A Modest Proposal, by Jonathan Swift, is a satirical pamphlet that was published to the public in 1729. Its purpose was to shock the citizens of Ireland with an appalling solution to their economic troubles at the time. Swift’s purpose for A Modest Proposal was to present a horrific solution for an ever growing problem in Ireland. He adopts an aloof but eerily serious tone to grab the attention of the lower and middle class. The issue in Ireland was the economy and the lack of efficiency from the system. People were poor, hungry, and the increase of births created a high demand to feed more mouths. Swift realizing that a change was needed, wrote and published many literary works to get his opinions and ideas to the public. But A Modest Proposal was the most ground breaking and shocking literary work for its time. At the end of A Modest Proposal Swift reveals that his intentions were pure and that his desire was to help the citizens of Ireland. The main point Swift writes about is the lack of food and the hungry mouths to feed. He uses his satirical charm by stating a solution to eat babies. This is an absolutely appalling and horrific idea but it does its job by capturing the reader’s attention. He starts off A Modest Proposal with this idea then later goes into detail expressing the pros and cons of the solution. Swift then reveals the true problem that Ireland’s society faces and expresses an urge to change the system. He then ends by showing that his words can be backed by his true intentions, thus creating a sense of trust to what Swift is saying. Swift’s goal was to capture Ireland’s attention in hopes that they will realize that they need to fix their situation or be forced to find a different food source. When the reader ... ... middle of paper ... ...ir heart stings by giving them hope. Swift presents the idea that children can be a great help to solving their situation. This further interests the reader to continue on and find out what Swift is proposing. Swift realizes that there may be some opposition. So he finds the weak point in the opposing argument. This idea might cut the population in half, but what of it? Why should the idea be shot down when there seems to be no other hope? Swift takes this chance by truly showing the reader the real problem. The government, taxes, and any other greedy force that has brought society to the point of starvation. The only problem with this argument, or “proposal”, is that no one in their right mind would be able to kill and eat babies. Unless people throw away their values and humanity just to survive. But people always find a way to survive and still remain human.
The modest proposal is of course anything but modest. But other subtle ironies may be overlooked if Swift is simply dismissed as an extravagant madman. Most important, Swift characterizes him as rational and calculating in order to show that these qualities are dangerous when taken to an extreme. People who rely on speculative reason to solve problems may end up thinking the unthinkable rather than following what should be more natural and humane impulses of common sense and compassion. Swift uses these qualities to paint England as the madman in forgetting about
The issue that Swift is addressing is the fact that there are too many poor children in Dublin and that they are becoming such a huge burden for all the poor mothers or parents of the country. Swift then creates his own solution to the problem. He proposes that all poor children who are around one year of age, be cooked and eaten by the people of Dublin, preferably the poor. With this solution, he argues that it will eventually put an end to the overpopulation of the poor young children and it will satisfy the hunger for all the other people. Crazy right?
“A Modest Proposal” was written in 1729 by a satirical author by the name of Jonathan Swift. Swift studied at the University of Oxford and was also know for his popular writing in Gulliver’s Travel. The purpose for his satire “A Modest Proposal” was to enlighten the citizens of Ireland about their hardship and suffering. He informed them about their scares of food, money, and property, but provided a possible solution to their problem. To persuade the people Swift adopts a comforting and friendly tone to his audience for the people to react to his solution.
If Jonathan Swift had written a serious piece simply espousing his true beliefs he would not have received as much feedback, due to the fact that there were already informational advertisements at the time and nobody was interested in reading them. The only thing that would get the people 's attention was something that would create a lasting impression, so he wrote a satirical piece with trenchant humor and mochary. “A Modest Proposal” surprised people and got them thinking about the condition of the poor in Ireland and what should be done to solve it. For example Swift states that “those who are thrifty” can use the carcass of the infant for ladies’ gloves or gentlemen’s boots. This itself can help those reading the piece to begin to think about possible solutions to the substantial issues involving the poor in Ireland. He also proposes that children that are fourteen should be consumed as well so the poor don’t have to go hungry and that it would limit the number of breeders, in an attempt to illustrate the extremity of the circumstances. His sarcastic way of joking enlisted fear in the poor and concern in the rich, helping them realise the drastic issue present in the
In the time frame that Swifts’ A Modest Proposal was written Ireland was going through political, economic, and religious struggles. In 1729 England had contrived, with the help of Irish venality, to wreck Ireland’s merchant marine, agriculture, and wool industry. Prostitutes in Swift’s paper are having kids like senseless people, but yet they can’t afford to feed them. Jonathan Swift proposes that his people should sell the babies and eat them. He thinks this would help solve the problem of over population. Swift tried to give his people pamphlets on how to fix the problem that was plaguing their country, but they ignored them. Swift says “These mothers, instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants.”(1) Swift proposes that the mothers sell the babies for 8 shillings; the rich would find the child to be a delicacy and the extra money would go to the landlord. So everyone would benefit from this proposal. He does this as a way of making his people aware of what is going on in their
First of all, the title is very under exaggerated and under exaggeration is a characteristic of satire. The proposal the narrator makes is very far from modest. The narrator proposes that eating babies will fix the poverty in society. Swift’s purpose in writing ”A Modest Proposal” was to get the reader to make up their own opinions, without telling them what to believe or talking about morals. The narrator says he has “no other motive than the publick good of my country, by advancing or trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure to the rich” when proposing this idea. (Swift) The real purpose in writing this is to get the reader to find real solutions to end poverty and help society unlike this
The Effectiveness of A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift "A Modest Proposal for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland from being a burden to their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the public" - Jonathan Swift 1729. In reading this you will discover the answer to the above question in three parts; · How effective is it as an argument · How effective is it as a piece of information · How effective is it as satire "A Modest Proposal" first appeared in public in 1729, Swift wrote this article after all of his previous suggestions had been rejected by the Irish authorities. Swift felt the English government had psychologically exiled him and this greatly added to the rage he felt over the way the Irish People were treated or rather mistreated by the English. Although Swift's highest and most prominent concerns were for his own class, the Anglo-Irish, he in the end spoke for the nation as a whole.
It is a great contradiction and absurdity that a husband and father proposes the idea of cannibalism. The narrator does not want the reader to agree that the solution to overpopulation and poverty in Ireland is to eat babies; he wants the reader to see it. needs to be a practical solution. Although something seems one way to the narrator, Jonathan Swift wants. the reader to see it in the opposite light.
Swift states that if a poor infant passes the dangerous years of childhood, they would “leave their dear native country to fight for the Pretender in Spain” or “they would sell...
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...
Swift wrote his proposal for those that were tired of looking at poor children of Ireland. He starts out explaining the situation in Ireland regarding single poor mothers that have three to six children and cannot afford to feed or clothe them. The children of the poor are a burden and a disgrace for Ireland. He suggests that a certain number of the kids be set aside for breeding and the rest be auctioned off for consumption when they reach a year old. Swift backs his proposal with six key points. One, there will be a reduction of "papists" in the country. Two, the poor will have some valuable assets to help them with their economic needs. Three, the new goods will burst economy. Four, the parent/s will gain money and will not have to support their children year after year. Five, "would bring great custom to taverns." Six, there would be a greater incentive to marry and better child rearing practices.
According to the novel, Jonathan Swift believes that the children in Ireland have no purpose in society and they are the ones who are bringing down the economy. A Modest Proposal is essentially an attempt to "find out a fair, cheap, and easy Method" for converting the starving children of Ireland into "sound and useful members of the Commonwealth." Across Ireland poor children are living in filth and destitution because their families are too poor to keep them fed an...
Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal is a strong satirical essay written in 1729. This is easily one of his most famous essays along with Gulliver’s Travels which was written in 1726. In the time that this essay was written, there was a major economic downturn and major overpopulation in Ireland and he informs the readers by saying, “It is a melancholy object to walk through this great town, or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags and all importuning every passenger for an alms.” This was a major issue in Ireland and Great Britain at the time and this sets up Swift’s “Modest Proposal”. Swift proposed that a profitable
“A Modest Proposal” is a perfect definition of juvenalian satire. The main focus in the story is to propose a simple way to remove the poor by creating a new dish they could create: babies. What Jonathan Swift proposes is, instead of seeing women with children at their skirts, the women sell their babies before the age of one as a source of food. With this method, Swift says that the poor will have a source of income that any woman can do, and the rich will have a brand new delicacy.
The logic presented in the proposition reflects the darker side of the human consciousness. While normally restricted by a moral barrier, these suggestions for reform compare the poor to simple commodities, and this extreme notion is contributed by a customary, desensitized attitude towards the lower classes.(Swift) However, this problem has intensified to the point in this country where it can no longer be ignored. For instance, the beginning of the proposal states, “that this prodigious number of children...is a great additional grievance.”(Swift) As a result, Swift argues with how such a class has so much potential in benefiting the nation as a whole, and dehumanizes them to exaggerate their depicted worth in the eyes of their own government. For example, he attempts to reason with how cost-effective cannibalism can become, by stating “a good fat child...will make four dishes of excellent nutritive meat.”(Swift) Such a barbaric proposition emphasizes the already primitive mindset that the upper class has for the impoverished, as an expendable