A Modest Journal (10)

I would not have know that Swift was kidding at all if I hadn’t been told so before. It may easily be that the language of his day sounds a lot more serious than I am used to in the present, but I also think Swift had an incredible dry sense of humor. This proposal is effective because it really makes the reader think; his solution is so absurdly ridiculous, so there has to be something better, which makes the reader think.

Swift structures his piece like we talked about in class. He introduces and explicitly defines the problem, the poverty and famine in Ireland, and he even paints a portrait of the infants and beggar children on the streets. He then proceeds to introduce his solution, and give examples as to how it would work, why it is effect, and silences his dissenters. Swift points out that eating babies would get rid of unwanted children, give mothers a source of income, and thus more rights because they could provide a commodity. It would provide another meat to be eaten by those with money, and could be considered a delicacy. It would take a lot of poor children off the street also, and prevent such insane increases in population. Swift supports his solution by claiming it will rid the country of papists, give poor people something of value, help the economy of Ireland, relieve mothers of the burden of caring for their children, make new delectable dishes for taverns, and help the institution of marriage.

I think this piece of effective because of its serious tone. As with all satires, the more ridiculous the solution the better, as long as it is presented with evidence and sincerity, which Swift has. He makes his solution sound like the only option left because all the others don’t work, or don’t quite have the positive effects his do. The thought of eating babies is so out of the question for most people, they read this and go “what the helllllllll” and start thinking of a million better ideas. I think the purpose of satire is to really raise awareness about a problem or situation that is going on. Swift’s famous proposal did just this.

His satire was meant to mock the British government who hadn’t done anything to deal with the crisis in Ireland. Subtle digs in the piece really expressed the tension between the two nationalities.