Response To A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift Essay...

Desperate times often call for desperate measures, and proposals of desperate measures are often met with swift criticism if they are found to be without rational thought and merit. It is unlikely that anyone in their right mind would consider, for any amount of time, the proposal of rearing children, or properly raising them, as food to help alleviate poverty-stricken Ireland in 1729. Yet, Jonathan Swift’s suggestion was satirical brilliance, and it was a modest proposal for illuminating the cause of Ireland’s woes. The proposal was not actually eating children but placing a mirror for the reader to reflect upon. The target audience of landlords, gentlemen, and other people of stature were more than accustomed to stepping on the poor on†¦show more content†¦In extreme circumstances, it is frowned upon, but in lesser degrees, it is accepted as part of the cost of doing business. Profit margins are continuously rewarded, while countries that have abysmal human r ight records are producing goods for countries that ban such practices. Just recently, a company that produces touch screens for electronic devices, which are made for a company that uses a logo not comparable to an orange, was punished for using a banned chemical to clean the products. Nearly a month later, the company is still using it and as a result, one employee has died from exposure and others have shown adverse effects. Turning the clock back nearly 300 years, we find similar circumstances for Ireland, having tariffs placed on products sold to England. Higher costs mean lower margins and less importance placed on the conditions in which the products are made to help the profit margin. The desperate have to keep their jobs to pay exorbitant rent to absentee landlords, and greedy rulers. So what’s new? Why can we not seem to break this cycle? Swift’s proposal attempted to do so with the same logic and motivation that he considered to be the cause of the melanchol y that could be observed traveling through Ireland. He aims his observations and remarks as sympathetic for the people, but more importantly empathetic because, as a prosperous traveler, one does not want to see such things whileShow MoreRelatedHardship in Ireland in A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift850 Words   |  4 Pages In Jonathan Swift’s â€Å"A Modest Proposal† written in 1729, he writes of the hardships faced by the lower class and proposes a solution to help it out. Living in Ireland, Swift witnessed many hardships suffered among the poor, such as stealing and begging. However, not too far away, the British royalty was living a lavish lifestyle, and by doing so, it was sucking the life out of the poor. Jonathan Swift saw this enormous unbalance of wealth and wanted to do something about it. Therefore, in his articleRead MoreThe Satirical Nature of Jonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal Essay example662 Words   |  3 Pages A Modest Proposal The satirical essay â€Å"A Modest Proposal† written and published in in 1729 by an Anglo- Irish man named Jonathan Swift, in response to the worsening conditions of Ireland, was one of his most controversial and severe writings of his time. The narrator in Swift’s essay â€Å"A Modest Proposal† argues for a drastic and radical end to poverty in Ireland. Swift’s proposal suggests that the needy, poor people of Ireland can ease their troubles simply by selling their children as food toRead More Self Representation and the Self-Defeating Speaker in Jonathan Swift1735 Words   |  7 PagesBecause Swift constructs a speaker who is meant to be seen as himself in â€Å"Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift, D.S.P.D.†, his approach to the satire changes, taking on a more playful approach. The poem is more personal than political, and is more comedic in the sense that he satirizing himself as well as other people groups. The self-defeating rhetorical approach is embodied in this poem in the way that he puts himself down and exposes his own follies throughout the poem. While this is no doubt somewhatRead MoreAnalysis Of Jonathan Swift s The Revolutionary War 1583 Words   |  7 PagesHannah Rice Schmidt – 1 Research Paper 23 September 2014 Jonathan Swift The Revolutionary War is one, if not the most memorable time of American history. It is what started the beginning of the land of the free. The colonization and tyranny of England was not just felt in the thirteen colonies that became America but also in places such as Ireland. Authors such as Jonathan Swift not only acted as literary geniuses but as a way for modern day historians to see the effects of colonization and the hardshipsRead MoreA Modest Proposal For Preventing The Children Of Poor People1458 Words   |  6 Pagesfor utilizing satire in his works of literature is Jonathan Swift, whose hard-hitting essay â€Å"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† is one of the most popular and analyzed texts within the world of satire, and truly makes one think about the art. One article that explores Swift’s use of satire within â€Å"A Modes t Proposal† is Paddy Bullord’s â€Å"The Scriblerian Mock-Arts† ThisRead MoreA Modest Proposal: Jonathan Swifts Political Statement About Conditions of Life in 17291077 Words   |  5 Pages A Modest Proposal† a Political Statement Mouth-watering, scrumptious, and delicious are a few words that come to mind when you think of Jonathan Swift’s â€Å"A Modest Proposal.† His satire on the conditions of life in 1729 was to draw its readers to serious discussion on the distressing matters that plagued their society. His extreme and sarcastic response to the treatment of the ever-growing poor population of Irish families, by the rich English landowners, was to bring to light a matter that theyRead MoreA Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift813 Words   |  4 PagesJonathan Swift, author of the satirical piece â€Å"A Modest Proposal,† organized an outrageous proposal to the people of Ireland. In this pamphlet, Swift offered his personal views on how to overcome Ireland’s issue of overpopulation and poverty. By raising nationwide attention, Swift plan to shock the readers by emphasizing the idea of cannibalism as a way to deal with Ireland’s problems. Swift’s technique of audience , tone, and pathos help determine the advantages and disadvantages of â€Å"A Model Proposal†Read MoreA Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift1340 Words   |  6 PagesA Modest Proposal was written in the year 1729 by the famous satirist Jonathan Swift. In his work he outlines the pros of eating unwanted children of Ireland for economical benefits in a time of great poverty. While the reader can obviously discard the idea of eating children, in his proposal, in a roundabout way, Swift speaks to hard pressing issues of the time. The state of Ireland is well described by Swift in this piece. He speaks of woman who â€Å"instead of being able to work for their honestRead MoreA Modest Proposal On Satire1239 Words   |  5 Pagestheme, antagonistically; distortion is utilized to bring down the effect of an issue to its lesser quality. Aggregately, these procedures are practiced to draw out the human follies and vices in society. In Molià ¨re s Tartuffe and Jonathan Swift s article A Modest Proposal, both diagonally condemn and criticize human conduct and the discernment we have towards others. Through a comedian conveyance, these creators offer an understanding past the apparently self-evident, and expect to enhance this flawedRead MoreSimilarities between Martin Luther Kings Letter from Birmingham Jail and Jonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal1358 Words   |  6 Pages Even the most cursory analysis of Letter From Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr. and A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift reveals gl aring differences between the two essays. Surprisingly, a side-by-side comparison also yields many similarities between the two works. The most obvious similarity between the two essays is the overarching theme of the subject matter. In both essays, the writers address deeply-entrenched social injustices. For example, in Letter From Birmingham Jail