Intro
A Modest Proposal was written by Jonathan Swift in 1729. The “proposal” begins by dwelling in the poor and sad lives of the lower class Irish who tend to spend all their time working to feed their large families that seem to continuously grow. As a solution to the problem, which seems to be more than poverty but the attitudes that families have toward one another but also the abuse of power and greed from the upper class. Those higher up in society seem to only watch in disgust from a safe distance even though there are many solutions that lie in their hands. But these families have not much of a choice to live these sad lives and continue to bear children that never see any real affection. Behold Swift ha a brilliant idea to not just …show more content…
He claims that if the children are sold into a meat market as early as year one, giving the poor a decent amount of income, while not having to worry about feeding and raising and clothing so many children could raise a fair amount of money and profit. Thousands of children can be used for dinner purposes and with so much fertility the means to reproduce and raise the children as livestock will always be an accessible way to fork in more income. This in time fixes the income and employment problem and children may even get treated like they are worth something! A Modest Proposal then explains that the practice of raising and selling children will have more positive effects on family morality. Husbands may treat their wives with more respect, and parents will value their children in ways that aren’t currently comprehended. He claims his proposal will, if followed through, do more to solve Ireland's problems than any other plans that have yet to be proposed. Swift then goes on to give realistic and more acceptable ways to fix the problems or ease them. The ideas brought forth after the proposal seem more “appetizing” than the proposal itself. Swift was very religious and throughout the proposal didn’t just point fingers at the upper class and religious but the poor …show more content…
That solution of course is to raise children, basically as livestock. At some points he goes as far as to just straight out talk about using infants as the food source. In time selling the infants or children to the meat market would raise revenue, create jobs and create a decent, constant food source. The idea is that mothers will treat the children a lot better now that infants and children have monetary value. Which of course is not, in the eyes today’s society, seen as morally right. As the proposal is drawn out it seems to become more and more severe, some may say disgusting. Swift points out how harshly families treat one another, he argues that the church and those religious just sit back and allow the horrible problems to stir instead of stepping forward and helping fix the problem. Maybe the problem is that religion isn’t prominent enough in the lives of the poor or even the rich, then onto the rich, who sit back and flourish all the while looking down on the poor villages and not moving to help make the country better. Why care for them when you are perfectly fat and content? Instead the rich and upper class abuse their status and power. Which of course only adds to the problem rather than fix it. Towards the end of the proposal is where Swift puts forth his real solution for Ireland’s problem. He gives multiple, very realistic, solutions to
A Modest Proposal was written by Jonathan Swift in 1729. The “proposal” begins by dwelling in the poor and sad lives of the lower class Irish who tend to spend all their time working to feed their large families that seem to continuously grow. As a solution to the problem, which seems to be more than poverty but the attitudes that families have toward one another but also the abuse of power and greed from the upper class. Those higher up in society seem to only watch in disgust from a safe distance even though there are many solutions that lie in their hands. But these families have not much of a choice to live these sad lives and continue to bear children that never see any real affection. Behold Swift ha a brilliant idea to not just …show more content…
He claims that if the children are sold into a meat market as early as year one, giving the poor a decent amount of income, while not having to worry about feeding and raising and clothing so many children could raise a fair amount of money and profit. Thousands of children can be used for dinner purposes and with so much fertility the means to reproduce and raise the children as livestock will always be an accessible way to fork in more income. This in time fixes the income and employment problem and children may even get treated like they are worth something! A Modest Proposal then explains that the practice of raising and selling children will have more positive effects on family morality. Husbands may treat their wives with more respect, and parents will value their children in ways that aren’t currently comprehended. He claims his proposal will, if followed through, do more to solve Ireland's problems than any other plans that have yet to be proposed. Swift then goes on to give realistic and more acceptable ways to fix the problems or ease them. The ideas brought forth after the proposal seem more “appetizing” than the proposal itself. Swift was very religious and throughout the proposal didn’t just point fingers at the upper class and religious but the poor …show more content…
That solution of course is to raise children, basically as livestock. At some points he goes as far as to just straight out talk about using infants as the food source. In time selling the infants or children to the meat market would raise revenue, create jobs and create a decent, constant food source. The idea is that mothers will treat the children a lot better now that infants and children have monetary value. Which of course is not, in the eyes today’s society, seen as morally right. As the proposal is drawn out it seems to become more and more severe, some may say disgusting. Swift points out how harshly families treat one another, he argues that the church and those religious just sit back and allow the horrible problems to stir instead of stepping forward and helping fix the problem. Maybe the problem is that religion isn’t prominent enough in the lives of the poor or even the rich, then onto the rich, who sit back and flourish all the while looking down on the poor villages and not moving to help make the country better. Why care for them when you are perfectly fat and content? Instead the rich and upper class abuse their status and power. Which of course only adds to the problem rather than fix it. Towards the end of the proposal is where Swift puts forth his real solution for Ireland’s problem. He gives multiple, very realistic, solutions to