A Modest Proposal By James Swift

When people gather in groups, leaders rise, taboos form, and malcontents grumble. The traditions and mores of a society become controls of the ruling class, manipulated to better serve the needs of the powerful in maintaining power. However, with the invention of the printing press and an increased literacy of the common man, information moved from the hands of the church and the noble elite to the common man. The late 17th century, ushered in the Age of Reason a period of intellectual growth, and according to Martin Rowson, "spawned a mushrooming of public satire... Which ran like a sewer beneath the Enlightenment"(153). Traveling beyond the confines of the local circle, printed materials, exposing shared sentiments and contempt for the excesses of society, emerged in the verse and prose of writers such as Jonathan Swift. Swift published a satirical commentary later named Gulliver 's Travels, in which the Englishman Gulliver discovers several cultures that represent a caricature of English social traits. The first of the cultures encountered by Gulliver is the diminutive people of Lilliput. The people of Lilliput suffer under the strain of a cultural conflict involving the proper opening of eggs. This disagreement creates civil unrest between two factions and enmity with a neighboring kingdom. Using Lilliput 's division and foreign conflict, Swift satirizes the religious conflict of the Catholics and Protestant factions in England. Gulliver learns that the unresolved egg opening issue has caused six revolutions and even cost an emperor his life (Swift 2511-2512). Swift 's description of the political unrest and comically absurd egg controversy presents a comment against the corruption of Walpole 's government and the general moral atmosphere at the time (Tuveson 6). Continuing the assault on the ridiculousness of petty government officials, Gulliver discovers a plot against him. Jealous political leaders of Lilliput and an angered Queen plan to falsely accuse Gulliver of treason in order to kill him. Gulliver warned by a friend learns of the treachery of his diminutive host and escapes by fleeing Lilliput (Swift 2526-2527). Gulliver 's next adventure leaves him in the company of the giants of Brobdingnag. Once again, Gulliver finds …show more content…
He also wrote A Modest Proposal, both an indictment against the casual contempt of the plight of Irish and a reasonable suggestion to help the Irish 's economic distress. A Modest Proposal seems to endorse the use of Irish babies as a food source for wealthy citizens, in order to eliminate the burden of additional children in poor households and improve the economic status of low income families (Swift 2634-2637). The essay appears at a casual glance to be the monstrous proposal of a sadistic man unconcerned with the suffering of the famine stricken Irish population; however, Swift 's intent reveals itself as a plea for reforms relieving the economic stress of lower class citizens. Swift 's proposal advises the restriction of imports and increasing production in the country (Swift 2633-2639).
Mistaken for a misanthrope, Swift works toward an enlightened future. In Gulliver 's Travels, Swift intent is not a misanthropic attack against human society: instead, Swift seeks to present the vulgarity of extremes and advocate temperance society (Mack 113). His work demands the attention of the reader, and forces reflection on commonly accepted beliefs. Using clever allusions and overt disregard for injustice Swift uses the power of print to offend and through offense challenge the corruption and vanity of his