A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis

In “A Modest Proposal”, an essay written by Jonathan Swift, the issues of poverty and overpopulation in Ireland are discussed. Swift’s satirical solution to this concern, is to generate a market surrounding the sale of children as food. To effectively develop his position on this controversial topic, Swift utilizes multiple resources of language which include connotative diction, analogies and varied syntax.

In this piece, Jonathan Swift not only victimizes specific groups of people, but dehumanizes the general population through his word choice. “Papist” is a derogatory term used when referring to the Roman Catholic Church. The purpose of utilizing this word is to identify catholics as the the country’s “most dangerous enemy”. Swift sees

them as a dense population which forms “the principal breeders of the nation”, resulting is his belief that they need to be displaced from Ireland, something that can be done through the development of the infant food market. The terms “profit” and “breeders” are applied in this essay, to depersonify the common or poor, women and children of Ireland. Swift is able to further his argument, that instead of only being a menace to society, by crowding the streets as beggars, women and children are able to provide food and clothing to thousands, by representing them as merely livestock or commodities.
To emphasize the importance that the safety of women and children are to his proposed market, Swift compares them to livestock in gestation:

We would see and honest emulation among the married women, which of them would bring the fattest children to the market.

Men would become as fond of their wives during their time in pregnancy as they are now with their mares in foal, their cows in calf, their sows when they are ready to farrow; nor offer to beat or kick them (as is too frequent a practice) for fear of miscarriage.

The correlation represented between women and pregnant animals allows for his audience to see that the introduction of the child food industry would be taken seriously among the people of Ireland. In order to ensure the healthy births of valuable assets, a reduced number of beatings will follow, as to prevent miscarriages, which would result in a loss of

profits.
The use of long, varied sentences along with clearly listing the six main elements to his appeal, in paragraph fashion, allows for Swift to easily convey his argument, as well as to intrigue his readers.

In utilizing transitions such as “For firstly”, “Secondly” and “Thirdly”, Jonathan Swift is able to reveal all of the points to his claim quickly and assertively. Because of his work with extensive, diverse sentence formatting, most readers are enticed and wish to read further into his argumentative position:

For first, as I have already observed, it would greatly lessen the number of papists, with whom we are yearly over-run, being the principal breeders of the nation, as well as our most dangerous enemies, and who stay at home on purpose with a design to deliver the kingdom to the Pretender, hoping to take their advantage by the absence of so many good Protestants, who have chosen rather to leave their country, than stay at home and pay tithes against their conscience to an episcopal curate.

One of many examples of varied sentence structure, when discussing the papists, Swift employs the use of a cumulative sentence, allowing him to effectively characterize them in a negative light, as well as explaining how the participation in the selling and eating of children would reduce their threat to the

nation.
Jonathan Swift was able to successfully convey his position on overpopulation and poverty in Ireland. His position on the selling of children for consumption, was established through the use of dehumanizing and derogatory vocabulary, compelling comparisons and assorted sentence structure. This satirical essay, although not successful in the long-term reform of Ireland’s social or economic situations, it paved the way for many other satirical mediums, such as television shows and pieces of literature like poems and essays.