Us as them, and them as us

In the fourth part of Gulliver Travels, we can see how Swift uses a different method to criticize society. Before, we saw the people that Gulliver encountered as an allusion to our behavior, but in this part, we are forced to see how our behavior is straight up ridiculous, and how we do things that aren't rational at all. In other words, humans are to Houyhnhnms as Lilliputians are humans.

We see with the horses eyes and get to analyze the behavior of Gulliver's culture (our culture) as if we didn't pertain to it.

The master asks Gulliver, "what were the usual causes or motives that made one country go to war with another?" I answered "they were innumerable; but I should only mention a few of the chief."(PART IV, chapter 5). Yet, he mentions sufficient reasons to demonstrate how ridiculous it is to go to war.

Not only war, but Gulliver also mentions other characteristics of human life, as the passing of laws and the purpose of lawyers. In fact, the more that Gulliver says, the more that the Houyhnhnms, and the readers feel pity and disappointment. As we get to see ourselves in the same way that we see those who we criticize, we feel disgust and alienation towards our lives, and towards our selves and finally, I get to understand Swift's intentions with his 'travel logs'.