Candace Johnson Justin Yates Eng 117 1 Feb., 2012 Cannibalism: The act of consuming the flesh of babies; exactly what is recommended as a delicacy to the upper class in the satirical essay, “A Modest Proposal.” Jonathon Swift, the author of “A Modest Proposal,” clearly suggests cannibalism, what first seems to be an unrealistic way to fight poverty. In his essay, Swift proposes for his homeland, Ireland, to become economically independent ultimately resolved by marketing infants who come from poverty-stricken families. With the intent to ridicule Ireland’s politicians while also attempting to promote the countries’ development, Swift presents to his audience his frustration by shocking them with his heartless text. To better his argument,
By bringing forth this absurd point, Swift reveals the absurd and unfair treatment of the people of Ireland. He reveals that the poor live terrible lives and might have to sell their children just to survive. He also reveals that the poor are essentially forced to serve the rich, mainly by selling their children to them. By selling their children to the rich as a labor force, the rich are basically consuming the children of the poor for their own needs. Regardless of people’s opinions of what should be done to help the poor, Swift reveals their terrible treatment.
“A Modest Proposal” “A Modest Proposal” was a satirical essay written by Jonathan Swift depicting the horrific conditions of Ireland and the lives of the Irish people in 1729 during the great famine. Swift portrays and attacks the cruel and unjust tyranny of Ireland by the English and mocks the Irish people at the same time. However, Swift's opposition is indirectly presented. Swift is able to do so by using the persona, irony, in order to expose the horrendous corruption and poverty that the Irish had to endure, and at the same time present them with realistic solutions to their miserable lives. The author uses satire to accomplish his objective because it is the most effective way to awake the people of Ireland into seeing their own corruption.
Certainly you are not alone in being shocked and disgusted by Swift’s proposal! He states a plethora of atrocities such as how to cook children – babies! - (p. 803) and how they are best prepared. However, the reaction this evokes is exactly what Swift wants. He wanted to show his audience the desperation of the situation that Ireland, his home country, was put through.
The idea of fattening up a starving population in order to feed the rich casts a grim judgment on the nature of social relations in Ireland. The language that likens people to livestock becomes even more prevalent in this part of the proposal. The breeding metaphor underscores the economic pragmatism that underlies the idea. It also works to frame a critique of the domestic values in Irish Catholic families, who regard marriage and family with so little sanctity that they effectively make breeding animals of themselves. Swift draws on the long-standing perception among the English and the Anglo-Irish ruling classes of the Irish as a barbaric people.
Swift uses satire to point out a problem and then assert an insane and illogical fix in order to cure it. He uses arguments such as it’s a commodity everyone can produce in order to defend his plan. Swift says that the meat of these children could be sold in taverns like beef and it would be easily produced even by poor people. This plan is insane just like Larkin’s
All stories are created in order to in someway draw a reader in and to create some type of emotions. Jonathan Swift choose to use sarcasm and biting wit and later shock value as his writing style in order to get people thinking about some extremely serious subject matter. Jonathan Swift has written many pieces of litature, he is mainly known for his writing of Gulliver’s Travels but his rise to fame was his essay of 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 publick. Swift is grabbing his readers’ attention through a well used means of communication, a political pamphlet. Through a well educated and in a voice of a proper
Food can be an addiction and with fast food corporations literally telling us to eat their food how can we resist? They know we cannot and therefore reap in the cash slowly killing every one of their consumers, but do not worry they are already conditioning a new generation of cheeseburger, french-fry eating consumers to take your place once you have died from a heart
The satire is the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. Jonathan Swift's master satire "A Modest Proposal”, proposes to solve the devastating poverty in Ireland by selling poor children as food for wealthy families. Swift goes on to explain how this would solve all of Ireland's problems from domestic abuse to poverty. Swift's Projector explains his proposal in depth, in many ways treating these children as nothing more than a new type of livestock. Towards the end, however, Swift lists numerous reforms that could help the country.
A. “A Modest Proposal” In “A Modest Proposal,” the author Jonathan Swift uses a somewhat sarcastic and bitter tone. His bitterness is shown because he degrades the female race by calling them beggars, and being promiscuous with having multiple children barking at their heels, helplessly. Swift includes that the infants born by these mothers will be of no beneficial use in his town because they will grow up to be thieves, leave their dear native country, or sell themselves to the “Barbadoes.” The authors sarcasm is shown when he talks about how he will take in the whole number of infants at a certain age. Swift says that seeing the infants in the arms or on the backs of the mother and father is such a grievance or distress for the state.