s, therefore, they were not better than the Yahoos, they were worse: the Yahoos at least had the excuse that they were not endowed with Reason. Gulliver came to this same conclusion. Another key question is did Swift share the same view as Gulliver? After leaving the Houyhnhnms Gulliver finds his way back to Europe on board a Portuguese ship. Don Pedro, the captain, is an admirable man, and treats Gulliver with patience and hospitality, in spite of Gulliver's treatment of him. Swift presents Don Pedro as a paragon of virtue not so that he could be admired but to show the extent of Gulliver's alienation from his own species. This was amply illustrated when Gulliver arrived back home. Five Years after his return he had still not brought himself to let either his wife or children hold his hand, and preferred the company of horses. This could be the extent of Swift's misanthropy. In his letter to Pope, Swift wrote: I have got Materials towards a Treatise, proving the falsity of that Definition, animal rationale and to show that it should be only rationis capax. Upon this great foundation of Misanthropy . . . . . . the whole building of my travels is erected; and I will never have Peace of Mind until all honest Men are of my Opinion. To Swift, men were not like the Houyhnhnms, rational creatures; they were only capable of reason. This takes the edge off his misanthropy. Gulliver, then, was not Swift. He was another mask, or persona of Swift. ...
