Who Is Ireland In A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift

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).

When presenting the Irish population in the given time period, Connell uses estimates based on the returns of heath-money collectors between 1725-1791 and official census data for the remaining time frame. After correction for errors in these estimates, the figures show a significant increase in population growth rate starting in 1780’s (p.278).

Swift’s satirical essay is meant to underline the problems of both the English and the Irish in 1729. He argues that children at the age of one could be sold

In 1700 there were only 300,000 people inhabiting the original thirteen colonies, but then the population doubled every twenty-five years and only seventy-five years later, the population rose to 2.5 million people. This population spike caused a major shift in power from Britain to the colonies because originally in 1700 there were twenty English officials for every one colonist, but by 1775 there was only three English official per colonist.

In the 1700s, Ireland was under the control of the British. They also owned Northern Ireland. The British were causing immense numbers of problems for the Irish people because their policies were leaving people homeless and starving. Jonathan Swift was a man who was born and raised in Ireland during these times. He engrossed himself in Irish politics especially during this time. Swift saw the struggles of the Irish people and became outraged by their conditions. He decided to fight against the British’s actions in a unique way, hoping that it would end this time of extreme poverty for the Irish. To do so, Swift wrote the satirical essay “A Modest Proposal”, using the voice of an upper class

England’s electorate was small, while the colonial was large and made up of most men no matter how much property they owned.

English absentee landlords owned most of the land that was valuable so the Irish again could not challenge the might of England. Before Swift introduces his "Proposal" to the reader he decides to state who the "Proposals" will benefit and how, "It will prevent those voluntary abortions" Here is shown that the mother will not have to break the confidence of the Catholic Church in having the banned abortions so the rules of the church are not broken. " and that horrid practice of women murdering their bastard children."

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.

In 1729, Ireland was at its worst, economically and politically, under the complete control of England. England had control over Ireland in every aspect: politically, militarily, and economically. Because England was tremendously profiting from Ireland’s dependency on them, they cared very little about the conditions that the Ireland people were having to live under. Jonathan Swift, an Ireland satirist, felt obligated to change the conditions that the people of Ireland and himself were living in. In a proposal, Swift uses extreme irony and exaggeration to bring attention to what he is truly trying to reciprocate to his audience. Through “A Modest Proposal”, Swift turns to the political leaders and the mistreated people of Ireland

The story A Modest Proposal starts by clarifying the poverty and Irish who need to invest all their energy searching for nourishment to encourage their children. The author has come up with an excellent approach to put these children to great utilize. Raise them as food for wealthy citizens. The author proceeds his theory and explains the benefits. The author states that it's a great solution because only 100,000 Irish children out of the population will be set aside for dinner.

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

What is the craziest idea that you have ever had? It is probably not as crazy as the idea that Jonathan Swift proposed to 18th century England in the satirical essay “A Modest Proposal.” He proposes to the public that they start eating babies of poor families for sustenance. He lays out his reasons in a strategic manner to where it seems like a logical idea. While this essay was satirical, notable figures such as the queen took it literally, and it is safe to say that Swift was not a very respected man in England.

The Irish have done nothing to halt the terrorizing nature of their domineering counterparts. Swift uses this proposal to describe the wretched situation in Ireland. By “rigorously underplaying the aspect of fantasy in his proposal,” Swift suggests the Irish have arrived at a condition in which such a plan may actually be seriously considered (Lockwood). Ireland is in such a dismal state that “the advantages by the proposal,” which Swift presents, are of the highest importance” (Swift). Merrily pitching his own ludicrous idea, Swift is mockingly attempting to elucidate the seriousness of the state of Ireland. Every detail of the proposal reveals the terrible conditions of Ireland through the eyes of a normal citizen. Through Swift’s vividly appalling arguments, the audience is “never allowed to forget that Swift hates the evil conditions more passionately than the speaker who describes them” (Booth). In essence, the ostensible anger against the English in the proposal is used merely to heighten Swift’s own dismay over the way Ireland has conducted itself (Booth). Swift craftily causes readers to question whether he is being serious or just poking fun at the sad situation.

In A 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. Swift’s proposal does not only financially

With his pamphlet, Jonathan Swift addresses the problem of the poor, the needy, and how they should be taken care of in a sarcastic and unimaginable way. He writes, “A Modest Proposal: For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland, from Being a Burden on Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public” to address the problem of how the poor are being treated. Swift is a political journalist, clergyman in the Angelical Church, and Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin who uses strong satire to communicate his opinions on how he disagrees with how the poor are being treated. Swift uses his satire when explaining his opinion that many of the rich only care that the poor are not being a burden on them and not