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“A Modest Proposal”, when the reader does not know that Dr. Jonathan Swift is sarcastic, is a piece that questions the sanity of the author. In 1729, he complains that poor women have multiple children that they cannot care for properly. The piece starts out with a serious tone. He is genuinely concerned for the wellbeing of these children. As the reader continues, the tone changes drastically. The previous genuine concern seems fake as Swift brings up the idea that these children should be eaten.  

As I read through this piece, I was concerned. I asked other people if what they were reading matched up with what I was reading because I didn’t know if cannibalism was really what Swift wanted to talk about. I read through it and annotated but it was only after Mrs. Moe told us that it was a satirical piece and that he was only pointing out how inhumane the Irish people were that I understood the meaning of it. I should have known that he was being sarcastic, but I was reading the piece as a surface reading rather than trying to understand the deeper meaning of it. 

I read through the piece one more time to get a deeper understanding of it, and I saw that at points, he was being completely serious. The Irish people were in a time of poverty, and Swift disguised his suggestions to help them with the outrageous idea of selling and eating children. He brought up that this outrageous idea would help the economy. This suggests that there could be other ways that these people could help their economy rather than begging. 

Swift also shows concern toward marriage relationships, towards women specifically. In sarcasm, he writes that husbands will no longer beat their wives because the children they carry during pregnancy are too precious to risk harming before the child-birth. He is concerned about the spousal abuse and believes that husbands should respect their wives. He portrays this in such an absurd way that it presents a good reason to refrain from abuse. 

The absurd idea of eating children is what keeps the reader’s focus. The reader continues to read, hoping that at the end, there will be some form of clarification, and that Swift does not really intend to put forth the idea of eating children. He uses this absurd idea to get his real point across. 

This absurd idea also portrays Swift’s poor image of the Irish people. He uses language that dehumanizes them. These people are so poor that they would listen to the idea of selling their children and that implies that they would consider taking up that practice. Swift turns procreation into a business, suggesting that the Irish are heartless and don’t consider babies worth the title of human. These children are compared to slaughtered animals. Infants are compared to crops when he describes that their flesh will be “in season” throughout the year, but mostly in March. Swift’s language portrays that these people wouldn’t listen to humane ideas of dealing with their economic problems, so solving the issues with such inhumane tactics would be the best way in their opinion. 

I found it interesting that this piece was written in the 1700s. I’ve read literature that was written after this time period, and it all seemed similar in the sense that the authors were very direct and went straight to the point of what they were trying to say. In this piece, however, he is being very sarcastic. I’m sure that it was very uncommon for readers when they picked up this piece. For it being much older than modern prose, it could easily be mistaken for a modern piece of literature. The language is mature, but it’s not outdated, so the reader understands what Swift is saying. While it takes a bit of understanding, the reader understands that Swift is using this type of language to convey his real opinion. 

This work can be effective as long as the reader understands that it’s saturated in satire. If the reader, like myself, only read it at a surface level, they would be extremely confused about what Swift was really trying to say. It’s a piece that should be for older readers - younger readers would not understand his real point and would become confused in the outrageous suggestion of cannibalism. 

Overall, I thought it was a really interesting piece. However, I still really hope that he really is just being sarcastic.“A Modest Proposal”, when the reader does not know that Dr. Jonathan Swift is sarcastic, is a piece that questions the sanity of the author. In 1729, he complains that poor women have multiple children that they cannot care for properly. The piece starts out with a serious tone. He is genuinely concerned for the well being of these children. As the reader continues, the tone changes drastically. The previous genuine concern seems fake as Swift brings up the idea that these children should be eaten.  

As I read through this piece, I was concerned. I asked other people if what they were reading matched up with what I was reading because I didn’t know if cannibalism was really what Swift wanted to talk about. I read through it and annotated but it was only after Mrs. Moe told us that it was a satirical piece and that he was only pointing out how inhumane the Irish people were that I understood the meaning of it. I should have known that he was being sarcastic, but I was reading the piece as a surface reading rather than trying to understand the deeper meaning of it. 

I read through the piece one more time to get a deeper understanding of it, and I saw that at points, he was being completely serious. The Irish people were in a time of poverty, and Swift disguised his suggestions to help them with the outrageous idea of selling and eating children. He brought up that this outrageous idea would help the economy. This suggests that there could be other ways that these people could help their economy rather than begging. 

Swift also shows concern toward marriage relationships, towards women specifically. In sarcasm, he writes that husbands will no longer beat their wives because the children they carry during pregnancy are too precious to risk harming before the child-birth. He is concerned about the spousal abuse and believes that husbands should respect their wives. He portrays this in such an absurd way that it presents a good reason to refrain from abuse. 

The absurd idea of eating children is what keeps the reader’s focus. The reader continues to read, hoping that at the end, there will be some form of clarification, and that Swift does not really intend to put forth the idea of eating children. He uses this absurd idea to get his real point across. 

This absurd idea also portrays Swift’s poor image of the Irish people. He uses language that dehumanizes them. These people are so poor that they would listen to the idea of selling their children and that implies that they would consider taking up that practice. Swift turns procreation into a business, suggesting that the Irish are heartless and don’t consider babies worth the title of human. These children are compared to slaughtered animals. Infants are compared to crops when he describes that their flesh will be “in season” throughout the year, but mostly in March. Swift’s language portrays that these people wouldn’t listen to humane ideas of dealing with their economic problems, so solving the issues with such inhumane tactics would be the best way in their opinion. 

I found it interesting that this piece was written in the 1700s. I’ve read literature that was written after this time period, and it all seemed similar in the sense that the authors were very direct and went straight to the point of what they were trying to say. In this piece, however, he is being very sarcastic. I’m sure that it was very uncommon for readers when they picked up this piece. For it being much older than modern prose, it could easily be mistaken for a modern piece of literature. The language is mature, but it’s not outdated, so the reader understands what Swift is saying. While it takes a bit of understanding, the reader understands that Swift is using this type of language to convey his real opinion. 

This work can be effective as long as the reader understands that it’s saturated in satire. If the reader, like myself, only read it at a surface level, they would be extremely confused about what Swift was really trying to say. It’s a piece that should be for older readers - younger readers would not understand his real point and would become confused in the outrageous suggestion of cannibalism. 

Overall, I thought it was a really interesting piece. However, I still really hope that he really is just being sarcastic.