A Modest Proposal essay
Jonathan Swift (1667 – 1745) is widely known as popular Irish writer, mostly by his satires, political pamphlets, and essays. This political activist is mostly famous for his prose satire and less for his poetry. Among Swift’s literature heritage, we can remind “A Journal to Stella”, “Drapier’s Letters”, “The Battle of the Books”, “An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity”, “A Tale of a Tub”, and the most memorable “Gulliver’s travels”. However, there is one more interesting work that is worth of readers’ attention. In this paper, we’ll try to analyze his “A Modest Proposal”, by outlining its main argument and examining the core used writing techniques.
Jonathan Swift’s “A modest proposal” is created in a form of a standard essay that addresses several points of social-economic relations in Ireland of 18th century. However, this work is hard to be called a usual one. The point is based on the uniqueness of writer’s satiric narration. Let’s remind that analyzed work is subtitled as “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 public”, and its addresses the issue of cheap and effective method of fighting against poverty by selling and killing children of “female sex beggars”. Being cruel in his story, the author should not be understood directly, as “A modest Proposal” belongs to the genre of political satire. Eventually, the successful use of irony and sarcasm to criticize and show the ignorance of politics makes analyzed Swift’s essay a worthwhile literature work even today.
The main argument of Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” devoted to dreadful Ireland’s economic position of that time. Being a Protestant Patriot, the writer could not be reconciled with a taxes, social, economic, and cruel politic burden imposed by England to Ireland. In a satiric manner Jonathan Swift expresses his idea in next words: “I desire the reader will observe, that I calculated my remedy for this one individual Kingdom of Ireland, and for no other that ever was, is, or, I think, ever can be upon earth. Therefore let no man talk to me of other expedients: Of taxing our absentees at five shillings a pound: Of using neither clothes, nor household furniture, except what is our own growth and manufacture:…” (Swift). Indirectly, the author makes emphasizes on irrationality and cruelty of policy Irish people had to suffer. Supposedly, by picking appropriate style and content of his essay, Jonathan Swift indirectly speaks from the side of England’s government, which was troubled with the Irish tragedies only from the perspective of own wellness. This idea can be supported by the used in text techniques.
The first of them is style of writing. In “A Modest Proposal” Jonathan Swift has used systematic, one sided, and in emotionally poor style of writing. Franz Fleckenstein even outlines the words, which describe the style of narration in already mentioned manner – stewed, baked or boiled, bastard, roasted, devoured, carcass (Fleckenstein, p.2). In addition, we should make references to calm tone of his essay, with a significant lack of pathos. Moreover, we also should not leave unmentioned delicate language and wording in his work. All these features in common allow us to compare his narration to some kind of authority’s official request, as we used to know it from politics. At second, Jonathan Swift has endowed his prose with a considerable sense of people’s segregation to upper and lower classes. In fact, the author used different techniques to take each of these two sides in text. As a representative of an upper class, the narrator expresses coolness and indifference speaking about cruel measures that will hardly affect him. At the same time, he shows pretty high level of disgusting vulgarity in his attitude towards beggars and their children. This idea is mostly brought by detailed analysis of “children cooking” tips: “Dress them hot from the knife as we do roasting pigs” (Swift). While taking appropriate side of an upper class, Swift sounds extremely persuasive, as his idea is full of evidences, logos, and supports to prove his reasonability. One by one he states at least six benefits of his proposal, and summs them up with next strong phrase full of satire: “But as to myself, having been wearied out for many years with offering vain, idle, visionary thoughts, and at length utterly despairing of success, I fortunately fell upon this proposal, which as it is wholly new, so it hath something solid and real, of no expense and little trouble, full in our own power, and whereby we can incur no danger in disobliging England” (Swift). In this way, the writer draws analogues between his words and policy that was carried out in frustrated Ireland of that times. The author takes the side of oppressors to share this idea. On the other hand, we are also able to see that writer addresses the second side of a coin. The most significant quote about this part looks in next way: “I profess, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work” (Swift). To add, the sense of condemnation and sympathy to poor people of Ireland, Jonathan Swift also uses direct sarcasm. In this order, we may remind his “very knowing American”, “landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children”, etc .. In this way, he ridicules ignorance and meanness of those who try to look honorable in their effort to get profit from oppressing weak, with faked aim of common wellness.
Making the conclusions, we have to state that Jonathan Swift’s techniques are incredibly efficient to support his arguments. In pretty unusual and unique manner he did a great job to enlighten the desperateness he seeks to struggle with. Herbert Davis in his “Satire of Jonathan Swift” claims that analyzed essay between incredibly useful to share the sense of disgust, which was predominant for that times of Ireland history (Davis, p.67). This disgust is felt by the readers with list of repulsive barriers that they have to meet from page to page. In this aspect, we can explain so detailed Swift’s narration about “children cooking” details, what is often mentioned in critical manner by the way. Frankly, Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” aimed to expose ignorance and cruelty. Seemingly, no one will argue that appropriate goal was successfully achieved.
