Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift - Essay Example

Introduction sometimes go to great lengths to prove their point and it is these great lengths which sometimes stretch the limits to the extent of causing confusion or misunderstanding (Darnton, papa. 5). One of the literature pieces in history in which the author went to the extreme is Jonathan Swift’s Modest Proposal. Swift was a satirist and when a great drought high the English countryside and a great famine followed, there was great suffering by Irish peasant farmers. Regardless of the natural disaster, the English landlords still insisted on the Irish tenants to pay their land rents, causing even further suffering. It is during this time that Swift wrote this famous article. In the article, Swift goes to great detail to propose that small babies can be used as food and nourishment. In this paper, he is seen supporting and endorsing infanticide as well as cannibalism. He meticulously describes how a baby can be prepared as a delicacy and eaten. Swift’s Modest Proposal was a satirical piece of literature that used extreme irony to critic the actions of the English landlords. Yet, through this satirical piece, he never takes time to renounce this view and leaves the reader to be the moral judge, a very dangerous thing because there is a high chance that the reader may take the ideas literally. Risks Extreme irony As Gordon (59) says, irony can be very useful when presenting serious ideas becaue it stresses the importance. In this article, Swift, an Anglo-Irish priest uses extreme irony without taking caution to make sure that there are no misunderstanding (Biograpohy.com, para 2). What Swift does in this article is to write in an ironical way that does not explicitly point to the irony, thus making it harder for the reader to be able to detect the irony. Throughout the paper, Swift uses the persona in the article to forward the crazy idea of eating a baby. He even goes to great lengths to describe the logic behind eating a baby. For instance, he describes that since babies don’t eat much until they are about one year old, and only depend on their mother’s milk during this age, they should be kept until this age and be used as food to feed the rest of the population. He also points that because babies are used as a delicacy, they can also be sold in the market thus contributing positively to the well being of the rest to the family. All this he says without the slightest hint that he is using irony to describe the issues that were eminent at the time. In fact, at first reading, anyone who is not familiar with Swift’s satirical works is likely to believe this was meant to be taken literally. The audience Swift was the kind of priest who was always in trouble with the authorities. The Modest Proposal for instance was a great criticism to the English landlords who were overexploiting the Irish land tenants in a time of great crisis. The idea of the article was that if the English landlords are so heartless to the Irish tenants, they might as well eat their babies. In other words, this article was equating the English landlords to cannibals who were willing to devour babies in order to fatten themselves. This was a big leap for the author as the English landlords and those who were powerful would not be very happy with being equated to cannibals or baby eaters. In this regard, by writing the Modest Proposal, Swift was going to the extreme and was definitely inviting trouble. It is not the first time that Swift was getting in trouble with the authorities though. Prior to the incidents which led to him writing the modest proposal, he had gotten in trouble with the various authorities in England, leading to him being virtually exiled to Dublin. It is not only the rich English landlords who would have misunderstood the irony in the article. The people he was pleading for would have misunderstood the irony in the article and could have probably thought that Swift was actually suggesting that the English landlords should eat their young ones. However, most of these were illiterate people and there was little chance of them ever reading the piece. Regardless of this, there was still a risk because these people could have gotten the information through those among them who could read. In fact, there was a bigger risk because those who could read among them were most likely only educated enough to read but not to decipher political satire and therefore would have taken the article at its face value. Managing the risk Using third person Swift must have understood very well the fact that the tool he had chosen to present the plea was quite risky and dangerous. In this regard, he chose to use a third person in the article as opposed to writing it in the first person. This makes him to seen to be outside the whole idea and making this crazy idea to be of another person other than himself. By separating himself from the persona of the article, he manages the risk to some degree because he no longer is the culprit. Extreme irony Extreme irony in this article serves two opposing purposes. While it is the very element style of writing to be dangerous and risky, it is also the very same that makes it safe for the author. Using extreme irony in this article can be seen as a way to make sure that the author can protect himself by making any one who attacks the article look ridiculous. The extent to the irony used in the article, while leaving room for the less critical mind to take things at face value, also means that any critical thinker, such as a judge in a court of law, would easily detect the irony in the article and get the underlying message. Effectiveness of the style Swift’s article was directed towards the educated English landlords who probably would have read the piece. The Modest Proposal was written at a time when literally materials were not as abundant as they are today and this meant that any material from such an influential person as Jonathan Swift would have reached everyone who nattered. His ridiculous presentation of the English landlord as a cruel and inhumane person was effective as a way to remind these people that they were going to the extreme and that they needed to be better than they were doing. There may be a number of reasons why Swift chose to take this risk in presenting this idea. For instance, in a time when people were not very flexible in presenting the serious issues as the one he is presenting, an average scholar would have chosen to use normal logic in trying to explain the issues and how they were affecting the people, and in general, humanity. The problem with presenting the issue in this kind of manner would have been that many people would have read the piece and forgotten it the following day. However, by taking the matter to the extreme ends, Swift was able to present the issues in a way that would strike the reader so hard that it would be hard to discard it without giving critical thought. In fact, there is a high chance that many other well-meaning people had written pieces of literature about the issue, which were however read and dismissed. Swift’s risk taking therefore can be seen as having been fruitful and the article still remains very useful even in a modern context. Works Cited Biograpohy.com. Jonathan Swift biography. 20 January 2013. 06 October 2013 . Darnton, Nina. Taking Risks: The Writer as Effective Teacher . 13 April 1986. 16 October 2013 . Gordon, Jill. Turning Toward Philosophy: Literary Device and Dramatic Structure in Platos Dialogues. Pennsylvania: Penn State Press, 1999. Print Swift, Jonathan. A Modest Proposal For preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the publick. Dublin: NA, 1729. Read More