Analysis of Jonathan Swift´s A Modest Proposal Essay

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

Swift’s plan is an ironic attempt to "find out a fair, cheap, and easy Method"(503), for converting the starving children of Ireland into "sound and useful members of the Commonwealth” (503). His “solution” is to sell a child, after he or she reaches one year of age. “Instead of being a charge upon their parents, or the parish, or wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives, they shall, on the contrary, contribute to the feeding and partly to the clothing of many thousands”(503). From Swift’s perspective using the children, as food is the most efficient and cheap way to make the children a contribution rather than a burden.

Johnathan Swift wrote Modest Proposal with the idea to better humanity.. When you first read it you miss what the true message is. You think “Man this guy is a monster!” or “He’s sick!”, but once you reach the end the true meaning of the proposal hits you. When Jonathan Swift wrote a Modest Proposal he tried to get his audience to see the problem by taking it and providing an unethical and inhumane solution then using rhetorical devices to bring out people’s emotions.

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.

The Effectiveness of A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift "A Modest Proposal for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland from being a burden to their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the public" - Jonathan Swift 1729. In reading this you will discover the answer to the above question in three parts; · How effective is it as an argument · How effective is it as a piece of information · How effective is it as satire "A Modest Proposal" first appeared in public in 1729, Swift wrote this article after all of his previous suggestions had been rejected by the Irish authorities. Swift felt the English government had psychologically exiled him and this greatly added to the rage he felt over

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.

Although I realize your concern, you have missed the point of this well thought out essay completely. Despite what you may think about A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift, this essay is a satire master piece filled with irony. Swift’s essay was not intended to convince people to eat babies, but to call attention to the abuses Catholic’s face from their well-to-do Protestants. He only uses eating babies in his essay to explain to the reader the impossible burdens the Protestants are imposing on the Irish Catholics and by making their life hard, they are making a life of a new born impossible.

Indeed the proposal to eat the poor is a shocking statement, but what adds to the shock value is the delivery. For example, take the last statement regarding a fricassee. This statement is not necessary for the point, but it certainly adds to the appalling nature of the quote. The sarcastic nature puts Swift so far above the poor subjects that it evokes an extremely humorous response. Swift digresses and uses sarcasm numerous times in the essay, to emphasize truisms in a manner that tries to be less than direct, but has the ultimate effect of clarity. For example Swift proposes that some one of the uses for the children would be to

Swift suggests that Irish women should sell their children as food and other necessities to the rich populace in order to benefit the economy and fight the problem of overpopulation. To specify, Swift proposes if the children are sold, there would be many more utilizations of the children instead of having to survive on the streets scraping for money. He uses this ridiculous example in hope that it will benefit the rich population as well as solve the predicament of overpopulation. As he states, “Those who are more thrifty (as I must confess the times require) may flay the carcass;

Swift was said to “declare at one stage in his life: ‘I am not of this vile country (Ireland), I am an Englishman’” (Hertford website). In his satire “A Modest Proposal,” he illustrates his dislike not only for the Irish, but for the English, organized religions, rich, greedy landlords, and people of power. It is obvious that Swift dislikes these people, but the reader must explore from where his loathing for the groups of people stems. I believe Swift not only wanted to attack these various types of people to defend the defenseless poor beggars, but he also had personal motives for his writings that stemmed from unconscious feelings, located in what Sigmund Freud would call the id, that Swift

Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" can be said to have a satirical surprise ending, even though the reader is well prepared for it based on the tone and style of Swift's writing and any prior knowledge of the author's intentions. Swift's final solution to the problem of overpopulation is for the poor to sell their children as food for the rich. He introduces this proposition quite early into the document "A Modest Proposal," which is why the ending is not so much as a surprise as it is an intriguing rhetorical argument. The reason why the ending might seem surprising is that it seems as if Swift may indeed be presenting a realistic argument of what can be done about overpopulation, in spite of all evidence to the contrary. A reader not used to inferring messages based on tone or style might be forgiven to misread the beginning of Swift's document. For example, a person who has never heard a sarcastic tone could very well believe that Swift was being serious; in which case the reader would continue to view Swift's proposal as reasonable and either consider him a monster or a genius. Generally, Swift uses the surprise ending to alert the readers to the absurdity of the original problem that reveals social injustices and inequities. One of the biggest surprises in Swift's document is when he states, "I can think of no one objection, that will possibly be raised against this proposal, unless it should be urged, that the number of people will be thereby much lessened in the

This piece written by Swift may be satirical and a horrendous idea to the common people, it would fix the problems that Dublin is having. By selling off their newborns, which they can’t afford anyway, they can make quite a bit of profit, helping with the poverty problem. Soon, they won’t have to worry about the little thieves running around because all of the children that have been stealing will have grown up and there won’t be any new children coming into the business. Lastly, with the new generation being butchered and devoured, there would be a rapid decrease in the

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