Analysis of Swift’s Modest

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At the beginning of the Modest Proposal, Swifts satirizes on the problem of the poor and over-population in Ireland and pledges for the English people to pay attention to it (Sayre, 2012). However, further discussion focuses on the Kingdom of Ireland at the end of the discussion, particularly on the governmental policies that lead to poverty and destruction of the country.

Hence, on the one hand, the author blames England for deplorable situation in the country. On the other hand, the Irish government is also to blame for inappropriate taxation policies and unequal distribution of resources among the population. Although these two solutions are opposite, they do not exclude each other; rather, a two-fold approach to solving a problem could significantly improve the situation with poor children in Ireland.

Swifts makes use of satirical devices to support his thesis; he also enumerates various preparation styles and financial benefits of selling children to wealthy people. The author appeals to the authorities and discusses the pandemic of plight in Ireland.

By using the methods of sustained irony, the reader could be shocked by the surprised proposal of Shift, particularly when he offers, a young health child well nursed, is at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricasie, or a ragoust (Swift, 1729, n. p.).

Thus, it is often difficult for the readers to immediately realize that the proposal should not be taken seriously because it is just Swift’s attempt to pay the governmental and public attention to the problem of poverty and over-population in Ireland.

The satirical style of the essay is recognized only after the allusion is introduced in Swift’s (1729) discussion of landlords, which is presented as follows:”I grant this food may be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for Landlords, who…to have the best Title to Children” (n. p.).

In such a way, Swift criticizes the English government for inappropriate treatment of Ireland, by stating that Irish children are often considered a commodity that could be exploited.

The main idea of Swift’s argument does not premise on the detrimental conditions in Ireland; rather, it primarily focuses on the inconsistency of reforms and schemes that the government invented to improve social and economic welfare of the country.

Additionally, Swift expresses indignation about the projects that sought to fix population in Ireland, as well as consider labor issues. In response to the development of industrial solutions, the Modest Proposal is represented as “a burlesque of projects concerning the poor”, that were popular at the beginning of eighteen century (Swift, 1729, n. p.).

Additionally, the proposal aims to evaluate the way people treat the poor while developing their reforms and strategies.

Due to the fact that the Swift’s paper focuses on the reformers who consider humans as commodities, the main criticism refers to the failure of authorities to solve this problem rationally and efficiently. The author also demonstrates the absurdist nature of the reforms and projects introduced by the authorities, which is regarded as “technique of a political arithmetician” (Swift, 1729, n. p.).

The discrepancies at the beginning and at the end of the proposal are logically explained because Swift criticizes both the Irish politicians and the English government that is responsible for the destruction of the Irish population suffering from diseases and poverty.

The misery of the populace is on the edge and, in response to the problem, Swifts debates on incompetence and negligence of the authorities in dealing with the economic and social challenges. Swift’s pamphleteering was a popular trend during this historical period because it successfully reflects on the despair and mistreatment of the poor, as well as on inefficiency of the Irish political forces to settle the problem.

According to Swift (1729), reliance on economic utilitarianism is a false attempt of political reformers to change the situation Ireland because humanitarian concerns should approached in a multidimensional way. Hence, the author forwards a negative message concerning the morally inappropriate solutions toward the poor and densely populated regions in Ireland.

At this point, the essay discusses a series of surprising positions that shock the audience and provokes the negative reaction toward the policies of the Irish and English governments. At his point, the surprise extract seems to have the necessary impact on the readers.

In conclusion, Swift’s Modest proposal provides an interesting and provoking discussion of the problem of poverty and plight in the Irish regions. Specifically, the author presents an ironic view on the government’s policy and public reaction to the deplorable situations and offers a shocking solution of selling children to the wealth people as commodities.

While deliberating on his project, the author develops contradicting assumption concern the measures to be taken to prevent over-population. On the one hand, Swift blames the English government for the negligent attitude of Irish people. On the other hand, he expands on the Irish politicians who fail to provide viable decisions. One way or another, the surprise reading seems to have a considerable effect on the readers.

References

Sayre, H. M. (2012). The Humanities: Culture, continuity and change. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Swift, J. (1729). 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. The Victorian Web. Web.

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Analysis of Swift’s Modest

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