Swift

A detailed Summary of 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

Because of the indifferent tone which Swift imposes, he was very often thoroughly analyzed, as well as judged, for his motives for writing. "A Modest Proposal" proves noteworthy of being neither modest nor even proposable to any audience, no matter how rough the times may be. This indifferent tone towards the selling of children of which Swift writes has more of an impact than that of one in which the writer might actually be profoundly troubled over such a famine. The affect that is risen by Swift's employment of a mixture of sarcasm, irony, and cynicism into his tone is one of clearity. It is his lack of expectations towards a good outcome that exalts the tone of Swift's paper to a higher level. Swift knows that the depression and bleakness of the period will take time in getting better. To the poor it will seem like an eternity; thus, giving Swift a reason to write the way in which he does.

The entire context of the story must be taken into account for the reader to have an adequate response. First off, the reader must see the conditions from which the essay is recalled. Many of the poor from this period lacked the ability to read. At the same time, Swift is aware of the fact that much of his audience is compiled of the rich and well to do. This class of people would most likely find it hard to consume the children of dirty beggars. What would the lowly beggars have done anyway if they were made to bring their children to auction, as if they were slaves or even prized meat? Most likely, as anyone else, they would have rebelled and thrown a coupe. This compilation of rhetoric and propaganda aimed to the upper class stirs an echo of an ironic portrayal of cynicism. Swift proposes this heinous portrait to bring an air of humor over the terror ongoing in Ireland through the respect of cannibalism. Very few authors of the time would venture into such shady territory; to poke fun at a dismal time such as the one Swift has seen. How can cannibalism, the eating of human flesh, be take so lightly by someone who would never revert to canni

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1385
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English