A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis

Jonathan Swift wrote A Modest Proposal mostly for the elite of Ireland and England. The pamphlet talks about the poverty of the Irish people and the poor conditions that they face. Swift points out how much the Irish people suffer, referencing mothers who “are forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants: who as they grow up either turn thieves for want of work,” and citizens who will certainly be “wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives” (Swift). The problem of poverty in Ireland is severe in Swift’s eyes.

Swift also points out the high population of the nation. He estimates the population to be roughly one and a half million people, and that there are thirty thousand citizens or less citizens who are prosperous enough to care for children without financial burden (Swift). Considering this high population of poor citizens, combined with the extreme poverty and starvation in Ireland, Swift proposes an

Swift himself had submitted many serious pamphlets and proposals to the public and Irish Parliament before he wrote A Modest Proposal (“Jonathan”). This pamphlet however was written to “shock the reader” (Clark) as a final attempt to get the elites of Ireland’s and England’s attention. With the whole essay meant to disturb the reader, this quote is where Swift makes the reader understand how, given the extreme suffering, this proposal may actually be “modest.”

This section says that the vast majority of poor people are “aged, diseased, or maimed” and calls them a “grievous . . . encumbrance” to Ireland (Swift). These people are dying every day, and workers are struggling to find work with not even enough food to fuel themselves if they are temporarily employed. The section concludes with Swift’s opinion that the people are “happily delivered from the evils to come,” showing that death is viewed as the only way out of such