Satire In A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift

Every person in the world has flaws, and when there’s a large group of people, some of these flaws will stand out and become prominent. Satire is a tool that is used to expose these flaws to the people themselves as well as the general public. It does bring change to society by exposing these ills and making people aware of problems. There are a lot of ways that satire works, like exposing people to things about themselves, exposing ignorance, and exposing societal problems. Some of these methods are more effective than others, but over time, they all seem to work in one way or another.

Everybody has flaws, but sometimes groups of people share flaws or opinions that are very problematic. Satire has a way of exposing these so that people

can see that their actions have consequences. It can show them how something that they support is offensive. One example of this is when The Daily Show talks to Redskin’s fans about the team name. At the end of the video, they said that “...they still would have gone on the show had they known there would be a debate, but at least one of them wouldn’t have worn his Redskins jacket.” They learn that the team name is offensive and it changes their points of view after talking to the Native Americans, and it likely changes the opinions of people watching at home. Another example of this is in A Modest Proposal when Swift exposes a problem of the government directly to those people. “I profess, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the public good of my country, by advancing our trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure to the rich” (Swift 234). In this quote, Swift is criticizing how lawmakers often make laws with themselves in mind, not the affected people. This use of satire can be used to show someone that sometimes, they are the problem and they shouldn’t keep blaming other people. In A Modest Proposal, Swift writes, “...flesh being of too tender a consistence, to admit a long continuance in salt, although perhaps I could name a country, which would be glad to eat up our whole nation without it” (Swift 213). Here he is implying that although England conquers many nations and calls the people there “savages”, that the English themselves are the savages because of all of the terrible things they do to innocent people. Satire is used in a variety of other effective ways.
Another way that satire is used is by exposing how ignorant people are. This is one thing that satire does a lot (especially on tv). Sometimes, it is not shown directly that the satirist is doing this, but it is often somewhat obvious. For example, in A Modest Proposal, Swift states, “There is likewise another great advantage in my scheme, that it will prevent those voluntary abortions, and that horrid practice of women murdering their bastard children, alas! too frequent among us, …” (Swift 27). He is exposing the ignorance of the government here because they don’t seem to realize that these women are having these abortions because it’s better to have an abortion than to have the babies starve to death. Aborting the baby is also a hard decision for the women to make because it is against their religion. It is effective because it shows them that they should do some research into the subject before they make these big decisions. He also exposes how the politicians are so disconnected from issues and they don’t understand what’s happening. He writes, “...the roads and cabin doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags…” (Swift 2). The word choice that he uses does a part in showing the government how they don’t understand the issue and they are uneducated about what is really happening in the country. However, when utilizing satire in this way, some of these works additionally try to fix this issue and educate the public. On The Daily Show, John Oliver is interviewing a lobbyist that stands against gun control. While talking about how gun control laws do work in Australia, the lobbyist says, “I guess if we’re going to go to Planet X, and say it’s not the United States, some other planet, different people, different everything, then I don’t know. But in the real world with human beings, it’s not going to work.” Here, they emphasized how uneducated the people that make these arguments are, and John Oliver proceeded to list off some statistics and information to prove his point whilst educating people of real-life effects. This type of writing can be effective in a lot of different ways.
One more way that satire works effectively is when it is used to expose societal problems.

A common issue within civilizations is power hungry people. This is shown in A Modest Proposal where it states, “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 76). This shows that the landlords, even though they have so much more than everyone else in the country, continue to take and take even though they don’t need more. Noting this in A Modest Proposal may make the landlords think twice about how what they are doing is ruining the lives of these poor people. Another issue it exposes is how much people crave fame and recognition. Swift writes, “...whoever could find out a fair, cheap and easy method of making these children sound and useful members of the commonwealth, would deserve so well of the public, as to have his statue set up for a preserver of the nation” (Swift 14). Here, Swift is arguing that people don’t do things because they are the right thing to do but to get recognized for doing something good. This is one underlying issue in society, that people often do the right things for the wrong reasons. Related to fame, another issue in society is that people often listen to and trust celebrities, even though they definitely don’t know everything. John Oliver touches on this during Last Week Tonight when he points out that during debates on the news over the validity of climate change, Bill Nye the Science Guy is almost always debating that it is real. Although he is a real scientist, it would be beneficial for other scientists to share what they have to say about the issue. However, because he is a celebrity, people listen to him. This form of satire is also effective in showing people what they should change about themselves and their

values.
Overall, satire is a highly effective tool in exposing the flaws of people and societies by exposing things directly to people, ignorance, and societal imperfections. It can sometimes go over people’s heads and it might take a long time for the impacts to be seen, but it is, in the end, successful. There are different ways that it can work but they all tend to have the same overall effect. There are many ways to make a change in society, and satire is a great example of one.