A Modest Proposal Compare And Contrast

When you think of two great writers, do William Blake and Jonathan Swift come to mind? Both created literary works, allowing them to present their point of view to their readers. We can understand what Swift intends in his works, whereas Blake, we cannot fully understand his point of view. Whereas Blake’s “Holy Thursday” and Swift’s ‘A Modest Proposal’ are different as “Holy Thursday” is about a ceremony for the charity-school children and the poverty in England, while ‘A Modest Proposal’ proposes a solution to the poverty in Ireland, they are also similar as they both are concerned about the human conditions of their times.

First, “Holy Thursday” depicts a particular ceremony in England. As always, Blake favors the innocent children as he

despises the abusive public display of the children. The clean charity-school children of London went to St. Paul’s Cathedral to take part in this special service. The faces of the children are “innocent” and “clean”, which suggest that they are usually dirty, poor, and probably homeless. As the children walk to the ceremony, alongside them were beadles “with wands”, which suggest the authority they had over the children. Children are fragile and innocent human beings. The speaker describes them as “lambs”, which emphasizes their innocence and their relationship with God. As the children begin to sing, they are no longer fragile, but are God’s strong, beautiful creations. The men that walked with them in the streets to the ceremony are now “beneath them”, as they are mighty children of God. The speaker tells his readers to have compassion for the poor. We should take care of the poor children and be humble towards them. The love and charity of the children conceal the cruelty to which the impoverished children were in. Finally, we can suggest the difference between the two-literary works by Blake and Swift where Blake expresses his feelings towards society, mainly the children, around him. Blake was more sympathetic towards the children that were living in poverty instead of the whole country itself.
Secondly, ‘A Modest Proposal’ proposes a solution to the poverty that these families are forced to live in.

The parents spend all their time trying to feed their large families. Swift suggests that the poor Irish families should fatten up their undernourished children and sell them as food to the wealthy English landowners. In the beginning of ‘A Modest Proposal’, the problem is noticed by how crowded the streets are with women beggars that are followed by many children. The proposer has put a lot of thought into this important subject trying to find a fair, cheap, and easy solution to this poverty problem. He did take other proposals into consideration but found that those solutions were insufficient. He proposed that Irish children should be sold to the English landowners by age one, giving poor families some much needed income. He hopes his solution will not only help starvation, but overpopulation and unemployment in Ireland. Then, he continues to offer specific data for his proposal, which suggests the number of children to be sold, their weight and price, and projected eating patterns of their consumers. ‘A Modest Proposal’ ends with his argument stating that the practice of selling and eating children will have positive outcomes for the Irish families such as husbands having more respect for their wives and the parents valuing their children more. He believes this proposal will solve Ireland’s social, political, and economic problems. Once he has listed all the benefits of this solution, the proposer lists one possible objection to his proposal. Howard Bromberg states, “It is true, he says, that this proposal would greatly reduce the population of Ireland, but this very reduction of population would be beneficial, as there is no hope of more humane measures being taken to alleviate Irish misery, such as taxing absentee landlords, replacing profligacy with industry, or cultivating a spirit of mercy from landlords toward their tenants.” The proposer hopes to

reduce the population, but his proposal seems too vulgar towards the children specifically. By reducing the population of people in Ireland, it will resolve the poverty they live in, but he should propose a more realistic solution to help resolve the problem. John McLean goes on to agree with Bromberg that Swift, “He means to condemn the wickedness of equating human life with monetary value.” Swift does not want the struggles of human life to be equal with financial stability. Poverty and children are the biggest issues in both literary works. In “Holy Thursday”, Blake valued the children who were in poverty in immeasurable ways. Swift is more concerned about providing a solution to the poverty problem and focuses more on helping everyone out such as the Irish families and English landowners.
Lastly, William Blake and Jonathan Swift are both concerned about the human conditions of their times. Blake praises the innocent children because they are so special. Although the day is holy, is the treatment towards the children holy? The men that were appointed to the children seem cruel. You can tell by his tone that he has sympathy for the children and their security. Blake disagreed with the way the church condoned the social order of the children. He felt that there is a bit of hypocrisy in the church. To compare “Holy Thursday” to ‘A Modest Proposal’, children are the obvious main subject in both texts. Swift’s work discusses the children in a different way. His proposal to fatten up the children and sell them for food is supposed to help the public from poverty. Swift’s motive was for the good of the public, by relieving the poor families, providing for infants, advancing trade, and helping the wealthy English landowners. He wanted to make people aware of societal issues, which were overpopulation and starvation. These society issues are some of the most concerned issues in a country. Swift’s way of making a solution seems kind of obscured, but he is trying to show his concern for the poverty in Ireland. William Blake and Jonathan Swift have different point of views and feelings about poverty. Blake is concerned about the treatment and living situation of poor, innocent charity children in England, while Swift is trying to propose a solution to end poverty for the poor Irish families.
In conclusion, William Blake and Jonathan Swift are both well-known writers of their times. They always express their point of views very accurately in their works. Blake is always showing favoritism towards the children just like in “Holy Thursday” where he expresses compassion and sympathy toward the charity-school children. Swift’s ‘A Modest Proposal’ discusses and solves a solution for the poverty in Ireland. William Blake and Jonathan Swift both show concern about the human conditions of their times in “Holy Thursday” and ‘A Modest Proposal’. The central message of “Holy Thursday” and ‘A Modest Proposal’ focus on the importance of poverty.