The essay “A Modest Proposal” written by Johnathan Swift takes a satirical view on how to solve the starvation issue in Ireland. Swift suggests an obviously satirical solution of eating children around the age of one. He used irony, ambiguity, and ethos to emphasize the satirical nature of the essay and present a captivating idea to the audience.
The issue in Ireland was the economy and the lack of efficiency from the system. People were poor, hungry, and the increase of births created a high demand to feed more mouths. Swift realizing that a change was needed, wrote and published many literary works to get his opinions and ideas to the public. But A Modest Proposal was the most ground breaking and shocking literary work for its time. At the end of A Modest Proposal Swift reveals that his intentions were pure and that his desire was to help the citizens of Ireland. The main point Swift writes about is the lack of food and the hungry mouths to feed. He uses his satirical charm by stating a solution to eat babies. This is an absolutely appalling and horrific idea but it does its job by capturing the reader’s attention. He starts off A Modest Proposal with this idea then later goes into detail expressing the pros and cons of the solution. Swift then reveals the true problem that Ireland’s society faces and expresses an urge to change the system. He then ends by showing that his words can be backed by his true intentions, thus creating a sense of trust to what Swift is saying. Swift’s goal was to capture Ireland’s attention in hopes that they will realize that they need to fix their situation or be forced to find a different food source.
A Modest Proposal is undoubtedly one of the most recognized works of satire. This essay was designed to shock its readers in Ireland. Swift’s goal was to show the people of Ireland just how ridiculous their situation during the famine was. He also showed a great deal of disgust in relation to control. Swift was displeased with England’s control over his country, and how the dominance was being used. However, he showed a greater level of disgust with his own people. This is exemplified when another author writes about A Modest Proposal that
A Modest Proposal was written in an attempt to open the people of Ireland’s eyes about the overpopulation, poverty, and young thieves on the street. Jonathan Swift, in his writing, A Modest Proposal, uses a unique way to get people’s attention on the problems at hand. Swift’s purpose is to give the people of Ireland something they cannot possibly ignore. He adopts a disappointed tone in order to make his audience feel like they did something wrong for letting this occur for such in his audience of the people of Dublin, Ireland.
Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” is considered to be highly satirical. Swift’s proposal of solving the hunger menace through the sale of poor children to wealthy folks is very satirical. He argues that the practice of selling children will solve the poverty problems since the nation will be depopulated. His projector explains the proposal in great depth, portraying Irish children as equivalent to cattle whose carcasses are used to produce ladies gloves and men’s boots. The rationale behind the Irish eating their babies is mocking in the sense that it satirizes people who make absurd claims in the name of solving a problem. As a writer, Swift satirizes himself by making claims of lack of economic gains from his altruistic works.
...Johnathan Swift’s essay “A Modest Proposal” was a wonderful piece of satire, which made the people who read it take an introspective look, and think about how they were treating those poor, lower-class Irish. The raw imagery used by the author caused people to be so disgusted, that they were forced to consider what would be a more humane solution. Swift was able to both capture the attention of his audience, and get them to think more reasonably about an issue most, at the time, ignored. This essay is a great example, even to this day, of how to use satire, irony, and reverse psychology to speck to an audience who would not usually care to listen. “A Modest Proposal” was likely very successful getting people during The Enlightenment, when they valued little else but logic, facts, and reason, to consider that perhaps sometimes, reason alone cannot guarantee success.
Throughout A Modest Proposal Swift uses verbal irony, diction, and sentence structure to achieve his purpose. His purpose of calling attention to all the terrible things England has done to Ireland is clearly stated throughout A Modest Proposal with the help of these three devices. His purpose of drawing attention to the problems throughout society has been described through A Modest Proposal. The dire poverty in Ireland is clearly expressed in the satire A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift.
“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.
Jonathan Swift is the speaker in the story, A Modest Proposal. He is also the author of many other books and stories. In the text of A Modest Proposal, Swift addresses what he believes to be a big issue in the magnificent country of Ireland, Dublin to be exact. Therefore, he proposes a solution to the problem, however, the solution is not what we would call humane, orthodox, reasonable, or even one that we would consider performing today. Swift wrote this piece for anyone that can read and comprehend what the text implies.
If Jonathan Swift had written a serious piece simply espousing his true beliefs he would not have received as much feedback, due to the fact that there were already informational advertisements at the time and nobody was interested in reading them. The only thing that would get the people 's attention was something that would create a lasting impression, so he wrote a satirical piece with trenchant humor and mochary. “A Modest Proposal” surprised people and got them thinking about the condition of the poor in Ireland and what should be done to solve it. For example Swift states that “those who are thrifty” can use the carcass of the infant for ladies’ gloves or gentlemen’s boots. This itself can help those reading the piece to begin to think about possible solutions to the substantial issues involving the poor in Ireland. He also proposes that children that are fourteen should be consumed as well so the poor don’t have to go hungry and that it would limit the number of breeders, in an attempt to illustrate the extremity of the circumstances. His sarcastic way of joking enlisted fear in the poor and concern in the rich, helping them realise the drastic issue present in the
Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” is a classic piece of satire written in an attempt to draw attention to a serious problem. He does extremely well in providing proof that his solution will be beneficial and instructions as to how it would be implemented. Overall, Swift wrote this proposal to get the people of Ireland to take their predicament seriously and inspire people to come up with solutions that are sincere and will have a lasting and uplifting effect on the country.
A “Modest Proposal” is written by a man who had been exiled from England and forced to live among Irish citizens for many years during which he observed major problems in Ireland that needed a solution. The writer of this piece is Jonathan Swift, and in his proposal, “The Modest Proposal,” Swift purpose is to offer a possible solution to the growing problem of the homeless and poverty stricken women and children on the streets of Ireland. Swift adopts a caring tone in order to make his proposal sound reasonable to his audience, trying to convince them that he truly cares about the problems facing Ireland’s poor and that making the children of the poor readily available to the rich for entertainment and as a source of food would solve both the economic and social problems facing Ireland.
I consider myself to be an educated, prosperous, and political gentleman. I think it not wrong to say that we are in the Golden Age of Satire, which is a fortunate time for me because I am an active reader and delighted and amused by these works. As a proud Irishman with a natural bias, I find my fellow Irishman Jonathan Swift and his satiric pieces to be quite clever and provoking. There is certainly rage and resentment running through the streets of Dublin over his latest work, “A Modest Proposal”. I like to call myself a warrior for social justice and fairness, so this piece has truly spoken to me. This country’s issues of poverty and the growing social gap have been ignored for far too long, and Swift has
Johnathan Swifts "A modest Proposal" is comical in the aspect that he attempts to persuade the audience that his irrational proposal is better than what's currently established. His satirical language can be inappropriate out of context to what he is trying to exemplify. In his "A modest proposal," Swift addresses Ireland's dilemma of not being able to pay rent to English Lords, by imploring that people should consume children as an alternative system to what the English government offers. He suggests that this decision would benefit both Ireland and England. His proposal highlights the atrocities the people of Ireland face in the wake of England's negligence. Because England finds the impoverished people of Ireland to be redundant, then they wouldn't value the juvenile population any higher.
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.