Poverty In A Modest Proposal

In the essay A Modest Proposal, by Jonathan Swift written in 1729, a proposal is demonstrated by Jonathan for preventing the children of unfinancially stable people in ireland from being a burden to their parents or country, and making them beneficial to the public. As sarcastic and unproportionately disturbing his suggestions are, poverty had a key role into the written essay proving exaggerated solutions to add humor and his own personality to grab attention from readers so they can address the issue. The same problem of poverty in the setting of ireland is additionally seen in the novel Angela’s Ashes, by Frank Mccourt. The memoir told by frank himself, is a child telling his life as a poor kid in ireland during the great depression. As …show more content…
An example of this tone of the narrator is, “But my intention is very far from being confined to provide only for the children of professed beggars” (Swift 1). Jonathan is technically saying if beggars and people who are not making money already are burdens in society what good are the children? He also says, “I think it is agreed by all parties, that this prodigious number of children in the arms, or on the backs, or at the heels of their mothers, and frequently of their fathers, is in the present deplorable state of the kingdom, a very great additional grievance”(Swift 1). As cruel as Jonathan is being towards the children of ireland, his tone is ironic and sarcastic and he does not really mean what he is saying. He is exaggerating to prove his point of too many poor children without parents who can financially support them. From the memoir, Angela’s Ashes, Frank says “When I look back on my childhood i wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while” (Mccourt 11). Similar to Jonathan’s tone in the essay, Frank was being sarcastic and blunt about having a miserable childhood, but yet still relates to poverty of the children in Ireland. The contrast in seen in the fact that throughout the memoir, Frank’s tone is more neutral about his …show more content…
A great example from the memoir is, “We wait across the street. Mam lets me sit on the sidewalk with my back against the wall. She gives the twins their bottles of water and sugar but Malachy and I have to wait till she gets money from Dad and we can go to the Italian for tea and bread and eggs” (Mccourt 124). Frank is showing extreme signs of poverty in his childhood, and helps the readers envision his life. In addition Frankie says, “Mam says she'd like to have a nice Christmas dinner but what can you do when the Labour Exchange reduces the dole to sixteen shillings after Oliver and Eugene died? You pay the rent of six shillings, you have ten shillings left, and what use is that to four people? (Mccourt 319). Not only is Frankie suffering from being hungry but their family is extremely poor can not have a proper Christmas. Mccourt is setting images for the audience also, seen as well in the essay by Swift. A gruesome image from swift says, "Infant’s flesh will be in season throughout the year” (Swift 3). His proposal of eating children puts a strong image into readers heads and is sarcastically disturbing to let readers see that Ireland is poor and will eating children be the last resort to make the situation better. As dinner mentioned in the memoir by Frankie, the essay relates saying, “Give ten shillings for the carcass of a good fat child, which, as I have