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How Does Swift Use Satire In A Modest Proposal

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Jonathan Swift was an Irish poet and satirist of the eighteenth century. Although the son of Englishmen, Swift was born and raised in Ireland. While living in Ireland, he witnessed the death of thousands of Irish due to starvation which was caused due to crop failure. Swift, who wasn’t even personally affected by the issue, acknowledged that the death of the Irish population which he argues was caused because of the neglect of English landowners. Instead of allowing for the issue to continue to be avoided, he addressed the issue. In 1729, Swift released a very popular narrative known as A Modest Proposal. This proposal is anything but modest but the title goes with the essay. This essay uses satire to get the message of HELP OUT THE IRISH …show more content…

The abundance of children is doing nothing but worsening the starving conditions of the nation. However, babies could become a useful member of society if they were to be sold to the meat market. As mentioned within the text, “a young healthy Child well Nursed is at a year Old, a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome Food”. Young children of society would no longer be a burden but a solution to end starvation within the communities. This proposal continues on by advocating that selling children to the meat market will beneficial to all involved. By selling their children into the meat market, parents will be able to have extra cash in their pocket. This will ultimately lead to families being better able to support their families. There as well would be a surplus of food for the dying Irish population. There will be much more meat product available for this starving population. This solution would end brutal abortions and the murder of “bastard children” by their parents. This would allow for less lives of children being abruptly ended without good reasoning. At least with this proposal, babies will be able to help out the people of Ireland. Obviously not to be taken literal, Swift’s narrative actually criticizes those who are allowing for the Irish to die of starvation. This narrative acknowledges that situation is ridiculous and the lack of an attempt to even address the issue is even worse. By proving such an obscure proposal, he is demonstrating that

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