Children as a source of food? Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” doesn't fall shy from this brazen idea. “A Modest Proposal” is a satirical piece in which Swift vents his irritation of Irish and English Politics and the treatment the Irish citizens received from England. Swift’s irritation doesn’t stop at England’s ruling, he criticizes the Irish settling for exploitation, discrimination and their inability to muster out of the situation. Swift chew’s over these ideas in such a satirical manner, it leaves the audience truly wondering if the man is insane or just has a cruel sense of humor. Swift’s use of both obscenity and vividness further exaggerate and express his feelings concerning the conflict between England and Ireland. Children
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It is Swift’s vivid detail in his writing that has the audience question his character and then question their own for continuing the read. Swift constantly goes into detail and analysis regarding his ideas to use children as a resource for food and clothing “ 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,” Swift’s details regarding the cost of each child and the amount of plates one child could be served on, is more detail than anyone would want to truly know. His detailing is so animated it causes the audience to either be shocked or to begin to pick up the “humor”. His terms and language are used in hopes to help the Irish realize the poor treatment they received from the English people. Throughout the entire paper he breaks his ideas into vivid detail, infact all of paragraph 25 is the concern of how to ensure the child is fat enough to feed on. His use of words paint a terrible picture for the audience, he uses terms one might use regarding an animal. This is of course the whole point of his use of vividness, it allows the audience to pick up on the fact that his proposal is starting to sound a lot like the way animals are
It is Swift’s vivid detail in his writing that has the audience question his character and then question their own for continuing the read. Swift constantly goes into detail and analysis regarding his ideas to use children as a resource for food and clothing “ 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,” Swift’s details regarding the cost of each child and the amount of plates one child could be served on, is more detail than anyone would want to truly know. His detailing is so animated it causes the audience to either be shocked or to begin to pick up the “humor”. His terms and language are used in hopes to help the Irish realize the poor treatment they received from the English people. Throughout the entire paper he breaks his ideas into vivid detail, infact all of paragraph 25 is the concern of how to ensure the child is fat enough to feed on. His use of words paint a terrible picture for the audience, he uses terms one might use regarding an animal. This is of course the whole point of his use of vividness, it allows the audience to pick up on the fact that his proposal is starting to sound a lot like the way animals are