Jonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal - 949 Words

â€Å"A Modest Proposal† by Jonathan Swift takes place in Dublin Ireland in the 18th century. The narrator is a very ironic character. His â€Å"modest† proposal is anything but modest. This short story takes place during a famine. Since there was a famine, Swift proposes the idea that people sell their one year old children to the rich so they would not be a burden to their family. One important way in which the author engages the audience’s attention and tries to help his readers see deeper political, moral, and social truths and problems is through his use of irony. â€Å"A Modest Proposal† is a satire that is aimed at helping Swift’s contemporary readers to recognize how cold and calculating blunt rationalism is when used to address social†¦show more content†¦(Samar Nattagh â€Å"A Modest Proposal and the Irish potato famine†) Swift talks about walking through the street and as you are walking kids are pouring out of the woodwork. The children are everywhere. â€Å"They are packed in the roads and peering out of cabins† (Shmoop Editorial Team â€Å"A Modest Proposal Analysis†). Many Irish could not find jobs to support their children; therefore they spent all their time walking the streets to beg from others. The children grew up to be thieves. Every year there were several hundred thousand babies born including about 120,000 who had to be supported by poor parents (Cummings â€Å"A Modest Proposal Study Guide†). Symbolism is used throughout this short story. The narrator suggests that children be used as food. The English were not cannibals. The use of children as a symbol of food represents them being something of value. The narrator thinks the children are in a cycle of poverty where the parents are poor and therefore the children are poor and useless. â€Å"His only offering is that the children be put to use. Shockingly, the â€Å"use† these children are designated for is food†¦yes, that means that they would be eaten† (Smith â€Å"Irony and Social Critique in â€Å"A Modest Proposal†). Children are not to be treated as objects just like the poor are not lesser people. Swift’s story suggests that if the children were eaten the population and poverty problems would be solved (Smith â€Å"Irony and Social Critique in â€Å"A Modest Proposal†).Show MoreRelatedJonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal844 Words   |  4 Pagesprepared for Ms. Harveys Engl ish 1101 Class A Simple Solution Jonathan Swift’s â€Å"A Modest Proposal† is centered in Ireland in 1729. Swift describes his plan to reduce the amount of homelessness, poverty, and malnutrition. He begins by describing constantly seeing women with four or five children begging for food. Swift suggests plumping up the young children before selling them to the wealthy of Ireland for consumption. Dr. Jonathan Swift’s proposal not only potentially creates more problems than it solvesRead More Jonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal Essay1150 Words   |  5 PagesJonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal Swift was said to â€Å"declare at one stage in his life: ‘I am not of this vile country (Ireland), I am an Englishman’† (Hertford website). In his satire â€Å"A Modest Proposal,† he illustrates his dislike not only for the Irish, but for the English, organized religions, rich, greedy landlords, and people of power. It is obvious that Swift dislikes these people, but the reader must explore from where his loathing for the groups of people stems. I believe Swift notRead MoreIrony in Jonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal1101 Words   |  5 Pagesthe tome is usually kept serious and Irony and satire are widely used in such writings. On the other hand while describing the recent developments in genetic engineering, the tone would be objective and humor or satire would be ineffective here. Jonathan Swift was famous for his sarcastic remarks on the government of his days and his works are full of satire and irony which appear to be humorous but carry a sharp edge which make them effective for expressing political ideas. â€Å"Irony refers eitherRead More Jonathan Swifts Essay, A Modest Proposal659 Words   |  3 PagesJonathan Swifts Essay, A Modest Proposal Jonathan Swift in his essay, A Modest Proposal suggests a unique solution to the problem concerning poor children in Ireland. Swift uses several analytical techniques like statistics, induction, and testimony to persuade his readers. His idea is admirable because he suggests that instead of putting money into the problem, one can make money from the problem. However, his proposal is inhumane. Swift wrote his proposal for those that were tired ofRead MoreEssay on Jonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal1391 Words   |  6 Pages In Jonathan Swift’s essay, â€Å"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 andRead More Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal Essay459 Words   |  2 PagesJonathan Swift’s â€Å"A Modest Proposal†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Jonathan Swift’s â€Å"A Modest Proposal,† published in 1729, Swift engages in an extraordinary amount of irony and satire. Swift states that in order to reduce famine in Ireland and to solve the problems that they are having that eating children would be a good solution. This is not the purpose of Swift’s essay. The real intent was to get the people of Britain to notice that the ideas that they were coming up with were not any better than his satiricalRead MoreAnalysis Of Jonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal998 Words   |  4 Pagesbest way to eliminate the social issues that are influencing it.Swift starts by taunting and blaming the moms of the children by saying that if they are capable of finding work they should instead of asking for money. Swift, wrote the essay,A Modest Proposal as a sarcastic approach to show people that they are not showing any interest or even coming up with working plans to decrease these social problems, for exa mple, fetus removal, overpopulation, and poorness. Through his terribly twisted ideaRead MoreSummary Of Jonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal918 Words   |  4 PagesIrish. One of these people was a man named Jonathan Swift. In his essay â€Å"A Modest Proposal† Swift challenges the status quo of the time and place in which it was written by proposing that they eat the children of the poor, ending the hate between the Protestants and the Catholics, and suggesting that the landowners have mercy towards their tenants. In his essay, Swift first suggests that the population of Ireland eat the children of the poor. This proposal would shock anyone, but it was definitelyRead MoreAnalysis of Jonathan Swifts Essay A Modest Proposal903 Words   |  4 PagesJonathan Swifts 1729 essay A Modest Proposal deals with societal issues contemporary to him and is meant to provide harsh criticism in regard to values promoted by society at the time. The author uses this essay with the purpose of suggesting that he found the solution to financial problems experienced by the Irish during the era. By advising these people to sell their people to wealthy individuals in England, he intends to satirize society by emphasizing the cruel attitudes generally expressedRead MoreJonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal And The Daily Show1139 Words   |  5 Pagesgrievances and wait for slow and often ineffective changes to take place. However, in the eighteenth century Jonathan Swift broke societys norms through his highly disturbing and shocking satirical piece A Modest Proposal. Swift proposes to the English Protestants a cannibal solution for the Irish Catholic children who are dying of starvation and diseases on the streets each day. Swift’s far from â€Å"modest† solution paved the way for modern day satirical outlets like The Daily Show. In a time where news commentators