Summary: A Modest Proposal

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The genre of the prank “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift is it is a satire. The prank ironically mocks the poor individuals in general and he states that individuals who are born poor must take initiative to help themselves out of their own troubles. The satire is expressed in the the subtitle “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” (60). The sub-title indicates that the writer will provide solutions to stop poor children from being a burden on society which is aggressive.
The target audience of this prank is the wealthy and literate English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish industrialists who had inflated the Irish economy by purchasing most of the land and setting high and unaffordable prices for rent which made the Irish individuals extremely poor. This prank was written about the time the Irish were overpopulated and poor. The writer refers to his audience in paragraph 7, he states: “I am assured by our Merchants, that a Boy or Girl, before twelve years Old… (61).” In addition, the narrator specifies its target audience of the wealthy individuals who are from England as he states, “I fortunately fell upon this Proposal…and whereby we incur no Danger in disobliging England” (64). The English and Irish are known for always having social and political tensions and in this prank the narrator highlights that it’s the English capitalist who are to blame for the growth of the poverty issue in Ireland. The purpose of this prank is to enlighten the wealth Protestant Industrialists, particularly the English who are looting the Catholic Irish and forcing an increase of poverty upon Ireland’s economy. The narrator proposes a solution to this issue using satire by recommending that we buy the poor Irish children. He states in paragraph 12, “I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the Parents, seem to have the best Title to the Children (61).” Ironically, there is nothing wrong according to the author in cannibalism if it eradicates a social problem. In paragraph 14 the narrator states, “I believe no Gentleman would repine to give Ten Shillings for the Carcass of a good fat Child, which, as I have said will make four Dishes of excellent Nutritive Meat (62).” In this insert, the narrator is giving technical advice in which he affirms that it is impossible for a hungry man to not buy a child for ten shillings since it’s a great deal and it provides him with an excellent meal for four dishes. This is logos because he specifices the amount of shillings required to the wealthy industrialists to purchase the child. In paragraph one the narrator states, “their helpless infants who, as they grow up, either turn into thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native country, to fight for the Pretender of Spain, or sell themselves to the Barbadoes (60).” The narrator has the aim of making the audience feel pitiful for the poor children. He attempts to convince the audience to help the poor children or else they will simply end up living a life of crime or simply depart
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The narrator remains professional to build a sense of trust and a voice to the reader in order to understand his suggestions. Furthermore, the narrator uses verbal irony in this situation when he recommends the consumption of a young one year old child.
In paragraph 31 the narrator uses cynicism and a coldly mechanical tone when he states, “For this kind of commodity will not bear exportation, the flesh being of too tender a consistence to admit a long continuance in salt, although perhaps I could name a country which would be glad to eat up our whole nation without it (64).” The narrator admits that wealthy English individuals have the motive of simply overtaking their country. They have done so by inflating their economy to the point where the average Irish person is living on the
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Their actions have left humanity in a inhumane state. By using the idea of cannibalism, the narrator wishes to show that the merchants have turned into savage creatures without

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