“If only there was a way to end world hunger.” Is that not a plea that has been the base creed of a legion of organizations determined to help the famished and impoverished? As Jonathon Swift has said in his Gulliver’s Travels, “Poor nations are hungry, and rich nations are proud; and Pride and Hunger will ever be at variance” (2602). Swift criticizes this reality in Gulliver’s Travels just as he does in his essay, “A Modest Proposal”; however, unlike in Gulliver’s Travels, the speaker in the “Proposal” offers a not-so-modest solution to the issue of hunger in Ireland: cannibalism. The speaker in Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” develops a firm argument using Aristotle’s various modes of persuasion – logos, mostly, but ethos and pathos as well – to the fullest by utilizing convincing tone, specific diction, and frequent statistics that weave a certain irony to effectively criticize the faults of both the wealthy elite and the poverty-stricken Irish. The speaker begins his proposal with a paragraph that speaks of the Irish with a seemingly earnest and compassionate tone. By using words like “walk through this great town,” to describe their home and “honest livelihood” to refer to the women’s desire for a job, he attempts to maximize the sympathy for the poor, suffering Irish folk (Swift 2633). The initial portion of the essay seems agreeable, even reasonable; his solution would be “a fair, cheap, and easy method of making these children sound, useful members of the commonwealth” (Swift 2633). His scheme would prevent “sacrificing the poor innocent babes” (Swift 2634). That is why when the proposer finally states the solution, it is shocking. He says, I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a... ... middle of paper ... ...eans, it is the same as seeing them as animals; such a mindset is what gives way to drastic measures, such as considering cannibalism as a means to survive. While the speaker’s proposal to put children on the menu to solve the Irish people’s destitution is not to be taken literally, Swift’s underlying message – a criticism of society and the mistreatment of one class of human beings by another – is. Works Cited Frazier, Cora. Kissel, Adam ed. "A Modest Proposal and Other Satires Suggested Essays". GradeSaver, 30 May 2010 Web. 8 December 2013. Swift, Jonathon. "A Modest Proposal." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. 2633-639. Print. Swift, Jonathon. "Gulliver's Travels." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. 2489-632. Print.
Then we can find the solution. He then suggests a solution and then lists a whole list of advantages. The. His proposal to eat the Irish babies is followed by advantages such as "by the sale of their children, [the parents would] be rid of the charge of maintaining them after the first year." To a poverty stricken person this would take a huge load off of their shoulders by not having to raise a child, while at the same time.
The issue that Swift is addressing is the fact that there are too many poor children in Dublin and that they are becoming such a huge burden for all the poor mothers or parents of the country. Swift then creates his own solution to the problem. He proposes that all poor children who are around one year of age, be cooked and eaten by the people of Dublin, preferably the poor. With this solution, he argues that it will eventually put an end to the overpopulation of the poor young children and it will satisfy the hunger for all the other people. Crazy right?
“A Modest Proposal” written by Jonathan Swift is without a doubt superior to the satire “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson. In order to master the intense task of writing a satire the author must put the reader in admiration, and that is exactly what Swift does. “A Modest Proposal” is an excellent piece, and shows Swift’s piercing wit and biting sarcasm. Although this satire was composed within 1729 it still holds the bite and shocking analogies in which we still are in awe upon. “A Modest Proposal” is without a doubt one of the world’s foremost examples of genius, because of the fact that Swift couriers his mastery of his wittiness and how Swift executed expressing the satire was immense.
"A Modest Proposal" has been hailed by literary critics as one of Jonathan Swift's greatest satirical works. The essay takes the form of a proposal that sets out to offer a solution to the problems of overpopulation and poverty in 18th century Ireland, a...
The entire proposal stands as a satire in itself; an analogy paralleling the tyrannical attitude of the British toward their Irish counterparts. In short, Swift suggests that parents of Ireland are owned by the British, and babies are property of their parents, therefore, England has a right to consume the Irish babies. Swift uses this syllogism throughout to show the British that their despotic reign in Ireland has left the miserable nation in poverty and disarray without any type of sustainable economy. Swift writes, “Some persons of a desponding nature are in great concern.” This is not simply a concern over the number of poor and malnourished in the country as Swift writes in the text; rather it is an ironic illustration of the Irish nation in shambles. The British have reigned over the Irish so long and so cruelly that they have left Ireland in a state of dependence psychologically, politically, and economically. In other words, the “ideology of Protestant consumption” has “actually eroded” the self-confidence and sense of worth of the Irish so badly that it has left Ireland unable to sustain itself (Mahoney). The “young heal...
Jonathan Swift in his “Modest Proposal” introduces a problem of poverty to his audience. The purpose of writing this piece is to warn the audience about some major problems. This piece is generally directed towards the general people because he doesn’t specifically direct it towards anyone in particular.
To put things into perspective, famine and poverty made huge impacts on Irish society which would’ve made the respective audience either well-off considering the circumstances, or one of the “beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children,” (Swift 2633). With this said, authors such as Robert Phiddian claim that “the reader is caught between two authorial voices in the text, that of the Proposer's and that of Swift's, and whichever way he turns, he has to confront the truth that there are those who devour and there are those who are devoured” (1). Irish society would have either placed readers of the essay under those who were able to raise a child comfortably, inevitably placing them in the class where the consumption of said children would have been the proposed norm, or as those who had to sell their human kin for consumption in the Irish market. The lack of room for escape from being placed in either category forces the reader to essentially come to terms with either idea in the midst of their initial shock and discourse at eating babies and
The issue that is at hand in his persuasive essay is that Ireland is over populated and they need to think of a way to deal with this said problem. They need to deal with this problem over else the population will keep going up and they will run out of food for people even faster. The context of this issue is that they are living in a place where there are not enough food, water, and clothes for everyone so they have children starving and tons of people are begging for anything to get them through the day. Johnathon Swift is making the argument that we should slay and eat all children under the age of 1 because we have way too many of them anyways. He’s an educated writer and well known author and a father of children. There might be some biased because he doesn’t have a child under the age of one so maybe he doesn’t want to have to kill his own child. The target audience is the people of Ireland because they are all living in the struggle along with himself. The main point is the Ireland is over populated and people are poor, hungry and in poverty. The argument is structured in a way that he catches the reader’s attention then at the very end he says that everything he said he doesn’t actually want any of that stuff to happen and that there needs to b...
Swift develops a somber tone throughout the essay that contrasts with a cheery or delightful mood. The introduction of his proposal opens with a somber tone of poverty and disparity that is demonstrated by incorporating language such as “melancholy object” and “helpless infants.” He further demonstrates the poverty and issues by alluding to Barbados, a place where the Irish immigrated due to poverty. The citizens are illustrated to live in famine as stated in “wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives.” This example illustrates the situation of the people in the country and raises awareness of the despicable situation with such blunt diction. Ironically, the poverty got worse as Swift describes it as a “deplorable state of affairs.” In addition, irony created in this juxtaposition in describing children as a “prodigious number” which elevates their status and leads the tone to be one of del...
The contrary title juxtaposes the content of being a “modest” proposal, as the anticipation of selling and eating young children in order to benefit Ireland’s economy is not a polite nor considerate gesture. Swift indicates his motive, through the contextual references and visual imagery of the “beggars” and “helpless infants” subjecting the reader to view the reality downfall of the Irish people’s deprivation and oppression. The paradox used to state humanity in Ireland as a “lawful occupation of begging” illustrates the situation they are facing with “labourers” and “farmers” categorised ironically as this “occupation”. The structure flow of this essay is gradually intensified, as the problem of the depressed economic conditions of Ireland, is supported through statistical evidence, which authenticate and reinforce the argument as the ironic “only”, in “there only remain a hundred and twenty thousand children of poor parents”, confront the reader as this number is large raising the issue of overabundance within Ireland. Swift’s mock serious tone of voice, is accompanied by a sense of superiority as he “proposes” his own “thoughts”, and “humbly” offers them to the public. This outrageous thought Swift conducts of killing, eating and selling the children
This essay by Jonathan Swift is a brutal satire in which he suggests that the poor Irish families should kill their young children and eat them in order to eliminate the growing number of starving citizens. At this time is Ireland, there was extreme poverty and wide gap between the poor and the rich, the tenements and the landlords, respectively. Throughout the essay Swift uses satire and irony as a way to attack the indifference between classes. Swift is not seriously suggesting cannibalism, he is trying to make known the desperate state of the lower class and the need for a social and moral reform in Ireland.
The essay, A Modest Proposal, is a proposal to end the economic dilemma in Ireland by selling the poor’s children, at the age of one, for food. The narrator states, “I think it is agreed by all parties that this prodigious number of children in the arms, or on the backs, or at the heels of their mothers, and frequently of their father, is in the present deplorable state of the kingdom a very great additional grievance” (Swift). According to this proposal, by selling the children for food to the wealthy in Ireland many problems will be resolved. The poor mothers will earn money to live on and will not have to raise children, the wealthy will have a new meat source and “an increase in his own popularity among his tenants” (Sparknotes), and the economy will improve because of all of the market action. In the narrator’s eyes, this proposal equals an all around win for the people of Ireland and he cannot see any objection to his plan.
Frazier, Cora. Kissel, Adam ed. "A Modest Proposal and Other Satires Essay Questions". GradeSaver, 30 May 2010 Web. 28 February 2017.
The issue is that there is a growing number of poor and starving women and children living on the streets of Ireland that are a burden to the public and the country. The context is that these homeless and starving women and children are left to fend for themselves on the streets. Jonathan Swift is making the argument from the point of a concerned citizen who has spent years among the poor in Ireland studying the situation and trying to come up with a solution. Johnathan Swift used the example that those who visit Ireland and see the streets crowded with women and children that are beggars conclude that Ireland is a very poor, overpopulated country full of beggars and that they look down upon their country that is in such poor shape. His bias is that as a citizen living in Ireland, he does not want to be looked down upon by other countries. His targeted audience seems to be the citizens of the country and those in higher up positions who ...
Swift, Jonathan. "A Modest Proposal". In The Norton Anthology Of English Literature: The Major Authors. Ed. M.H. Abrams et al. 5th ed. New York: Norton, 1987. 1078-1085