Satire in Swift's A Modest Proposal

Satire in Swift's A Modest Proposal

Swift's aim of his proposal is to expose the cruelty of the rich

landlords of Ireland, who were not being aware of the poverty and

suffering of the Irish people. Swift's proposal is an attempt to

suggest a remedy of Ireland's situation by shocking those who are

powerful enough to inflict change on Ireland's appalling

circumstances.

In order to do this Swift creates an alter ego, a persona who puts

forth the ghastly proposal but in a logical fashion. Swift uses a

'Juvenalian' sort of satire, a way of getting at the reader without

targeting them directly. Swift tries to expose the reality of Ireland

in a discreet and delicate way. His definition of satire is 'Satire is

a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's

face but their own.' This is true in fact for his proposal as the

people who this proposal is aimed for don't realise that Swift is

talking about them until later on, and that's when they see their own

reflection in Swift's Modest Proposal. This is also described as 'The

iron fist in a velvet glove'. The iron fist is the reality hidden

inside the 'velvet glove', the glove being the tone in which the

proposal is written which is pleasant and subdued.

The title alone for the proposal is described as 'Modest', which in a

way is ironic as there is nothing modest about the 'devouring of the

children of the poor'. The Proposer comes across as reasonable with

his thoughts 'Maturely weighed' and thought through and it is as

though he really does care about the welfare of the poor in Ireland.

'It is a melancholy obje...

... middle of paper ...

... on in the proposal when the persona

excludes himself from the proposal. 'I have no children by which I can

propose to get a single penny; the youngest being nine years old, and

my wife past child-bearing.' He is saying that nobody can call him

selfish or that he would gain from the proposal, but he was only

finding a way for the poor to gain, but he was actually creating a

menu that would be offered to himself and to others. This is where the

reader would identify Swift's use of satire and how he is making the

problems in Ireland aware to the public.

Swift achieves his satirical aims well as the message comes together

at the end, his sarcasm and his 'getting' at the rich upper class. He

makes the reader believe that the situation in Ireland is bad and

needs to be remedied soon before the situation becomes desperate.