The essay “A MODEST PROPOSAL” by Dr. Jonathan Swift is a
look at the debilitating poverty levels in Ireland that was continuing to
spiral out of control during the 1700’s. In his essay Swift proposes that
poverty could be controlled, in a very unconventional, yet cost effective way.
As you begin to read his proposal to rid poverty in the “Kingdom” , Ireland by
selective breeding and using the infants and children of starving families from
the dirty streets as a food source for the rest of the country, you cannot help
yourself but to cringe and chuckle to yourself a bit, while telling yourself,
swift must be joking about his answer to a serious problem. In my opinion,
Swift is using a very extreme alternative to an issue that had, at the time,
been plaguing Ireland for quite some time. Many others had proposed plans to
rid Ireland of the over population and poverty with little or no prevail. Jonathan Swift was simply trying to wake his
country up to the fact that something needs to be done, That they (the people
of Ireland), are not just low maintenance animals, sheep or livestock as he so
cleverly compared us to in his essay, but that they are a civilized society
with a problem that needs to be handled in a more humane manner. I feel that
Swift was using an extremely sarcastic read to spark a fire in the back of the
mind of the people of the time to begin to a balance to the poverty level and
to put more food on the tables of the hungry.
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ABOUT Dr. SWIFT
Kyle,
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read this story I thought that Swift was just joking, I found it like you very gross that he would even think that would be a reason to solve the poverty issue. I believe that he was using a sarcastic point of view, but he was also trying to get to the point that they are having big issues in this country and if it does not get fixed this could be an option the country might go to.
Kyle,
ReplyDeleteGood writing in this post. I think the only thing I would change is the sentence in the middle. Don't get me wrong, I really like the content, but that is one long sentence. Try and chop it up into separate sentences, I think you will be pleased with the outcome. Reading the comment you sent me, I feel we both get the point of Swift's essay. Those were troubling times, and I'm sure drastic measures had to be taken. Babies being eaten, certainly wasn't going to be one of them, but he had to wake up the minds of his fellow man. I look forward to following future posts down the road.
I liked your post, this book still makes me wonder I can't believe he would say something like that but I understand why he really wants to make the readers understand whats going on.
ReplyDeleteI liked your post. Chuckling is kinda what I did at first too. I believe Swift was also trying to wake up the Irish to the problems that that were facing. I agree swift was using his creative mind in not just comparing them to animals but how he did it. I also agree with the extreme sarcasm swift showed in this piece. Nice job man, I enjoyed reading your post.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteFirst thing I want to say is that the green color of your post kinda hurt my eyes a bit. Lol. Yes, I do agree that the purpose of his article is not to take his suggestion serious, but to make people aware how big the problem Ireland people having at that time. When someone read somethings absurd they do want to talk with other people and give out their opinions and when people do that more and more people will know about the problem.