»Dabei wird Hobbes' LEVIATHAN anschaulich.« GULLIVER'S TRAVELS an illustration of "LEVIATHAN"? [continued] 3. The roots of Swift's pessimism So we have in Hobbes man as a wild beast ever attacking and persecuting his fellow man, unless reined in by the authority of the state? And even then with no higher aspirations than »the foresight of their own preservation, and of a more contented life thereby«, i.e. nothing but the pursit of materialist happiness and no striving for higher ideals? So we have in Swift man as a detestable, vicious and non-rational animal using all tricks of civilization trying to hide this fact? Looking at the two books in this way it may indeed seem that the 17th century treatise becomes »anschaulich« in the 18th century novel. However, it is a superficial way of looking. Only when regarded very generally, too generally to yield much elucidation, the two pessimisms can be taken as so similar that the pessimism of the story may be declared to be an illustration of the pessimism that is inherent in the theory. In our postmodernist times this is not illegitimate. We have learnt recently that any text may mean anything that it evokes in the mind of its reader. It seems to me that EJ took this postmodernist view. I cannot maintain, however, that it is fruitless because it involves a challenge to have a fresh look at the texts. Setting out on an old-fashioned premodernist enquiry into the historical circumstances of the two books leads to radically opposite positions that I would refuse to interpret as model and illustration What I learnt made me come to the conclusion that EJ's observation on Hobbes and Swift is misleading. It is so because it blurs essential differences and characteristics of the two books and their authors. Hobbes was no cleric. On the contrary, he has sometimes been suspected of being the first atheist in 17th century England. Swift was a career churchman and finally rose to become Dean of St. Patrick's in Dublin. Swift's satire was powered by a long tradition of pulpit oratory. According to the doctrine of the Church, Swift's employer, man is in a fallen condition and thus in need of redemption. Though it flows from the Lord redemption is dispensed by the Church. The more drastically the sinful state of man is painted by the Lord's servants the more desirable must redemption and the more beneficial must the Church appear to the flock of believers; the more awe-inspiring appears the mercy of the Lord who grants redemption to man, that miserable wretch, for no reason but His inscrutable whim. So throughout the history of Christendom the predecessors of Swift have thundered from the pulpits their denigrations of man. Swift follows this age-old practice, bolstered by many passages from Holy Scripture and the canonical writings of the Church. As a novelist, he translates it into the secular idiom of his tale. Moreover, he adds a peculiar personal touch. There is in his nature a bilious resentment against man in general, maybe originating in certain traumatic childhood experiences. He expresses it in an »excremental vision« of man. Swift can neither forget nor forgive the sorry fact that man is born »inter urinas et faeces« [St. Augustine]. This unsavoury topic is an obsession with him. Also in GULLIVER'S TRAVELS he brings it up several times [needless to say, the editions for young people omit those passages]. Particularly the various uses to which the Yahoos put their excrements seem to be as characteristic of themselves as they seem both frightful and fascinating to protagonist and author. To be sure, Swift cherished his friends and estimated many an individual human being, as his letters bear witness. But as to the human race he had a pessimist's gloomy image. EJ felt that poignantly. [To be continued] -------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Günter Rebing Hügel 20 D-53359 Rheinbach Tel./Fax 02226-3980 Mobil 0177-5961331 E-Mail: g.rebing@eplus-online.de und Rebing@t-online.de
Markup © John King, July 2001.