Modest Proposal By Swift

In Jonathan Swift’s essay, “A Modest Proposal”, Swift proposes that the
poor should eat their own starving children during a great a famine in Ireland.

What would draw Swift into writing to such lengths. When times get hard in
Ireland, Swift states that the children would make great meals. The key factor
to Swift’s essay that the reader must see that Swift is not literally ordering
the poor to cannibalize. Swift acknowledges the fact of the scarcity of food and
empathizes with the struggling and famished souls of Ireland through the strange
essay. Being of high society Britain, which at the time mothered Ireland, Swift
utilizes his work to satirically place much of the blame on England itself.

Through his brilliant stating of the fact that the children cost money as well
as aid in the drought of food and necessities the reader can get an idea of the
suffering on going in Ireland; this brings the reader to see that instead of
keeping the children their parents should either eat them or sell them on an
open market. By wasting the scarce food in Ireland, the people are killing
themselves; thus the children can be consumed saving food and at the same time
making food. It is interesting to see how well Swift conveys his view towards
the poor in this odd manor. Swift sees how the poor are treated by the affluent
who may think that the impoverished are the reason for Ireland’s food
problems. In fact, the entire essay is nothing more than sarcastic piece that
deeply imbeds the blame upon the rich who he feels might have just as much or
even more blame on Ireland’s food problems than the poor ever have. Swift
intelligently uses his common sense logic in a strange way to convey his
feelings about this predicament. Swift goes to great lengths to intelligently
show these feelings. The ways at which Swift camouflages his ideas and thoughts
throughout this essay brought many readers at the time to think that he actually
wanted Ireland to revert to eating their children. His employment of such
literary elements of irony, mix cynicism, and pure contextual reaction from the
reader help to map the entire essay. Thoughout the work, Swift persistently
relies upon the use of irony. It is quite apparent that no rational human being
would bring themselves to eating the flesh of another, which also adds to the
irony of the story. Another interesting point of reflection is the fact that
although Swift has children of his own, his are grown and his wife can no longer
bear any more. Because of this fact, it is clear that further analysis would
show that this work is purely fictional and cannot be taken literally. Many
people of the time actually did take Swift’s recollections literally, which
brought about much condemnation to Swift as a literary writer. Cynical readers
of the time had come to expect such a voice from one like Swift. From the first
sentence of the essay, Swift begins to fool the reader by applying the dreary
atmosphere of starvation in Ireland. For example, Swift keenly routes to the
beggars in the streets with there starving children close at hand. It must be
brought to attention that Swift’s piece shows much remorse for the poor
especially the children of the poor, even though it doesn’t state this quite
so clearly. Swift does not feel that the starving children are of no use for the
Irish people, except for being expended of. He may state that the children of
the rich hold Ireland’s future in hand and the children of the poor. It is his
combination of feelings between the rich and impoverished which brings the
reader to see all directions to which the essay will embrace. Furthermore, this
roots to the many underlying statements, which emerge all throughout the story.

Swift clearly holds deep resentment directed to those who blame those who are
forced on bringing themselves to begging for food and wandering the streets.

Though he indifferently speaks of the needy as “dead and rotting,” Swift is
being nothing more than satirical. What better way of ending poverty and strife
in Ireland than wiping out all of the young generations, which would delete all
of the destitute generations to come. Bringing the children to an open market
would allow the wealthy citizens to purchase them for dining reasons. The skins
of the ?carcasses’ could be utilized to make gloves for the ladies. The
hardened soles of