Irish American

Sometimes in order to draw the attention of an audience to specific problem, such as religion, addiction and family’s dynamics, authors decide to either exaggerate the events or narrate the actual facts. For instance, Jonathan Swift denounces, in his work A Modest Proposal, Ireland’s submission to England and the economic situation in the country. Swift presents an extreme position with a logical conclusion. He proposes to sell the children of poor people as food for the wealthy in order to…

Swift takes on a contradictory tone, using seemingly careless and airy words to portray the plight of the Irish poor. For example, the phrase, “Their dear native country,” evokes a sense of nationalism upon first glance. As one reads into the underlying meaning of this piece, one can hear the seething tone that mocks the dear native country that has both repressed and rejected the Irish poor. Another example is the use of the phrase, “her lawful occupation of begging,” to describe the…

Swift uses an unsupported claim that Americans eat children as further evidence that to do so would benefit Ireland and alleviate issues of starvation. By using this type of language and satire, Swift targeted those in the position to make change to begin looking at the issue. He brought the…

Jonathan Swift writes A Modest Proposal, a haunting satire taking place in 1720-1730 Ireland. Rather than making jokes of the treatment of the poor Irish, he chooses to be scathing, condemning and dead serious. Using effective character use and diction he creates a character that proposes the slaughter at the age of 1 year’s old to solve the poverty of Ireland. Firstly, the seriousness of the character that Swift keeps up throughout the essay severely frightens the reader. The proposition he…

predator and prey. The narrator views the Irish people as vulnerable prey who are regarded as animals. This view that the impoverished Irish people are a group of animals is seen as a sign that they are hunted. This predator versus prey is seen throughout the story, not just the opening lines. On page 316, the narrator asserts, "…a young healthy child…delicious…stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled." This animal-like imagery shows that the narrator views the Irish children as food, not as children.…

Aye it is.” He walked under the sign and pointed up at it. “Ah, now, I take what that sign says LITERALLY. You know that you are on Pearse Street, you Americans. It’s named after me Great-Uncle Padraig Pearse.” He paced the floor‒deliberately looking back and forth‒going from Lane to Blair. “Pearse was the founder of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. He met many times in this very room, but for what? Along came the IRA and so many other liberation organizations down the road. All…

the uncanny, has allowed Irish writers to align nationalist motifs within their texts through a more analogous narrative. As Laura Doyle writes, “The Gothic text has been shown to represent colonialism 's crimes through its literary tropes of imprisonment, terror, rape, and tyranny” (513). However, a number of Anglo-Irish writers engage with the genre, thus forcing the allegorical themes and content of Irish Gothic writing to be reconsidered with new ideologies in mind. Irish Anglicans represent…

murderer to others. It is often hard to believe that simple things such as potatoes can be such a devastating thing to engulf a nation. This is of course the Great Hunger, also known as the Great Famine. It was one if not the most devastating events in Irish history. Costing Ireland an estimated 800,000 lives to hunger , and even more emigrating out to other nations. Though this number does not stack up to other tragedies in size, this made up roughly 10 percent of the population alone, not…

symbol of Irish pride. Whether it be due to the luck of the Irish or being in the right place at the right time, Saint Patrick, at least his name rather than his legacy, is long from being buried in the depths of history. Patrick was born in 387…

the course of history, politics and comedy often go hand in hand. Edgeworth uses this idea to make some very interesting commentary about the state of the relationship between Britain and Ireland at the time, and what it meant to be truly British or Irish. Within the novel we meet the character of young Lord Glenthorn, who is bored of his rich and extravagant life, and no longer takes any interest in the fortunes in his possession. We learn shortly that the only reason he does not end his own…