In 1792, Jonathan Swift wrote, ‘A Modest Proposal.’ During this time, the poor were poverty-stricken irish families, and the rich were comfortable English landowners. Imagine large penniless families, who have a multitude of children to feed, without a multitude of money. Swift proposed a solution. He suggested that the Irish were too fatten up their extra mouths that needed filling, and sell them as slaves, or food, to the English. He makes such an outlandish proposition, because of the overpopulation and unemployment problem, in Ireland. Swift goes on to explain how this arrangement would boost Ireland’s economic, social, and political problems.
Swift’s piece of satire, ‘A Modest Proposal,” was far from offensive. The reasons are as follows:A Modest Proposal was written and based off of, legitimate and
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accurate facts, these facts and events were not only true, but also a genuine issue, and the purpose of a satire is to exaggerate and expose the truth of a social issue. All the statements, statistics, and ideas mentioned in the satire, ‘A Modest Proposal,’ were true, and accurate.
There was an overpopulation problem in Ireland, and a lack of help from England. Mothers were being burdened and held down from their high supply of children and lack of jobs, or pay. Children were being mistreated, and under cared for. Many went to bed without dinner, and walked around without clothes.
Unemployment and overpopulation were two serious problems, that needed action. Irish families were too poor to feed and clothe their kids. With these families being consistently large, and job opportunities being typically hard to find, food was a privilege, although it should’ve been a priority. Men were raised to work and starve, while women were raised to give birth and raise more kids. The Irish were stuck in a vicious poverty cycle, with no end in sight.
Yes, this satire addresses facts and the seriousness of the, but it also succeeds in performing the job of a satire, to use humor, exaggeration, or irony to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical
issues. The purpose of satire, is to use exaggeration or ridicule to make a statement about a certain topic of controversy. The problem, overpopulation and unemployment, was exposed by criticizing the stupidity of the issue. Swift also ridiculed political problems, and other topical issues, including the economy, and the inequality between the Irish and English. Others may, and will, argue that, ‘A Modest Proposal,’ was offensive and too far fetched. However, we have to keep in mind the purpose and goal of satire. With that in mind, we can clearly see how Swift efficiently used satire appropriately. Even if his topic was breaking a social norm of his time, this again, is something included in the reason for writing a satire. Swift’s piece of satire, ‘A Modest Proposal,” was far from offensive. A Modest Proposal was written and based off of, legitimate and accurate facts, these facts and events were not only true, but also a genuine issue, and the purpose of a satire is to exaggerate and expose the truth of a social issue. This issue concerns the writer, Jonathan Swift, because his written piece of satire, is at risk of being misunderstood and have its level of intensity debated over. A modest Proposal’s purpose was the bring attention to the fact that children were not being treated well, because of other social problems. Today, people are arguing over if it were offensive or not, while in 1792, Irish families were only worried about how they were going to feed their hungry children, with their low paying jobs.
“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.
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
...that the author is sarcastic about his own proposal, any kind of opposing view or counterargument is in reality the voice of reason and intelligence when compared with Swift’s proposal. The argument is in a way weak or flawed because of the sarcasm at hand. Yes, it is full of satire, but in the following argument Swift builds up his proposal only to diminish the value of his argument by blatantly expressing the sarcasm in this piece. This proposal is flawed throughout the text and is in no way a rational or logical solution to the problem as Swift claims it is. In conclusion, Swift’s proposal is a satire filled piece, which he delivers in a dry indifferent style. His arguments, rationally presented, support an irrational solution to the problem and he evokes pathos in his audience by using only logos in his proposal and that is the brilliance of his piece.
Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” is a classic piece of satire written in an attempt to draw attention to a serious problem. He does extremely well in providing proof that his solution will be beneficial and instructions as to how it would be implemented. Overall, Swift wrote this proposal to get the people of Ireland to take their predicament seriously and inspire people to come up with solutions that are sincere and will have a lasting and uplifting effect on the country.
His very different tones throughout “A Modest Proposal” helps the reader realize that the essay’s idea is absurd. Swifts tone at the beginning of the essay is very sympathetic towards the people of Ireland, but his sympathy hastily goes away when he suggests his idea. Swift changes the tone of the essay so drastically it shocks the readers by making “A Modest Proposal” very ironic to its name.
Jonathan Swift says that the people, politicians, and English are all at fault for the terrible state and poverty of Ireland. 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 themselves to the Barbados,” as indentured servants.
Throughout A Modest Proposal Swift uses verbal irony, diction, and sentence structure to achieve his purpose. His purpose of calling attention to all the terrible things England has done to Ireland is clearly stated throughout A Modest Proposal with the help of these three devices. His purpose of drawing attention to the problems throughout society has been described through A Modest Proposal. The dire poverty in Ireland is clearly expressed in the satire A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift.
The Irish began immigrating to North America in the 1820s, when the lack of jobs and poverty forced them to seek better opportunities elsewhere after the end of the major European wars. When the Europeans could finally stop depending on the Irish for food during war, the investment in Irish agricultural products reduced and the boom was over. After an economic boom, there comes a bust and unemployment was the result. Two-thirds of the people of Ireland depended on potato harvests as a main source of income and, more importantly, food. Then between the years of 1845 and 1847, a terrible disease struck the potato crops. The plague left acre after acre of Irish farmland covered with black rot. The failure of the potato yields caused the prices of food to rise rapidly. With no income coming from potato harvests, families dependent on potato crops could not afford to pay rent to their dominantly British and Protestant landlords and were evicted only to be crowded into disease-infested workhouses. Peasants who were desperate for food found themselves eating the rotten potatoes only to develop and spread horrible diseases. ¡§Entire villages were quickly homeless, starving, and diagnosed with either cholera or typhus.¡¨(Interpreting¡K,online) The lack of food and increased incidents of death forced incredible numbers of people to leave Ireland for some place which offered more suitable living conditions. Some landlords paid for the emigration of their tenants because it made more economic sense to rid farms of residents who were not paying their rent. Nevertheless, emigration did not prove to be an antidote for the Famine. The ships were overcrowded and by the time they reached their destination, approximately one third of its passengers had been lost to disease, hunger and other complications. However, many passengers did survive the journey and, as a result, approximately ¡§1.5 million Irish people immigrated to North America during the 1840¡¦s and 1850¡¦s.¡¨(Bladley, online) As a consequence of famine, disease (starvation and disease took as many as one million lives) and emigration, ¡§Ireland¡¦s population dropped from 8 million to 5 million over a matter of years.¡¨(Bladley, online) Although Britain came to the aid of the starving, many Irish blamed Britain for their delayed response and for centuries of political hardship as basi...
that brings the reader’s eye to the effect of sociopolitical policies on the Irish by the
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...
“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, is an essay that uses satire. Merriam-Webster defines satire as: a way of using humor to show that someone or something is foolish, weak, bad, etc.: humor that shows the weaknesses or bad qualities of a person, government, society, etc. “Satire may make the reader laugh at, or feel disgust for, the person or thing satirized. Impishly or sardonically, it criticizes someone or something, using wit and clever wording—and sometimes makes outrageous assertions or claims” (Cummings, 2012). Swift, best know for “Gulliver’s Travels”, originally wrote this piece as a pamphlet in 1729 under the full title ”A Modest Proposal: For preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the publick.”
middle of paper ... ... n that after nearly seven hundred years of attempted domination, the British oppression of the Irish had deprived them of all but the bare necessities of survival, and caused such destitution that when the potato famine struck, the poor could not avoid the worst privations, given the social and political conditions controlling their lives. The British government’s ineffectual attempts at relieving the situation played a major role in worsening the situation; they allowed prejudice and State and individual self-interest, economic and religious dogma to subjugate even the least consideration for humanity. Ultimately British politicians bear considerable blame because they were not prepared to allocate what was needed to head off mass starvation, and they as the parent government did nothing to protect its subject people.
...erprivileged mothers who strive to take care of their children but do not have the resources to do so. Lastly, Swift states that for want of work, the children of the impoverished Irish “either turn thieves, or leave their dear native country, to fight for the Pretender in Spain, or sell themselves to Barbados.” Swift makes the reader feel sympathy towards the impoverished children who are forced to make a living for themselves by any means necessary at a young age. Swift’s use of gripping word choice to describe the living conditions of the impoverished Irish effectively puts both emphasis and pity on their situation while also making the reader despise those who do not care about the poor.
As crops across Ireland failed, the price of food soared. This made it impossible for Irish farmers to sell their goods, the good which the farmers relied upon to pay their rent to their English and Protestant landlords. These people were thrown into the streets with no money and nothing to eat.
Before The potato famine, Ireland was a country of extreme poverty. Housing conditions were terrible and many Irish people lived in mud huts with dirt floors. They barely had any furniture except for a couple stools. In addition, boys and girls married young with almost no possessions. Before the potato almost ¾ of irish laborers had no regular employment.