Satire In Johnathan Swift's A Modest Proposal

The restoration period was an era of poetry. Poetry was mainly used to increase knowledge. Satire is a literary manner which blends a critical attitude with humor and wit for the purpose of improving human institutions or humanity. Its function was to acknowledge a problem in society and attempt to reform the problem in a comical manner while still educating the public. Johnathan Swift was the godfather of satire. A Modest Proposal is a prime example of satire used throughout the era of restoration. The poem A Modest Proposal is a proposal on how to transform children into a benefit for the country of Ireland as a whole. Across the country poor children, predominantly Catholics, are living in filth because their families are too poor to keep them nourished and clothed. Swift’s proposal, is to fatten up these malnourished children and feed them to Ireland's rich land-owners. Children of the poor could be sold into a meat market at the age of one, he argues, diminishing overpopulation and unemployment. Poverty-stricken families will be free from the expenses of raising a child and it will be providing them with a little extra income. Wealthy citizens will experience a new taste introduced into the cooking realm. The child meat will be contributing to the overall …show more content…
“I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled ...”(Swift). These lines are an example of satire because it is against humane morals to eat our own kin. Cannibalism is the eating of human flesh by another human being. However, the young babies will be considered a delicacy in the culinary realm of Ireland. Rich land-owners will thrive on these children comparably to a thick beef steak. The comparison of babies to beef is sickening as we read this