A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift

“A person’s a person, no matter how small.” This quote by Dr. Seuss perfectly proves why the essay, “A Modest Proposal,” is morally incorrect; a child is as much a person as an adult. If humans believe this statement, then why would they sell their children to more fortunate people to be eaten or worn? In the essay, “A Modest Proposal,” Dr. Jonathan Swift uses shock, information, and satire to convey his purpose for the essay; whereas, the narrator uses an objective, straight forward attitude to get his point across.

In the essay “A Modest Proposal” written by Jonathan Swift, the author proposes a solution for hunger, poverty, and overcrowding in Ireland by eating children. Swift uses satire and sarcasm throughout his entire essay in order to grab his audience’s attention. The essay discusses how the British government treats the people of Ireland and compares it to the consumption and trade of human babies. In paragraphs 20 to 26 Swift lists advantages of his proposal, also with rhetorical appeals and rhetorical devices strategies such as metonymy, oxymoron, metaphor, and irony to develop his position in the argument and reveal the real meaning behind his proposal.

Desperate times often call for desperate measures, and proposals of desperate measures are often met with swift criticism if they are found to be without rational thought and merit. It is unlikely that anyone in their right mind would consider, for any amount of time, the proposal of rearing children, or properly raising them, as food to help alleviate poverty-stricken Ireland in 1729. Yet, Jonathan Swift’s suggestion was satirical brilliance, and it was a modest proposal for illuminating the cause of Ireland’s woes. The proposal was not actually eating children but placing a mirror for the reader to reflect upon. The target audience of landlords, gentlemen, and other people of stature were more than accustomed to stepping on the poor on

During the early 1700s in Ireland, there were countless people that lived in poverty. Families that had many children at that time were usually the families that lived in poverty. If they chose to sell those children instead of keeping them, at the end of every year they would make 8 shillings for every kid they did not keep. In time, it would have been more beneficial for the poor families to sell their children because they would be making money on them (Baker). In 1729, a man named Jonathan Swift believed that he found a way to eliminate some of that poverty and feed the rich with the same solution. To propose his theory, he wrote “A Modest Proposal.” He wanted the poor people to give up their children as necessary evil. In the essay, Jonathan Swift challenges the status quo of the time and place in which it was written by saying people should sell and eat children and believing that women should be breeders (Swift).

Like the other numerous number of circulating pamphlets, Swift’s ‘A Modest Proposal’ begins with a sympathetic description of poor Irish people who can’t afford raising their kids to give one a sense of sympathy towards them. Unlike the other pamphlets of his contemporaries which proposed remedies or just complained about the problem like how the British government did, he emphasizes that his proposal “…is of a much greater extent, and shall take in the whole number of infants at a certain age who are

In Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” Swift proposes to solve the devastating poverty in Ireland by selling children as food for wealthy families. Swift goes on to explain how this would solve all of Ireland’s problems from domestic abuse to poverty. “... a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled…” (par. 9.)Swift explains his proposal in depth, in many ways treating these children as nothing more than livestock.

In the "The Modest Proposal," by Jonathan Swift he discusses a solution to poverty in Ireland during the 18th century. Swift’s bizarre, yet well thought out plan for helping families of Ireland, who were in poverty and desperately in the need of money, was fattening children and selling them to the wealthy landowners. He thought that this would be an excellent way for children not to be a burden on their parents but be beneficial. Swift even went on to write a pamphlet telling the parents just how they could fatten their babies and the perfect age and weight for the kids to be before selling them. One of Swift’s friends goes on to give some helpful/ tasty ways that the kids can be cooked before eaten. This does not only financially support Ireland, but it also improves the social, political, and economic problems. Swift didn’t see why anyone in Ireland would disagree with such a brilliant plan that could benefit them in so many ways, except the being eaten of course. Swift even goes on to say that by shrinking the population of kids it would just be less subjects to worry about ruling over and less chaos. Swift’s idea of fattening kids to sell as food to the wealthier landowners of Ireland was one of the most brilliant solutions to solve all of the problems being brought about in Ireland.

During the late seventeenth century the English controlled-parliament had legislated several ideas and laws that restricted the rights of the Ireland Catholics. This caused the Ireland economy to slowly fall apart as many people discarded the issues. However, Jonathan Swift took advantage of the overlooked laws and went on to write the essay, A Modest Proposal. In this writing piece Swift lodged a ridiculous proposal. In doing so he manifested a clear cut image of how backwards and corrupted the state of Ireland really was in the hands of the English. Swift’s essay employed his insincerity, sarcasm, verbal irony, and rhetorics that depicted the conditions of Ireland and its people. However his tone of the whole essay along with his insincerity illustrated the comical effect of the proposal to make his argument seem unserious.

In Jonathan Swift’s satirical work, A Modest Proposal, the reader is presented with a horrible concept using extremely effective language and logos; Swift uses strong speech, rational tone, and complex grammar to convince readers that eating children will solve all the problems in 19th century Ireland. Swift’s overall goals in his pamphlet, however, is not to actually encourage eating babies, which is why it is of satire, but is instead to raise awareness of Ireland’s conditions for living, failing political figures, and the tyranny brought by England.

When one thinks of the phrase “A Modest Proposal,” does one come to think of fattening babies so they can sell as meat. In Jonathan Swift’s essay “A Modest Proposal,” Swift uses satirical writing to communicate with the reader to expose the critical situation of the poor people of Ireland. Whom besides going through a tough period of famine have to endure the overwhelming taxation rates of the English empire. The author’s proposal intends to convince the public of the incompetence of Ireland’s politicians, the lack empathy of the wealthy, the English oppression, and the inability of the Irish to mobilize themselves against this situation. Johnathan proposed an outrageous solution that the Irish folks eat their children at the age of one or sell them in the market as meet. Finally, he manifests to be open to other suggestions to help overcome the country’s crisis. The proposal was made strategically using several different parts: the text, author, audience, purpose, and setting to persuade the tax to go lower.

How desperate does a person have to be to resort to eating their own children? This is the way it was for the people of Ireland in 1729. Jonathan swift created ‘A Modest Proposal’, an essay written for the poor and the young. Ireland was going through financial depression during the time, and things were only getting worse as government officials did nothing to help the cause. But the real reason why Swift’s proposal was so effective was because of how it appealed to people’s Ethos with their sense of credibility, their Pathos with their emotions for the topic and Logos to appeal to the people’s logical reasoning.

A Modest Proposal was written in the year 1729 by the famous satirist Jonathan Swift. In his work he outlines the pros of eating unwanted children of Ireland for economical benefits in a time of great poverty. While the reader can obviously discard the idea of eating children, in his proposal, in a roundabout way, Swift speaks to hard pressing issues of the time.

In a “Modest Proposal” Swift expresses his grief as well as irritation of Ireland’s politicians, the hypocrisy of the wealthy, the tyranny of the English, and the degradation in which he witnesses the Irish people living. While Swift explains how England continuously exploits Ireland, he also expresses the utter disgust he finds in the inability of the Irish to help themselves. Swift mourns and shows compassion for the Irish people but critiques both for the issue at hand. (Sparknotes). Through this ironic essay of surprises and shocks, swift challenges the reader consider and critically analyze policies, motivation, and moral values. Jonathan Swift states in the essay that

At this time, Swift was exasperated with the way that the Irish were handling England’s exploitation. He felt that instead of trying to fight back against England in order to maintain the life that they had and rightly deserved, the Irish decided to comply with England’s plans. In A Modest Proposal, Swift talks about the poverty in which the Irish live and exposed that the families do not make enough to feed their children yet the English don’t care because they think the Irish population is too high as it is. As a solution, Swift shockingly suggests that the Irish eating their young would be the answer to both of their problems. “… a young healthy child, well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food; whether stewed, roasted, baked or boiled, and I make no doubt, that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or ragout.”

In his biting political satire called ?A Modest Proposal,? Jonathan Swift seeks to create empathy for the poor through his ironic portrayal of the children of Irish beggars as commodities that can be regulated and even eaten. He is able to poke fun at the dehumanization of the multitudes of poor people in Ireland by ironically commenting on what he sees as an extension of the current situation. Swift?s essay seeks to comment on the terrible condition of starvation that a huge portion of Ireland has been forced into, and the inane rationalizations that the rich are quick to submit in order to justify the economic inequality. He is able to highlight the absurdity of these attempted