A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis

Jonathan Swift wrote A Modest Proposal mostly for the elite of Ireland and England. The pamphlet talks about the poverty of the Irish people and the poor conditions that they face. Swift points out how much the Irish people suffer, referencing mothers who “are forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants: who as they grow up either turn thieves for want of work,” and citizens who will certainly be “wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives” (Swift). The problem of poverty in Ireland is severe in Swift’s eyes.

Swift also points out the high population of the nation. He estimates the population to be roughly one and a half million people, and that there are thirty thousand citizens or less citizens who are prosperous enough to care for children without financial burden (Swift). Considering this high population of poor citizens, combined with the extreme poverty and starvation in Ireland, Swift proposes an

idea that he calls “modest,” but most other normal and sane humans would call barbaric.
Jonathan Swift proposes that mothers be able to sell their children to the butchers and the rich, so that these children may be consumed as food. Swift claims that children will be a delicious commodity, a food in season year round, and that their flesh can also be used for leather goods (Swift). He is fully aware of how audacious this proposal sounds, but justifies it by pointing out that
Some persons of a desponding spirit are in great concern about that vast number of poor people, who are aged, diseased, or maimed, and I have been desired to employ my thoughts what course may be taken to ease the nation of so grievous an encumbrance . . . it is very well known that [the Irish people] are every day dying and rotting by cold and famine, and filth and vermin, as fast as can be reasonably expected. And as to the young laborers, [who] cannot get work, and consequently pine away for want of nourishment, to a degree that if at any time they are accidentally hired to common labor, they have not strength to perform it; and thus the country and themselves are happily delivered from the evils to come. (Swift)
Ireland is full of starving and poor people on whom Swift says few take pity.

Swift himself had submitted many serious pamphlets and proposals to the public and Irish Parliament before he wrote A Modest Proposal (“Jonathan”). This pamphlet however was written to “shock the reader” (Clark) as a final attempt to get the elites of Ireland’s and England’s attention. With the whole essay meant to disturb the reader, this quote is where Swift makes the reader understand how, given the extreme suffering, this proposal may actually be “modest.”

This section says that the vast majority of poor people are “aged, diseased, or maimed” and calls them a “grievous . . . encumbrance” to Ireland (Swift). These people are dying every day, and workers are struggling to find work with not even enough food to fuel themselves if they are temporarily employed. The section concludes with Swift’s opinion that the people are “happily delivered from the evils to come,” showing that death is viewed as the only way out of such

suffering.
It is very important to note that Jonathan Swift is a satirical writer. He is known as Great Britain’s best satirist, with writers going as far as to say he “incarnates” the writing style (Prior), and William Ernst Browning, in a preface to one of Swift’s poems, calls him “the greatest in world literature” (Swift). So in A Modest Proposal, most of the outlandish ideas he puts forth are not sincere. Jonathan Swift was most likely not a cannibal, nor did he seriously support the eating of poor children. Still, many of his ideas in the pamphlet are representations of what he wanted people to see about Ireland. In this paragraph, Swift is trying to make an emotional appeal to the reader.
The section starts with saying that “Some persons of desponding spirit are in great concern,” (Swift) a statement which, at the beginning of the paragraph, already exemplifies the point of the whole paper. Swift is upset that only “some” people are in concern. The Irish are dying everyday due to their extreme poverty, and the English and Irish elite do not care. Swift makes hints at how much he blames the elite throughout the pamphlet, but also makes his disdain more obvious in certain sections. One such section when Swift, in talking about how mothers will know who to sell their children to, says, “I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children” (Swift).
Further, Swift wants all of his readers to fully understand the terrible situations facing the Irish people. The Irish are starving and dying due to their lack of money, and cannot find jobs due to the degradation of their society. Also, due to this being written before the age of instant communication and social media, the noblemen of England or anyone who was not in Ireland at the time would not have understood how awful the situations were.
Another point is that Swift uses basic language in this pamphlet. His previous pamphlets on the conditions and people of Ireland [Proposal for the Universal Use of Irish Manufacture (1720); A Short View of the State of Ireland (1728)] are all written with much more formal English. This different writing style is because Swift wants to make the point that change must be made not only by the elite, but also to the common people of Ireland. He also chose words when describing the Irish that are dehumanising, referring to mothers as “breeders,” the process of raising children as “rearing,” and children as “commodities” (Swift). Swift knows that the Irish are tired and have become complacent with their situation. But he knows that if they do not understand the severity of their own circumstances, they will never strive for change.
Swift’s satire, his extreme disregard for human life, exemplified how awful it really was in Ireland. The shocking nature of the essay would make it something difficult to simply put aside. Swift’s dehumanization of the Irish must have made them think about how they were being treated, and hopefully care more about themselves. When the elite of Ireland and England read this pamphlet, they would not have been able to forget the awful ideas they read, and hopefully would have turned their thoughts to helping. Hearing someone say that eating children so that they are spared from the horrors of life should invoke change. Swift used satire perfectly.
Saddly, A Modest Proposal failed to make any real difference. According to historian D. W. Hayton, “A Modest Proposal did not lead to any lasting changes for Ireland's rural poor.” In fact, the situation became much worse for the Irish, with the Great Famine coming a little over a century later.
However, A Modest Proposal lives on as a great piece of English writing. Economies ebb and flow, and everybody at some point must face poor economic times. Poverty has always existed, and it will always be a cause for debate and discussion. A more modern example of economic and social problems being ignored is the Gilded age of America. During this time many authors like Mark Twain and L. Frank Baum wrote stories about the decadence of society. L Frank Baum, who wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, created an allegory that played on the poor economy in America when it was written.
While Swift was a satirist, Baum created an allegorical novel that will live through the ages. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz brought joy to children for decades, and its movie adaptation brought joy to Americans during the darkest economic period in United States history: the Great Depression. However, the book was not fully meant to be a children’s story. The story was very allegorical and pointed towards the economic problems of the late nineteenth century, as well as the populist movement (Taylor). However, Baum probably did not try to incite change. This may be due to that thought that, as author Peter Davis puts it, “In the United Kingdom, irony is a powerful political weapon. In North America, it is not.” So while Swift’s work was made to trigger political change, Baum tried to create a good story for children, with reference to politics.
Both examples still show that writing can be used as a tool, which Jonathan Swift does extremely well. Swift’s use of satire to invoke change was brutal, yet it will live on as a great piece of writing due to how shocking it was. The pamphlet appealed to the elites to help create change, while also telling the citizens of Ireland that they must take a stand themselves. Overall, Swift created a fantastic satire which will be talked about until the end of time.