Modest Proposal

A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Smith was a proposal to the Irish people; it was an odd perspective on how to change as a nation, since the government was not helping. A vague summary of the writing includes putting the nation's children to "good use" and using them as food, clothes, etc to carry the people out of famine. Swift's proposal, though it may come across as morbid, was a fantastic way of getting the government's attention and calling them out. All-in-all, Smith really wanted change and improvement within the nation, he had to show this through a sarcastic tone to catch the attention of his intended audience (the Irish government); this most relates to current times in how governments still continue to ignore big moral issues in the nation, and push back important problems.

A Modest Proposal was a satirical essay written by Jonathan Swift depicting the horrific conditions of Ireland and the lives of the Irish people in 1729. Swift writes the satire disguised as a social planner of the time who as Swift satirizes were known to be overly rational rather than compassionate. The author portrays and attacks the cruel and unjust oppression of Ireland by its oppressor, the mighty English and ridicules the Irish people at the same time. However, Swift's opposition is indirectly presented. Jonathan Swift is able to do so by using the persona, irony, and wit in order to expose the remarkable corruption and degradation of the Irish people, and at the same time present them with practicable solutions to their economic

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.

The implied thesis of Swift’s “A Modest Proposal" is that 18th century Ireland would be in a better situation if the Irish society and monarchy actually treated problems such as overpopulation and poverty, While the overt thesis is that Irish people should consider eating their children and selling them to rich Englishmen to solve the issue of poverty and overpopulation in the country. They differ form one another as one focuses on eating children, while the other focuses on giving commentary through the essay itself.

Fattening children and feeding them to the rich signifies the social injustice found within Ireland, the rich are prioritized while the poor seem to be accused for their position and their lack of compassion. Swift's ultimate argument compares cannibalism to human corruption. Eating each other would be ruining the nation, which was a hypothetical solution used to solve the issues of inhumanity. This proposal explains that the nation is actually consuming itself. The social and political problems of Ireland are the primary concern within this piece of writing, although it seems as if the author was originally only interested for economic prosperity as the normal, everyday citizen truly only worries about

"A Modest Proposal" is a good example of Juvenalian Satire, which is a form of satire that get its point across through scorn and contemptuous ridicule. In this work of literature, Swift attacks England, and most of the rich and noble people of Ireland for either being the cause, or standing back and twiddling with their thumbs as the poor people in Ireland continue to suffer. Swift's method of doing this is rather extreme. In A Modest Proposal, he suggests that cannibalism will solve the problems. Yes, he suggests that eating one-year-old children will take care of the economic crisis that is happening in Ireland. His way of delivering this idea is demonstrated without morality. And his criticism of the Irish people and England is very cold. For example, in the text, Swift says, "For this kind of commodity will not bear exportation, the flesh of being too tender a consistence to admit a long continuance in salt, although perhaps I could name a country which would be glad to eat up our whole nation without it." This quote explains how England has no problem eating up the country of Ireland, just like the people who will buy and eat the children. Swift is also very critical of the wealthy landlords that charge their tenants too much money. An

The Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift is about deprived people in Ireland in the seventeenth hundred years. Swifts purpose for his argument was to promote knowledge of poverty. Swift said that the poor Irish should kill their children and they should eat them to liquidate Irelands number of covetous citizens. In this time frame Ireland was in extreme poverty there was a wide gap between poor and rich. All throughout the essay swift tries to persuade his audience by trying to propose a sever and immoral solutions, so he can persuade others to come up with a realistic solution. Swift wants to make sure everyone knows how low class so Ireland can come up with a social and moral reform for Ireland. The Catholic population had most of the destitute

“A Modest Proposal” was written by Dr. Jonathan Swift. In this essay, Swift suggest that the poor people of Ireland should sell their children as food to the the rich men and women to help ease their economic troubles. This is not the right thing to do. To sell your own children as

While Ireland is going through a rough time, Swift comes up with a plan to help. In his modest proposal, Swift uses some

However, he wants to hear nothing of them until someone has a glimpse of hope that they would be put into practice. Since I mentioned earlier that the English government was not aiding Ireland in any way possible, this explains why Swift says he doesn't have faith in these other ideas because no one will put them into practice. From what I can gather using the context he gives, I believe that the other plans provided are what Swift truly believes to be the answer, or at least a few possible answers. For example, one method Swift lists is the taxing of those English landowners who refuse to live on their Irish property, as well as only using clothes and furniture that was manufactured in Ireland. Swift goes on to discredit more ideas he "refuses" to listen to in A Modest Proposal, however, while he does this he is also letting out his true thoughts on the problem in Ireland and how he believes the issues can be

In "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift, he describes sarcastically and jokingly, but leading to more serious matters, a plan to be put in place to help solve the issue of children starving and turning these children into useful members of society. His plan mainly includes the children being fed massive amounts of food to fatten them up and then eventually bringing them to the rich owners in Ireland and feeding the children to these wealthy land-owners. It is a plan of

The article “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift is initially framed as a serious proposal for the destitute population of Ireland. However this is quickly called into question when it becomes apparent that the sale of destitute children for consumption by the British elite is his proposal. Although not explicitly said, the English cannibalism of the Irish poor implies that the current economic issues that Ireland is facing is directly caused by the actions of the English elite. Furthermore, Swift is saying that the English elite might as well be killing these children because of the embargo that England had on Ireland. In a separate letter to Alexander Pope, Swift describes the situation as “a nation the two-thirds of whose revenues are spent

He wrote this proposal to illustrate how backward the economy and standard of living are in Ireland during the early 1700's, but also how his proposal could improve the economy and standard of living for the Irish people. Swift proposes that the babies of the less fortunate that can not care for their children will help the wealthy of Ireland. These babies will be used to supplement the economy by being used as an additional food source. Now they will no longer be a burden on society but now they will help contribute to the feeding of society. Swift makes this proposal because of Ireland’s current sub standard living conditions. Within his proposal Swift is offering a way to rid the county of its excess children and in turn using them to contribute to society so they do not “grow up either turn thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native country to fight for the Pretender in Spain, or sell themselves to 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

The surprise ending in “A Modest Proposal” occurs when Swift states that the young children of Ireland should be overfed and sold as a food source for the landed elite of Ireland. Swift provides this is his proposal after making a well-stated summary of the problems of Ireland and the possible solutions available to lawmakers of the nation. Swift is concerned about the large population of children in the country and the ability of Ireland’s parents to take care of them. He states that he sees a connection between the shortcomings of the nation’s parents and the economic and social problems that the Irish are facing. This is a reasonable problem and he states it in a reasonable and logical manner. This is the real source of the surprise proposal because the reader is led to believe that there will be a rational solution by the tone of the essay. Swift states that he has weighed several possible solutions and realizes that the simplest one is the best one – selling the children of Ireland to the landowning class.