Semiar paper for Swift: A modest propsal

Swifts Modest proposal was intended to be a mock taking of Britian. Swift was an Irish national who was against the idea for Ireland to become part of the English empire even though it was a very poor nation with many problem both socialally and political. Although England had effectivally ruled Ireland for 500 years with the Stuarts establishing a Protastant governing aristocracy whilst the the country's relatively poor population were Catholic.

Swift tries to make a large political stement with the text which is written in pure satire. Although Swift had made realtions with English politics he became sypatheteic with Irelands needs. He wrote many panphets and leaflets about the dibilitating effect Englands riches were having on the country.

This on first reading felt a very dark text, covering some normally quite taboo topics such as cannibalism and selling children. It is not until you delve into the history of Ireland and have some knowledge of Swifts ways of writing that they become less severe.

At the time of writing Ireland was much less better off than England. Swift proposed a way of feeding the poorer people of the country. The text begins with describing the poverty in which many of the lower classes live. In this description he is telling of the distress that the children live in; starvation and homelessness. He firstly proposes selling them into slavery but reconsiders when knowing that a child under 12 years is useless. from this he then develops his idea to breed children for food. He tries to support this by saying that it will prevent years of misery for the children and provide for both sides of the rich /poor divide. A landlord may be able to charge less by the poor tenants offering children in place of payment.

He claims that he can make these statements as he is in an impartial party : his child is 9 years so past eating age and before the age to be sold into slavery and his wife is past child-bearing age. He talks about the poor and children in a way that appears materialistic and unsympathetic. This is all part of the satire. He writes in a way that would be understood only by the educated parties in Ireland at the time. Although it was written by an Irishman and released to the Irish, it was meant to have the effect of humour and displaying to the governing bodies of England and Ireland how bad life is in the country at the time.

I believe the last statement prevents him from having a valid view and does not mean he will have an unbiased feeling about the issue. The way that he speaks of many issues, I believe makes him appear very materialistic. He seems to see above women and children and only see them to have a role in a business sense.

I do not think that this was particularly successful at the time of writing as only the educated had the text available to them. Also, the style of writing would be hard for many to understand.

My biggest issue with the text is the extent to which Swift takes hos argument supporting cannibalism. For such an in depth review i think that some considerable time must have been spent on the topic. In addition the fact that Swift had the social mobility and ability to move to England and a more prosperous life means that he would be less effected by the issues that he is trying to resolve.

Due to the nature of the article I think that some interesting debates could be started surrounding it. To bring it to a modern day context i think the way that the Chinese only allow for one child per couple is a similar situation. The have been examples of a family murdering the child if it is a girl because males are seen as more valuable to a family name. Is what Swift was describing something not too different? By restricting the number of children a family is allowed can be seen as doing good for the nation; less people crowding already very well populated areas and allowing for the existing community to gain more potential wealth. But, if this was proposed, it may still create the same dismay at such a vile topic as eating children, yet with the way the economy is going with the social divide becoming wider and more obvious would it so far something similar which could work to ease it?

Although satire may be a way to write for a more educated audience, it is not accessible for a wide range of potential readers. Satire may allow for some more taboo topics to become available for discussion yet i feel it is a type of journalism which can not be seen as unbiased in many ways. For the humour to work it must have a view point which is most probably one of controversy.