that they do not show any emotions that are necessary in ones life, such as love. Instead they live in a society that is materialistic, greedy and prejudice. In Gulliver’s Travels, the characters on the island are uncivilized in the way they act but are civilized because the horses can speak. Overall, all walks of life are able to act civilized in their own way.

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