Modest or Mad?
In his satirical "A Modest Proposal," Jonathan Swift makes the appalling proclamation that in order for the Irish people to relieve their poverty; they should sell their babies as food.
Now, in order to understand where Swift is coming from, you must understand the situation in Brittan at the time this was written. England had taken control of Ireland and was taxing them to death, literally. The Irish people were oppressed into poverty. Many starved because they had no money for food and their crops and livestock were confiscated by the English.
Swift begins his proposal by dangling a 'worm' in the water. This 'worm' comes in the form of a word picture of a poor woman begging on the side of the street for alms. Behind the woman were several starving children. To most Englishmen at that time, this would have been a common sight. By starting out with a familiar picture, Swift draws his reader in.
Then, Swift lets his reader nibble on the 'worm' a little. He sets out the advantages of his proposal without telling his audience what his proposal is. He entices them by saying that his proposal would make things better by putting the drains on society to use and stopping abortions.
It sounds good, right? Of course it does! Now that everyone is either excited about this idea or at least curious, Swift reveals the hook. Well, how about that? All he wants them to do is a simple thing like sell their children as food! What a great idea!
Are you disgusted yet?
That isn't the end of it. Swift goes on to more reasons that his proposal will work. His arguments would be quite convincing if it weren't for the immoral and appalling nature of the idea.
What was your reaction to "A Modest Proposal"?
21 comments:
Jordan, I understand what you're saying. It is sad and disgusting. I didn't really to much care for this short story, but it was sad that a woman with starving children could go unnoticed. People can really get very low.
Although Swift's essay was satirical, he made his point that something needed to be done to eliminate the problem of poverty and hunger(at that period in time).
I found his essay to be sympathetic,but only because that appears to be first emotion of poverty and hunger. I wasn't amused with the digusting solution
After reading Swift's essay i thought he was a very sick person to even conjure up this type of idea although, it was satirical. I was confused after reading it the first time but the second time around was able to understand the purpose of the essay.
I agree with Jordan. If his proposal wasn’t immoral it would be a great idea. If people had no problem eating their children it would be great for their economy. I mean it’s free. You can basically make your own food. What’s not to like? Oh yeah it’s the part about eating your children! But I do see that he used this to make a point. He gave ideas about how to help with their problems but they were over looked so he made a suggestion that could never be over looked. He used the craziness of he proposal to bring light to the situation.
I though that Swift's bizarre solution to the problem was humorous, as well as the fact that he planned it out so reasonably and systematically. It made the whole scheme seem serious. I suppose that trying to be taken seriously can send your writing to some interesting places.
Swift definitely realized that recieving respect does not always have to involved flat, somber, statistical references and can still be effective at proving a point
When I read this essay I thought Swift was kind of sick and odd. True enough selling babies could get the families out of poverty but I don't know any woman who could do such a thing as to sell her child or children.
The first time I read "A Modest Proposal" I was a little bit disturbed. I then was told he was not serious and I read it again.
The second time it made a lot more sense and I was able to focus on what Swift was actually saying and not the thought of eating babies.
Swift had many good ideas on how to implement his plan. He laid them out in a very organized way.
This essay by Swift is sad and disgusting, but reader's must understand that this is a satirical essay. He made alot of good points in his essay that dealt with the struggle that people went through during that era. Personally, I don't find it entertaning to joke about poverty.
Jordan I think that Swifts essay was very disgusting. He had a good point he was proving but he picked a weird and sick way to try to prove his point. Like Sherrick stated you have to keep in mind that Swift essay was a satirical essay. Swift was just trying to find a way to get peoples attention and in many ways he accomplished his goal of getting people to listen to him.
Honestly, I'm not incredibly appalled by what Swift suggests in his essay. No, I'm not saying that women sell their babies for food. It's just the kind of person I am that I'm amused by such a use of satire.
Such an outrageous, morally-horrifying statement gets his reader to pay attention and read on, though it is read in morbid curiosity. Such a use of satire is genius.
Jordon my reaction to Swift's essay was one of confusment and disgust. It was kind of funny, in the same sense though. It was funny because I just knew Swift could not have been serious, or at least I hoped not. I did not care for "A Modest Proposal," I beleive that Swift could have got his point across in a less appaling way.
Yes, Swifts essay is disgusting, but in some cases in some extreme conditions you have to say the unthinkable to get people to listen and I beleive Swift did this very well.
I thought Swift's essay was rather funny. I mean there is no way he could have been serious. Maybe you could eat another person but the last thing I would do is think about eating my children. I want them to out live me. I have to protect them.
I would also have to disagree with aunnika because Swift tried other ways which he mentioned in the essay, that was why he knew the other ways wouldn't be appealing to the community.
All in all, I think it was funny.
Well after reading Swifts essay I was disgusted by it. I had to really reread the story to understand what swift was actually mean.I care about the essay but I still wonder how would selling babes help the economy.
I have read this story several times and each time I read it I understand why I enjoy this story. Swift goes to the extreme to help others because noone would fix the problem at hand if he hadn't. If you do not read this story and understand that he is just telling a story, you will be disgusted. But if you read this story and understand that he is a satirical writer then you can enjoy reading it as I do!
I think Swift's essay is good, not because of what he suggests, but because it makes us think that obviously that is not the solution and we try to think other ways to make things better. I do think his essay is pretty sick, still it opens our eyes. It could be a clever way to make people listen what's going on in the world.
I like Swift's essay. The reasons why I think it is so disgusting is because he disguises his main reasoning within that explanation. He grabs peoples attention by being so disturbing so many more people would actually read his essay.
I actually think Swift did a good job at catching the people’s attention in his essay. Although his solution is inhumane and disturbing, he proved that what is defined as a solution for the Irish people at the time was not working. When considering this essay I think the more shocking the ideas Swift comes up with, the more attention he will receive. Eating babies is radical and immoral, but he successfully gives enough reason why this will work. Maybe that’s his plan for the entire essay, to disgust his intended audience enough so they will listen to him.
I agree that Swift's proposal is a bit weird and shocking. Although I do agree with stephen if the idea wasent so immoral it would help feed alot of hungry people but who could bare the thought of eating someones baby. There are many onther plans to help the economy and thats what Swift was getting to in his essay.
After first reading this, i was a little confused. I was pretty sure he didnt want people to really sell their kids for food. After the discussion we had in class about the essay, i really get where he was trying to go with this. He is just trying to prove to us that something is wrong and it needs more attention to fix.
I agree with you also Jordan. After reading the text I was confused on the mood and tone that was being set. But after reading it over you sense the seriousness presented throughout the text.Swift did an excellent job with grabbing the readers attention, by informing people in poverty are sometimes unnoticed.
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