A Modern Proposal is a satirical essay written by Jonathan Swift in 1729. Swift was unhappy with the way that the Irish politicians were running the country, and the poverty that ensued. The Irish nation was in a hopeless state with a great amount of poor women and children strewn throughout the streets. These poor single mothers were not only unable to care for themselves, but their children as well. With no other way to bring attention to this problem, Swift creates an amusing argument for selling children, in hopes to create a solution for the poor. Throughout the essay, Swift uses quite a bit of logical fallacy in order to convey to the reader that there is indeed a crisis within Ireland, which needs to be dealt with. To achieve this, Swift beings his essay by laying a foundation of the issues at hand by revealing how the streets are littered with female beggars, and bastard children. These women are unable to work for a living and must resort to begging in order to care for the infants, and in return, these children grow up to be thieves themselves. While …show more content…
Swift first ensured the reader that he had a good friend who is an expert on eating children. Because of this, Swift proposes the idea that the children will be an excellent source of food for the country. Swift has been guaranteed by the American that “a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout.” (Swift) Since these children will be healthy, their meat could be used in the taverns, and in turn would bring “fine gentlemen” (Swift). Since these gentlemen are familiar with eating well, they would frequently visit the taverns which in turn will bring a nice profit to the
Swift's opposition is. indirectly presented in the report. The author uses satire to accomplish his objective not only because he is able to conceal his true identity but also because it is the most effective way to awake the people of Ireland into seeing their own deprivation. Firstly, the narrative voice begins the essay by describing the horrible conditions in which the Irish peasants live. He demonstrates there is a serious problem with a great need for a solution.
Swift made many important observations throughout his piece, “A Modest Proposal”, however the most important was the extreme conditions in which the many homeless citizens lived. Swift wrote a paper describing the benefits to Ireland if they were to sell their children as a food source to the wealthier. His piece was written in 1729 during a time where Ireland was struggling vastly with poverty. Swift never mentions whether he faced homelessness in his life or not, but he speaks of it as if he knows it well.
Jonathan Swift was ahead of his time. Most of his stories are satirical and meant to be funny, but were harshly chastised as being a actual idea in the eyes of the general public. His strengths, in writing terms, are irony, overstatement, and good ol' sarcasm. His mannerisms are a expressionistic and simple, to say the least. Every sentence trickles instead of flowing. A Modest Proposal is a attention grabber. It, at first, make the reader think that Swift is legit about selling children. Later on they realize he is addressing a problem in Ireland, that is a famine, and sneakily taking a jab at the English across the pond. In modern times, Swift is considered a rhetorical genius in his writing not to mention getting a point across. England tried to solve many of Ireland's problems, but failed in the most miserable way. They made it worse in fact. A Modest Proposal is a perfect example of how a book can be judged by the cover.
The essay “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathon Swift is the proposal to the Irish people to sell and eat their babies. In “A Modest Proposal”, Swift plays the role of a troubled economist who wants to help the country of Ireland, who proposes that, in order to help fight the poverty and overpopulation of Ireland, the children of the poor parents to be sold as food to the rich. As a result, he claims that not only will the population be reduced, but the earnings of the poor will grow if they sell their children. He proposes that the meat of the children of Ireland would be a treat to both the English and to Irish property-owners, and would therefore be highly wanted after for special occasions. In the essay the author Swift gives the readers six reasons why this idea is good. First, it would greatly lessen the number of “Papists” or Roman Catholic, because they were over run, the women were the main “breeders” or mothers of the country, and their
I believe that Swift wants the reader to view the speaker as a caring and compassionate man with the simple interest of solving of problem in his country because he is just that patriotic about his country and wants to see it prosper. In the first couple of paragraphs, it sounds as if he really wants to make a proposal that will change Ireland forever and will definitely help it economically until there is an unexpected change of events, tone and even idea and at about paragraph 9 is where the real outrages ideas come in.
In this sentence, he introduces his readers to the setting of Ireland. He does this to invoke self-pity in people’s hearts. Ireland at this time was very in famine, and with the overpopulation of children, parents struggled to provide for their families. When the English landowners (only ones who could afford the pamphlets) read this, they were shocked at the condition of Ireland. They drawn to read and learn more about the occurrences in the lower classes because they had never associated with them. Swift again uses imagery of his proposal about the eating of children which would lessen the overpopulation. He says, “I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a
I believe that he purposely wrote the paragraph with the math and the facts behind his idea before he ever officially states his proposal, in order to get people to believe that this is a sincere idea. I personally believed that I was about to read some sort of good idea, and was not expecting what I read after this. Swift continues his essay by stating "that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled." Ones first instinct after reading this is to go back and read again to make sure they read it correctly. I think that the worst part about it is that he states that "a very knowing American" told him about this. Knowing that there is an underlying message to the entire essay, I would like to know whether or not he is meaning to say something against Americans or if he is trying to insult them. Swift then goes into detail about how many meals a young child could make and discusses how many males should be kept, which would be one-fourth. He compares his numbers to those of cattle, like cows. The way he compares the babies to farm animals adds to his underlying message about the dehumanization of the people of Ireland by England. One
Speaking for majority of Irish people, Swift comes up with a plan which is to get children out of the streets and away from their begging profession. Swift clearly states in his proposal, “I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy Child well Nursed is at a year Old, a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome Food, whether Stewed, Roasted, Baked, or Boyled, and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a Fricasie, or Ragoust”. Swift is making fun of the attitude of the British that think of the Irish as not useful in their world of riches. When reading this letter, it is easily mistaken when Swift puts you in the mindset of how Ireland is struggling with their poor and how they are a burden to other people with more money. He then goes to say that the children should be sold into a meat eating industry for the well off, which catches anyone off guard. It isn’t clearly stated that his intentions aren’t exactly true, but coming from the time period in which this letter was written it is easier to understand his attitude and
Swift’s modest proposal includes multiple instances where Swift proudly declares that “I can think of no one objection, that will possibly be raised against this proposal, unless it should be urged, that the number of people will be thereby much lessened in the kingdom” in the face of potential objections to his plan (Swift 187-199). While Swift “can think of no one objection,” the reader can definitely think of millions of reasons why his plan will wipe Ireland off the map. In fact, Swift himself uses this phrase sarcastically in an attempt to get the reader to empathize with the Irish. Because the reader begins to pity the Irish, Swift ensures that he gets the message across that current conditions in Ireland are unlivable. Moreover, Swift ends his plan by vainly proclaiming that “I profess, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the public good of my country” (Swift 234-236). The narrator clearly does not have any “sincerity of heart” with his intentions, proving that Ireland cannot survive in its current position with people like the narrator in power. Additionally, Swift’s sarcastic remark about promoting “the public good of [his] country” underscores the horrifying effects of his ghastly proposal, solidifying the horrifying fate of the Irish if
Firstly, the issue that prompts Swift to write this piece is the current economic conditions of Ireland. Many individuals and families are destitute, impoverished, and needing to beg to survive. There does not seem to be an end in sight for these terrified citizens. Swift, an educated graduate of Oxford University, seems to be unbiased, as he is a resident of England, who is neither poor nor begging. His targeted audience is mainly the Irish in order to hock them into action. The main point of Swift’s argument is that in order for the Irish to survive, they must utilize the Irish to survive. Swift suggests that the consumption of young children will both reduce the amount of people in the population who need to be fed and will be a way to feed the remaining people. This is a satirical suggestion, not one to actually follow, but it serves its purpose of suggesting to the Irish that they need to find a solution to their predicament. The argument is structured formally, with logic and reason to support his ideas. The argument’s assumptions are that the people of Ireland are desperate enough to eat their own and that they could be willing to do so.
The idea of eating all the youth in the country is obviously self-defeating and is not being seriously suggested by the writer. He is simply trying to show how desperate the lower class is in Ireland. Swift introduces the reforms he is actually suggesting, taxing absentee landlords, of encouraging the domestic economy by buying Irish goods, of discouraging pride, vanity, idleness, by dismissing them in his essay by saying that they are impractical. However, these reforms greatly differ from his ?modest proposal? because instead of the poor sacrificing their children, it would involve the rich sacrificing some of their luxuries. He is trying to point out the fact that reforms that would be practical and beneficial to the people of Ireland are being overlooked for the convenience of the rich.
All though he kept the use of them limited, a use of sympathy for the children by going into detail of how the children will be prepared and eaten. “A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends; and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter” (A Modest Proposal). The audience is made to feel Swift’s irritation at the situation and his unyielding attempts to relieve Ireland of the problems of the poor with his statement, But, as to myself, having been wearied out for many years with offering vain, idle, visionary thoughts, and at length utterly despairing of success, (A Modest Proposal). Swift was fed up with the rich ignoring the situation he did the only thing he thought he could do, wrote a proposal that would shock his audience into seeing the situation for what it was,
This essay will have no value unless the reader understands that Swift has written this essay as a satire, humor that shows the weakness or bad qualities of a person, government, or society (Satire). Even the title A Modest Proposal is satirical. Swift proposes using children simply as a source of meat, and outrageous thought, but calls his propo...
I/ II) Jonathon Swift, the legendary Irish clergyman and author penned many a fantastic essays and stories, yet one stands out of the many due to it’s importance and significance in the era it was authored. In this essay, “ A Modest Proposal” Swift introduces his audience to the terrible potato famine that gripped the northern part of the British Isles through his use of irony, sarcasm, and many other rhetorical appeals. Swift’s reasoning for transcribing this paper was to turn the British away from their petty luxuries and show them the the terrible conditions the Irish were facing in their biblical struggle with famine. In Swift’s observation he adopts a satirical persona which he uses to weave his argument into and to also mock both the British and Americans. A.1 The issue Swift comments on is the horrendous Irish potato famine currently gripping the region to the north of England.
The situation that he was so graphically stressing was the way the English landowners were devouring the parents financially, to which he responded sarcastically, “why not devour the children also?” His proposed solution caused the reader to consider these issues and was to help stop the maltreatment of the common citizen. Jonathan Swift also expressed the fact that people were constantly trying to solve their social and economic woes thr...