Rhetorical Analysis Of Satirist Proposal By Jonathan Swift

About 50% of the world’s total population lives on less than $2.50 a day (United Nations). Poverty is an issue that world leaders and governing bodies, such as the UN, have attempted to solve for centuries. They’ve created relief programs, provided aide, and so much more. All of the enacted plans have started out from proposals. One of the most shocking, comical, and outlandish proposals, written by Jonathan Swift a known satirist, is actually one of the most effective proposals in terms of addressing issues of poverty globally (more specific to Ireland in the early 1700s but presented in a way that the same principles and attitudes can still be felt today). Swift was effective in capturing the reaction of the English in regard to the poverty

experienced by the Irish population. Jonathan Swift was born in 1667 Ireland to English parents. In addition to being a poet, satirist, pamphleteer, and essayist Swift was a dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. His most notable works are the novel Gulliver’s Travels (1726) and the outlandish essay that will be furthered analyzed in this paper, A Modest Proposal. In order to fully understand Swift’s argument and strategies for developing this argument there needs to be a recognition of the events that spurred his writing. In 1729, the year A Modest Proposal was published, there had been many years of drought with the added strain of crop failure in Ireland. This severely diminished the supply of food and since humans need food to live it resulted in the death of thousands of Irish. However, this plight was not the sole cause for the creation of this piece for many Irish the poverty they faced reaffirmed the fact that they were an easily ignored burden for the English. This view of the Irish as a responsibility was clearly evidenced by the lack of involvement/concern from the English government and the English landowners. It is well known that there is a contentious history between the English and Irish predating the release of A Modest Proposal. One of the greatest points of conflict being religion (Catholicism which was mainly practiced by the Irish and Protestantism which was mainly practiced by the English). This religious tension is present in the text as there was a judgement (the English have viewed the Irish as inferior due to religion which also had a big place of judgement within the number of children that the catholic church advocated for) of the Irish and a reluctance to help the Irish because of this difference in beliefs. This history between the English and Irish shapes the perspective that Swift takes, the thinly veiled insults he makes, as well as the solution that he proposes. Swift makes two arguments; one, that is explicit/surface level, that is from a persona that has a differing view on the issues facing the Irish than his own. Swift’s second argument is more implicit than the first and is mainly about the necessity of caring for other people. The first argument that he makes is that killing infants born to poor parents is a way to solve poverty as it gets rid of children that couldn’t be cared for, provides money to the poor, and is also a solution for the lack of crops that the Irish have. The second and actual argument makes can be boiled down to the need of compassion and assistance from the English. In other words don’t ignore the impoverished Irish. Throughout his essay Swift employs many techniques including structure, tone (comical yet serious as well as sarcastic), and diction/invective language (which convinces us of this persona and shows irony at times) to allow people to recognize the tragedies faced by the Irish people and the appalling treatment that the Irish reive from the English.
A Modest Proposal is aptly titled in terms of the structure that the piece has. Like most other proposals Swift presents the issue first, then to establish that it is an issue facts/statistics are provided which then segways into the proposed solution, once the solution has been presented there is a line of reasoning established (in other words the benefits are presented and the thoughts that lead to this idea being created are presented), and the addressing of a counterclaim, counterargument, or counterproposal. Swift employs this structure in the beginning through introducing poverty as an issue (granted he makes fun of the people that are suffering for the majority of the introduction of the issue but he does introduce the issue). Quickly after introducing the topic Swift immediately jumps into his proposal of eating children providing estimated statistics on couples that could have children and children that are in poverty. From there he lists the economic benefits for parents, butchers, and the industry of infant made products in general. From there Swift addresses any potential counter proposals by showing the strengths of his proposal mainly getting rid of some of the catholics and the economic advantages that his solution would provide. “I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance” anecdotal evidence was used in order to introduce this idea of Cannibalism. This helped to further Swift’s argument as it seemed to build credibility and reasoning. This structure strengthened Swift’s first argument as it properly shows his intentions in the correct format which helps to establish his character that is mainly written from an English perspective. The establishment of the English character allows the reader to identify a point of view and understand the use of satire. Understanding that this is satire helps the audience to recognize the point of view that the author has. Recognizing the view that the author has allows the reader to understand the background of the group that the author is mocking (ex:education level) and the jokes they are making. Structure helps in assessing the formality of a paper. Which in turn helps to reveal the perspective that a writer either personally holds or the perspective that a writer is mimicking.
In his second argument, this structure helps to address the issues presented within current relief (some of it in terms of money) for example how this structure builds on itself helps to showcase the obvious persona that is being put on which also helps to show the flaws and foolishness that was being presented and offered to the Irish. Adding into the structure is the way that there is a reveal at the end (basically the punch line) that Swift’s character truly has no stake in the production of infants for food for many reasons including his child not fitting in the argument adds comedic effect but also adds to the argument that the English really didn't care about the dire conditions experienced by the Irish.
Throughout the essay Swift has a comical and sarcastic tone.

Swift establishes these tones as his proposal of killing impoverished infants through the shock of this idea and by exaggerating the viability of this argument which causes his proposal to evoke laughter. To aid in the creation of tone Swift uses understatement which helps to add subtlety to a crazy idea which makes the argument, of killing babies, more accessible and relatable to the audience. It is a sarcastic tone as he clearly knows that this is a crazy idea. However there is still a sense of seriousness in his tone as it is about poverty and the living conditions of the Irish. “nor offer to beat or kick them (as is to frequent a practice) for fear of miscarriage” appealing to the emotions of the reader and also showing how domestic violence is an issue within Ireland. Prior to this quote Swift also establishes a likeness in the treatment of animals and the treatment that the Irish have received. This shows the fact that while Swift is making jokes and being satirical he still recognizes the issues faced by the Irish community as he stops cracking all these jokes to recognize the fact that many women are abused by their husbands. There are several tones that are working together (the sarcasm as evidenced by the preparation and uses of infants create a comical tone and serious tones like the women facing abuse) to make the argument less harsh and angry which makes people more receptive to his ideas but also draws a reader in to later reveal a sadness and shock that makes a reader

reflective.
Throughout his paper Swift uses the rhetorical appeals of ethos and pathos. Swift employs ethos through his knowledge of potential dishes and within his knowledge of the issue in terms of statistics. “There only remain 120,000 children of poor parents annually born.” this helps to build ethos as it presents Swift as knowledgeable and it builds the seriousness in terms of the style of writing. The use of statistics contributes to the structure of a proposal. To apply pathos Swift plays on the emotions of people. By showing the true suffering of the Irish population Swift uses the harsh realities to gain sympathy and shock from his readers. Swift wants to gain the sympathy of his readers in order to force them to reflect on their own actions towards those in poverty and to create a call to action for the readers in regards to poverty.
Swift is very intentional with his use of words in order to use word play and use invective language. A primary example of wordplay is in the title of the essay, as it equates cannibalism to being modest, which is an unlikely scenario. The title also presents the issue facing the Irish community as modest. The issues were widespread and anything but modest. This wordplay also builds Swift’s point that the English don’t care and find it small enough of an issue to not be dealt with. Wordplay was not exclusive to the title “and therefore it will have one other collateral advantage, by lessening the number of papists among us.” The use of the word papists appears unrelated to the initial message and doesn’t make sense in context. However it serves to represent the issues between the Protestants and Roman Catholics which lead to the lack of English involvement in the help of the Irish. The intentionality of word choice within this piece helps to convey the tension between the Irish and the English.
In conclusion the strategies (structure, tone, rhetorical appeals, and diction) help to establish Swift’s view that the English have been incompetent in their assistance of the Irish. These strategies help to convince the audience of the necessity to help those in need. The suggestion of cannibalism helped the audience to observe the harshness faced by the Irish and the lack of compassion that they received.