Jonathon Swift: A Modest Proposal
Jonathon Swift: A Modest Proposal
Jonathon Swift’s A Modest Proposal is a parody on the economic situation of the society in which he attempts to “find out a fair, cheap and easy method” (Swift) for the children in poverty to be put to good use for good of Ireland. This is seen right away in the full title of the pamphlet, “A Modern Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burden to their Parents, or the County, and for Making them Beneficial to the Publick.” The reader begins to realize that Swift does not actually wish to implement these ideas of a baby being “a most delicious nourishing, and wholesome food” (Swift) once this extreme idea is proposed. Through this extreme proposal of cannibalism and breeding children to solve poverty and overpopulation, he makes the reader vulnerable while also eager to find out more. As entertaining as this text is, it is more than just a comic. Swift wishes to relay a much deeper meaning to the reader. In Robert Phiddian’s article, Have You Eaten Yet., Phiddian recognizes “the moral-political argument being carried out by means of parody.” (Phiddian) The moral issue, here, is poverty and the political issue is population, yet rarely do these issues remain as clear and separate as intended.
While Swift initially makes the reader chuckle several times throughout the text, he is venting about the societal ills that go unnoticed daily. He is aggravated by the hypocrisy of the wealthy trying to help the poor by coming up with such outlandish ideas that they think will supposedly solve poverty. Poverty is inevitable in a free market therefore with the money that the poor would receive “may be liable to distress and help pay their Landlord’s rent.” (Swift) Swift wants the reader to realize that no matter how great the ideas of the wealthy are, their motivation is to make a buck from these plans that they devise in their parlors over a cup of tea. “There is nothing higher than selfish greed within the
Jonathon Swift’s A Modest Proposal is a parody on the economic situation of the society in which he attempts to “find out a fair, cheap and easy method” (Swift) for the children in poverty to be put to good use for good of Ireland. This is seen right away in the full title of the pamphlet, “A Modern Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burden to their Parents, or the County, and for Making them Beneficial to the Publick.” The reader begins to realize that Swift does not actually wish to implement these ideas of a baby being “a most delicious nourishing, and wholesome food” (Swift) once this extreme idea is proposed. Through this extreme proposal of cannibalism and breeding children to solve poverty and overpopulation, he makes the reader vulnerable while also eager to find out more. As entertaining as this text is, it is more than just a comic. Swift wishes to relay a much deeper meaning to the reader. In Robert Phiddian’s article, Have You Eaten Yet., Phiddian recognizes “the moral-political argument being carried out by means of parody.” (Phiddian) The moral issue, here, is poverty and the political issue is population, yet rarely do these issues remain as clear and separate as intended.
While Swift initially makes the reader chuckle several times throughout the text, he is venting about the societal ills that go unnoticed daily. He is aggravated by the hypocrisy of the wealthy trying to help the poor by coming up with such outlandish ideas that they think will supposedly solve poverty. Poverty is inevitable in a free market therefore with the money that the poor would receive “may be liable to distress and help pay their Landlord’s rent.” (Swift) Swift wants the reader to realize that no matter how great the ideas of the wealthy are, their motivation is to make a buck from these plans that they devise in their parlors over a cup of tea. “There is nothing higher than selfish greed within the