"A Modest Proposal" - Swift.

Swift’s tone is calm and rational, though his words are quite unsettling, conveying a sense of melancholy to the reader; “I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child, well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food….”. Through this Swift successfully conveys his ideas showing no emotional ties to the scheme he is presenting, giving it a more calculated feel.  

Swift’s text on a whole is in its entirety, one giant metaphorical irony. The horror of his irony serves as a constant metaphor for the horror being experienced by the people of Ireland. His awful proposal is a result, an echo of sorts; of the terrible suffering of the speaker’s own fellow citizens and so Swift carefully uses his entire satire as a symbol for the atrocities already known in his country.  This is a great way to symbolize the suffering already present in his country by suggesting another way of suffering.  This symbolism explains to the reader the suffering felt by the Irish Catholics by giving a fictional equivalent.


Swift’s dehumanizing satire strives to shed light on the horrible situation of English/Irish tensions in Ireland. On a basic level Swift blames the English Protestants for their cruel and inhumane treatment of the poor Catholics, through both political and economic oppression. This is seen most clearly when Swift muses that England would be more than willing to eat the Irish even without his proposal, saying, “…I could name a country which would be glad to eat up our whole nation without it.” Yet perhaps Swift criticizes the Irish most for not recognizing the horror of their own situation, and for not taking action to remedy the problem. The very fact that such an immodest proposal can be made and given with such seriousness proves that all peoples involved have lost even the thinnest shred of human decency and respect. On a larger lever, Swift successfully shows the brutality of man as a whole. A Modest Proposal goes well beyond the limits of Europe, shedding a sickening light on all humanity and the way in which we treat each other. Perhaps this is what makes the text effective, turning man into a commodity, it gives the text a shocking factor, which immediately makes the text a serious piece, giving Swift the ability to have his text taken seriously and conveying his message without it being dismissed lightly.

Overall I believe that Swift presents his ideas in a drastic but necessary way and it is this extremism, which makes this piece successful. In his introduction, Swift explains the reason for his proposal: “for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden to their parents or country; and for making them beneficial to the public.” Swift gives examples of the situation at that time, allowing people to see the reality of the Irish problem; “It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town, or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin-doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms.” Swift then shocks the reader by introducing his scheme giving him the ability to have his piece taken seriously due to the severity of what is proposed and to echo the existing problem of the Irish. Swift then goes on to explain the bonuses of such a scheme; “But my intention is very far from being confined to provide only for the children of professed beggars; it is of a much greater extent….” Then Swift goes on to make appalling calculations, proving that ‘A Modest Proposal’ was not just a single thought made to question the morality of the English protestants; “…I calculate there may be about two hundred thousand couple whose wives are breeders… “, “Infants’ flesh will be in season throughout the year….” “I compute that Dublin would take off annually about twenty thousand carcasses….”.  The main point to Swift’s piece is the seriousness of his plan that was proposed which shows the problem of the Irish was very serious indeed. Swift goes on to say that the situation is so terrible that Swift may find no objection to such an awful proposal from the public; which is quoted from the line, “I can think of no one objection that will possibly be raised against this proposal….”.  This is why due to Swift’s use of evidence and his calculations this is a very alarming yet effective text in its purpose.