The Satirical Nature of Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal

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A Modest Proposal The satirical essay “A Modest Proposal” written and published in in 1729 by an Anglo- Irish man named Jonathan Swift, in response to the worsening conditions of Ireland, was one of his most controversial and severe writings of his time. The narrator in Swift’s essay “A Modest Proposal” argues for a drastic and radical end to poverty in Ireland. Swift’s proposal suggests that the needy, poor people of Ireland can ease their troubles simply by selling their children as food to the rich and make them useful, benefitting the public. With the use of irony, exaggeration and ridicule Swift mocks feelings and attitudes towards the poor people of Ireland and the politicians. However, with the use of satire Swift creates a strong argument that reveals and draws attention to a solution to end the severity of the poverty-stricken Ireland. In the beginning of “The Modest Proposal” Swift uses pathos or emotion. He describes the position of the impoverished people of Ireland, in order to raise an emotional reaction from the reader. Swift discusses the “melancholy” sight of “beggars of the female sex followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags” who asks every passenger they see for a handout. He also states that the mothers who are unable to work are forced to “employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants: who as they grow up turn into thieves, want for work or leave their native country.” Swift also persuades the reader to support his position, stating that the children are in the “present deplorable State of the Kingdom” and if anyone found a way to make these children “sound and useful members of the commonwealth” in a “fair, easy method” deserves a statue built of them... ... middle of paper ... ...rich can actually be a solution in benefiting the poor conditions and state of Ireland. The satirical essay “The Modest proposal” written by Jonathan Swift, argues for an end to the poverty in Ireland; Swift’s proposal suggests that the needy, poor people of Ireland can ease their troubles simply by selling their children as food to the rich and make them useful to the public. With his use of satire, Jonathan Swift persuades the reader to feel an emotional connection towards the poor people of Ireland, show the reader that making infants into a “dish” would actually benefit and contribute to an end of poverty in Ireland, and finally to prove his evidence with credible sources and data. Overall, although he used irony and criticism to mock the people of Ireland, Jonathan Swift produced a strong argument in “The Modest Proposal” that it would be hard to disagree.

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