Of all the institutions satirized in Jonathon Swift's "Gulliver's Travels," the one that has perhaps been least examined is the destruction of the English language. During travels, language is the main obstacle in Gulliver's "understanding" of various cultures. Only in the fourth book, however, is the role of language central to Swift's satirical meaning. His condemnation of English society is more explicitly an indictment of those who wish to corrupt the English language by promoting lies, changes and euphemisms. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay According to Swift, the English language is extremely imperfect. His reasoning has to do with change, pointing out that those who attempt to refine and perfect it are accelerating its corruption. Swift fears that as the language continues to move away from the English of the past, "its lessons, its wisdom, are hidden behind the opaque surface of a language that is at once and not ours" (Montag 114). As the language of the future is altered, the past will soon become incomprehensible. The result is a society with an uncertain history, destined for political decline. Rather than simply point out the flaws of the English language and its management, Swift offers a solution. He suggests that a standardized form of the English language be created. One that incorporates the English of the past with that of the present. The result would be “an improved language and discourse [that] would uncover the roots of many current evils and enable them to be eradicated” (Kelly 20). In book 4 of Gulliver's Travels, the language of the Houyhnhnms seems to embody Swift's ideal of perfect language. The Houyhnhnm language, though it seems rather ridiculous to Humans, is perfect, simple in meaning, and entirely unchanged. They don't use euphemisms and say things as they really are, because they don't know any alternatives. While the Houyhnhnm are governed by reason and practicality, their language is "primitive only in the sense that it is pure and uncorrupted. It can do nothing but communicate what is" (Montag 138). Gulliver notes at one point that their "words could with little trouble be resolved into a language more easily than Chinese" (244). Not surprisingly, Swift saw the Chinese language as a language resistant to linguistic change. Regardless of the differences in language between people from different regions of China, the written characters are understood by all (Kelly 74). The Houyhnhnm language, therefore, like Chinese, is pure and noble: Swift's attributes are the "perfect language". Before exploring this topic further, it is necessary to understand more about the character of Lemuel Gulliver. As the medium through which Swift's satire comes to life, Gulliver is not the typical hero of most eighteenth-century English novels. In fact, Gulliver is not heroic at all. While he is no fool, his character is defined by practicality. Although described in great detail in the first book, it seems to lack some humanistic qualities, such as depth of imagination, passion and feeling. What Gulliver does possess, however, is an innate ability to quickly learn the languages ​​of the cultures he encounters during his travels. Always his primary objective, his desire to learn the language is stimulated by different motivations in each of the lands he encounters. In Lilliput, learning the language means that he would have the ability to beg for his freedom: "The first words I learned, were to express my wish, that he would like to give me my freedom (41)." In Brobdingnag, however, it seemsthat Gulliver learned the language by force. Although Glumdalclitch helped him perfect his skills, much of his learning was acquired while he was forced to converse with strangers while on display. In the land of Houyhnhnm, however, Gulliver is inclined to learn the language simply to communicate with the Houyhnhnm and to tell them of the "wonders" of England. Interestingly, it took Gulliver ten weeks to modestly understand the language, and only after three months was he able to give "some tolerable answers." This is in stark contrast to the duration of his studies in Lilliput and Brobdingnag, where it took him around three weeks and less than two months respectively. Swift, therefore, draws clear parallels between the sophistication of a society and the complexity of language. The importance of language to Swift's meaning, however, can be better understood by carefully examining Gulliver's experiences with the Houyhnhnms. Upon arriving in the land of the Houyhnhnms, Gulliver is a little shaken. His relationship with humanity was diminishing, as evidenced by the deterioration of his relationships with his crew. Yet he is still swollen with English pride. He meets some Yahoos for the first time, human-like creatures that seem to represent the wild nature of humanity. To emphasize their ferocity, Yahoos are not taught any language by the swifts, but they sometimes howl and roar like beasts. After meeting the Houyhnhnm in the field, however, Gulliver found comfort in noticing that the horse-like creature "spoke to himself in a language all his own" (241). Because of their apparent ability to converse with each other and rationalize, Gulliver concludes that Houyhnhnms are intelligent and entirely rational animals. What is interesting here is Gulliver's ability to look beyond the fact that the Houyhnhnms were horses. He sees them as rational creatures due to the presence of their language and their apparent intelligence. As previously mentioned, Gulliver wished to learn the Houyhnhnm language primarily so that he could share the "wonders" of his homeland with the Houyhnhnm. At this point, Gulliver still felt that the English language and culture were superior, but it appears that he was beginning to question his beliefs. When told that the word Houyhnhnm means "the perfection of nature", Gulliver acts very surprised and becomes slightly defensive, saying that he will soon share the wonders of his culture with his master. Yet, in the end, it was his desire to talk about the “wonders” of England that provoked him. As Gulliver begins his speech, he quickly becomes aware of the corruption that pervades England. However, Swift intends to show that the degradation of English society goes hand in hand with the corruption of the language. Swift's satire is driven by Gulliver's need to describe the most immoral aspects of human nature (lust, malice, envy, etc.), all in the name of England's greatness. Gulliver then seems to realize the ridiculous nature of his words, and later exclaims the difficulty of translating his master's noble words into "our barbarous English" (263). Yet Gulliver goes on to describe English culture in an exaggerated and impetuous way, and every "wonder" he mentions is more a vice than a virtue. Swift has Gulliver use the lowest forms of language to discuss the lowest forms of culture: war, politics, power, and law to name a few. On government, Gulliver's description of the Prime Minister of State is that of a person capable of "excelling in the three main ingredients, of insolence, lying and corruption" (275). The most interesting thing, however, is the description of.