Rhetorical Devices In A Modest Proposal

Jonathan Swift lived during a grave era in Ireland’s history. David Oakleaf’s A Political Biography of Jonathan Swift examines Swift’s pamphleteering and his political leanings. His aim was to relate Swift’s most important writings to the cultural background around when they were produced. According to Oakleaf, Swift’s rhetoric “displayed an extremism that did not always reflect what appears to have been his actual, more conservative political position satire”. Swift called himself an Old Whig. The claim to be an Old Whig, Oakleaf suggests, was a rhetorical device Swift used to present himself as a man of principle, standing above factional politics. In Oakleaf’s account of A Modest Proposal, he believes that Swift’s piece is an expression of “his horror at human oppression” (201).

In a critique of Oakleaf’s views regarding

Swift, S. J. Connolly asserted in a “Review of A Political Biography of Jonathan Swift” that Oakleaf “omits the element of nightmare, born of a realization of what human beings are capable of doing and of being reduced to, that forms another, equally significant, component of Swift’s vision” (173). I agree with both views, however, Connolly creates an argument that I briefly mentioned in my first stylistic analysis in regards to Swift’s use of diction, which I will expand on when I discuss Swift and Patton’s language.
A Modest Proposal was published in 1729 in response to the inhumane treatment of Irish citizens during English rule. England wanted to weaken Ireland because then the country would be dependent would not pose a threat to them. Ireland was desperately poor, overpopulated, starving, heavily taxed, diseased, and isolated in trade. This motivated Swift to criticize England. By the 1720s, Swift could no longer write for the elite. Instead, his return to political pamphleteering “required him to adopt the voice of everyman” (Connolly 173).
While Swift's proposal isn’t serious, George Wittkowsky, author of "Swift's Modest Proposal: The Biography of an Early Georgian Pamphlet", asserts that to understand the piece, it is important to understand the economics of Swift’s time. Wittowsky argues that it’s imperative to focus on mercantilism in 18th century England. All resources were being leeching out of Ireland. "If one regards the Modest Proposal simply as a criticism of condition, about all one can say is that conditions were bad and that Swift's irony brilliantly underscored this fact" (3).
According to David Cody, associate professor of English at Hartwick College, “Swift was enraged at the passivity of the Irish people, who had become so habituated to the situation that they seemed incapable of making any effort to change it.”
George Smith Patton Jr. gained fame for his accomplishments throughout WWII, even though he was sharply criticized for a pair of incidents in August 1943, when he physically struck hospitalized soldiers who exhibited no outward signs of injury. He was a born into a wealthy military family, primarily Republican. He had some controversial views that influenced how people regarded him in the army. He was an Episcopalian who believed in reincarnation. Patton claimed he had seen combat before in previous lives, including as a Roman legionnaire and as part of the 14th-century army of John the Blind of Bohemia (Klein). His eccentricities didn’t end there. He was, as Charles M. Province remembers, “a noted horseman and polo player, a well-known champion swordsman, and a competent sailor and sportsman … an amateur poet … a rough and tough soldier … a thoughtful and sentimental man. Unpredictable in his actions, [yet] always dependable … outgoing, yet introverted.”
Throughout the rest of my analysis these influences will be important in filling in the big picture of who these two men were and why they delivered speeches the way they did during the periods in which they were alive. After all, I believe that the author’s voices shine especially brightly in these two works.
Diction, Sentence Structure, and Morphology
In “A Modest Proposal”, Swift effectively uses insincerity, sarcasm, and rhetorical exaggeration. He uses his tone through deliberate diction choices much the same as Patton uses vulgar language to lighten his military speech to his troops.
Swift does not repeat individual words often, but he does repeat his message throughout the piece. His most used word within the section I analyzed was “children” closely followed by “thousand”, “being”, “number”, and “kingdom”. These words connect together by what Swift is discussing in the first section of his essay. He is proposing how to pick the children to eat by dissecting Ireland’s population economically and mathematically. Swift refers to potentially pregnant women as "breeders" five times throughout his proposal. His word choice here naturally reinforces his persuasive stance that women could be used as breeding livestock to feed the populace. By referring to women this way, Swift eliminates women's humanity and turns them into a commodity to be used. Swift and Patton both use hyper-masculine language layered in sexism that was acceptable during the time period. This can be seen in the previous example and in the way Patton describes cowardice.
Swift uses opposing words in this sentence to highlight there opposite meanings. “Helpless” infants grow up to become depraved adults or “thieves” at the expense of the “honest” mother. He uses this style of writing throughout the entire section to contrast innocence and guilty behavior that would warrant action, or cannibalization. He wants the reader to be disgusted by his proposal because it is so grotesque and ridiculous that they know he is jesting. He uses language to hover between clinical and expressive remarks, especially when he is discussing the price of children.
Diction is key when regarding Patton’s speech.

He understood his audience, and employed language that was profanely appropriate among the troops he was addressing. His most used words within the section I analyzed were “man” and “all”. I think this is telling because he sought to unify his men throughout his speech. Patton’s speaking style was very deliberate, contrary to what some of his peers thought when he used profane language. He swears 17 times over the course of 676 words. The starkest difference between Swift and Patton can be seen here. Swift’s time in the 18th century would not allow for such language. He would not only have been severely reprimanded as a man of higher learning, but he would have also angered the people he was trying to communicate with. The cultural norms of the period reserved vulgarity for uneducated people that had no place in academia. Swift was a man living during the Enlightenment period of rhetoric. According to James A. Herrick, “Enlightenment rhetorical theory turned away from traditional concerns such as memory and invention systems, and toward aesthetic matters such as style and good delivery”

(168).