Jonathan Swift used hyperbole, ethos, and understatement, to show his view on the poverty stricken, Irish citizens. Being ignored by the wealthy and the English, Swift explained that the key way to solve their economic troubles was to cannibalize the children. The very idea of cannibalism was appalling and shocking, which immediately created an air of interest in the topic at hand. He even displayed the information in a casual manner, intending for the essay to be ironic, if not, a little humorous and mocking of wealthy Englishmen. “A Modest Proposal” was the very definition of a satirical hyperbole. From the very beginning, Swift established that the Irish economy was in a state of decay with “beggers of the female sex, followed by three, …show more content…
Throughout the essay, Swift made allusions to the horrendous state of the English government by painting the affluent members of society out to be people that do nothing to better the general public; he degraded them to the point of being nothing more than barbarians who care so little for the general populace that they would be willing to cannibalize them, which was quite the …show more content…
He went as far as to provide various manners of preparation when it came to cooking the children, because “whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled” (Swift) they were at their most delicious at a year old. Swift humored the audience with these suggestions as a way of illustrating how little the English cared for the poor and the Irish in general. By comparing the wealthy to heartless cannibalistic savages that care about nothing but their own wellbeing, Swift gained the upmost attention of the reader through shear shock; through the ethical appeal of cannibalism, Swift was able to easily incite curiosity in his readers and caused them to think critically about the situation at hand. Had the government really cared so little for the Irish that they would throw away the lives of their citizens and only watch as they plunged deeper and deeper into an economic depression? It was up to the reader to interpret the information provided and explore the concepts touched upon within the
An Oxford University graduate, Jonathan Swift, in his article, A Modest Proposal, proposes a solution to Irelands growing poverty in the 18th century by proposing the selling and eating of innocent babies. Swift’s purpose is to state the benefits that the poor would gain from selling their one year old children to the wealthy to eat them. He takes on a concerning tone in order to convince the people of Ireland to consider and adopts his obscene plan.
It is a great contradiction and absurdity that a husband and father proposes the idea of cannibalism. The narrator does not want the reader to agree that the solution to overpopulation and poverty in Ireland is to eat babies; he wants the reader to see it. needs to be a practical solution. Although something seems one way to the narrator, Jonathan Swift wants. the reader to see it in the opposite light.
His very different tones throughout “A Modest Proposal” helps the reader realize that the essay’s idea is absurd. Swifts tone at the beginning of the essay is very sympathetic towards the people of Ireland, but his sympathy hastily goes away when he suggests his idea. Swift changes the tone of the essay so drastically it shocks the readers by making “A Modest Proposal” very ironic to its name.
Swift’s use of these three devices created a captivating and somewhat humorous satire. He used irony and ethos to emphasize the ridiculous nature of the essay, and to show how the practice of eating children would be unethical. He used ambiguity to make the essay a more comedic work rather than a horror about the gruesome practice of child cannibalism. Overall, the satirical essay was
Satire, Humor, and Shock Value in Swift's Modest Proposal. Swift's message to the English government in "A Modest Proposal" deals with the disgusting state of the English-Irish common people. Swift, as the narrator, expresses pity for the poor and oppressed, while maintaining his social status far above them. The poor and oppressed that he refers to are Catholics, peasants, and the poor homeless men, women, and children of the kingdom. This is what Swift is trying to make the English government, in particular the Parliament, aware of: the great socioeconomic distance between the increasing number of peasants and the aristocracy, and the effects thereof.
Jonathan Swift, a well-known author, in his essay “A Modest Proposal,” implies that the Irish people should eat children so that they can better their chances of survival. Swift supports his implication by describing how his proposal will have many advantages such as, eliminating papists, bringing great custom to taverns, and inducing marriages. He comes up with an absurd proposal to eat and sell the children to the elite so the Irish can have a brighter future. His purpose is to show that the Irish deserve better treatment from the English. Throughout his essay, Swift uses sarcasm, satire, and irony.
He attacks the society by carelessly endorsing cannibalism in hopes of helping Ireland through their economic crisis. He demonstrates this by humbly proposing and assuring "that a young healthy child, well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food." (Swift, 485) Implying that society should eat children shows that the individual (the child) is seen as an unimportant individual to society; therefore, is not valued when considering an effective resolution to their situation. This provides criticism to the Neo-Classical beliefs that society is more important than the individual.
In eighteenth century Ireland, the nation was in a famine and an epidemic of poverty due to the high prices of land and food. Jonathan Swift saw a problem, so h wrote and spread what we call today, A Modest Proposal. Swift’s essay is satirical. He exaggerates and gives inaccurate statistics to deliver a thesis that runs deeper than the explicit one about eating babies. While much of the essay seems to imply that Swift’s persona eats babies, there are some instances where Jonathan hints at the ironic themes of the writing.
“A Modest Proposal” was written in 1729 by a satirical author by the name of Jonathan Swift. Swift studied at the University of Oxford and was also know for his popular writing in Gulliver’s Travel. The purpose for his satire “A Modest Proposal” was to enlighten the citizens of Ireland about their hardship and suffering. He informed them about their scares of food, money, and property, but provided a possible solution to their problem. To persuade the people Swift adopts a comforting and friendly tone to his audience for the people to react to his solution.
Through extreme hyperboles, Swift underscores the gargantuan social issues afflicting Ireland in the 1720s. While proposing a plan to solve all of Ireland’s problems, Swift explains that “a young healthy child well nursed is… a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled” (Swift 59-60). Swift exaggerates all of the effects of his plan, especially the supposedly tasty “boiled” child. Rather than simply stating that eating children would solve all of Ireland's problems, Swift goes on to list the many ways these dishes would be prepared. Even
In Jonathan Swift’s satire, “A Modest Proposal”, Swift writes about the starving people of Ireland in the early 1700’s. He makes a wild and absurd proposal to help remedy the problems of overpopulation and poverty. Swift wants to make a political statement by using the “children” as satire to grasp the attention of the audience - the English people, the Irish politicians and the rich – and make them aware of the political, moral, and social problems. In “A Modest Proposal”, Swift’s arguments are presented effectively by using pathos (emotional appeal), ethos (ethics and values), and logos (logic reasoning and facts).
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.
This essay will have no value unless the reader understands that Swift has written this essay as a satire, humor that shows the weakness or bad qualities of a person, government, or society (Satire). Even the title A Modest Proposal is satirical. Swift proposes using children simply as a source of meat, and outrageous thought, but calls his propo...
In 1729, Jonathan Swift published a pamphlet called “A Modest Proposal”. It is a satirical piece that describes a radical and humorous proposal to a very serious problem. The problem Swift was attacking was the poverty and state of destitution that Ireland was in at the time. Swift wanted to bring attention to the seriousness of the problem and does so by satirically proposing to eat the babies of poor families in order to rid Ireland of poverty. Clearly, this proposal is not to be taken seriously, but merely to prompt others to work to better the state of the nation.
Swift explains how selling a marketable child will be profitable and why the people of Dublin are willing butcher children to survive. He does this by saying, “I rather recommend buying the children alive, and dressing them hot from the knife, as we do roasting pigs” (585). Swift uses verbal irony in a powerful way to state that Irish people should not be treated like animals killed as food. Swift points out the famine and the terrible living conditions that are threatening the Irish population by stating that children are a good source of food just like real animals do.... ... middle of paper ...