Prose (Non-Fiction): A Modest Proposal
The author of the story is Dr. Jonathan Swift. He is an Irish author and satirist. Born on November 30, 1667 in Ireland. Jonathan Swift was born into a poor family. Swift died in October 19, 1745 (aged 77). He was a satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, poet, and a priest. Some of his famous works are: A Tale of a Tub, Drapier’s Letters, Gulliver’s Travels, and A Modest Proposal. His main objective is to awake the people of Ireland into seeing their own deprivation. What causes the author to write the essay is that he wanted the readers to find a workable solution upon the problems of Ireland that he proposes. And I think that it’s because he can see that the Irish people are doing things wrong, even though he proposes negative thoughts on his essay, his proposals was all ironic which is the opposite of what is meant.
Writing the essay ironically is the safest way for Jonathan Swift. At his time, the condition of Ireland and the Irish people was terrible. So for him to be able to talk with his proposals, he used satire and metaphor to convey it to the public in an indirect way. Another reason, the majority of the population in Ireland is poor, with little useful employment. Poverty drives the youths of Ireland into crime, slavery, or become one of the armies of a king in Spain. And he wants to end that. The author’s proposals are: he proposed that babies/ newborn babies should be sold and eaten as a food staple. He proposed that selling infant children will stimulate the economy and provide a much needed source of income to the lower class, who can’t afford to feed their children.
The author supports his proposals, he even weighs the pros and cons of his proposal. And he lists six weighty and obvious advantages. First, his proposal would reduce the number of catholic in Ireland. Second, it would give farmers the means to pay their absentee landlords. Third, it would increase the domestic revenue of Ireland, with no money being sent abroad. Fourth, the parents/ the “breeders” as they are called in the essay would not only receive a generous income, but would also relieved of the expense of raising their children Fifth, this new variety of cuisine would produce fine recipes for culinary gentlemen and their dining establishments. Finally, the possibility of selling one’s children would be an enducement to enter into vital institution of marriage, as parents would better care for their children (and husbands for their pregnant wives) given the happy profits that could be expected from well-nourished infants.
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