Themes: Solutions to Poverty
One of Swift’s central ideas in this essay is that there are real solutions to the problems of poverty. He did not write this essay for his own amusement or because he agreed that it was a good idea to sell, kill, and eat human infants. A clergyman who felt anger and anguish over the plight of the poor, Swift composed the essay out of a deep frustration with the lack of response from people with power to what he perceived as a humanitarian crisis in Ireland. Before writing this essay, Swift had proposed moderate, sensible solutions to Irish poverty, all of which were routinely ignored. He hoped that satirically proposing something as outrageous as cannibalism would cause readers to recoil from the extremism of the idea and pay more attention to some of the humane ideas he had proposed in the past. He therefore includes these moderate proposals in his essay by having his narrator reject them.
Swift wanted his readers to oppose the cannibalistic solution, but he also wanted them to take a closer look at some of the other ideas in the essay. These realistic proposals put the burden on the rich to reform. One proposal is to tax absentee landlords (usually wealthy English who lived off the rents of their properties without any concern for the poor) at a modest rate to raise money for the relief of the poor. He also suggests that the wealthy reject the pursuit of “foreign luxury” and other extravagant habits that place the rich in financial situations that then cause them to wrest every penny out of the poor. He promotes domestic manufacture, which would provide jobs for the Irish, instead of the importation of foreign goods. He advocates for shopkeepers to treat the poor fairly, rather than cheating them. It is perhaps Swift’s solutions that make the essay most relatable to audiences today. The exploitation of the poor by the rich remains a constant in human societies, and Swift’s ideas about selective taxation and domestic production are as politically relevant today as ever.
Expert Q&A
What is the purpose of "A Modest Proposal" and what is Swift trying to reform?
Swift's essay, which is complete satire, is trying to reform the way the English people treated the impoverished Irish of his time. Of course, he is not actually promoting that people start to eat children; he uses this extreme example as a way to depict how inhumanely the Irish were being treated, as if they were not human, amidst the English "devouring" Ireland.
How can these solutions address the problem in "A Modest Proposal"? 1. Taxing absentee residents, 2. Stopping imports, 3. Rejecting needless luxury, 4. Promoting temperance, 5. Learning to love the country.
Swift's solutions in "A Modest Proposal" address Ireland's economic and social issues by suggesting that taxing absentee residents, stopping imports, rejecting needless luxury, promoting temperance, and fostering a love for the country would involve the wealthy in Ireland's economy, reduce frivolous spending, and encourage local production and loyalty. These ideas, presented ironically, emphasize the ignored practical solutions Swift had previously proposed.
How does the speaker propose to solve child poverty in "A Modest Proposal"?
The speaker in "A Modest Proposal" suggests solving child poverty in Ireland by selling infants as food to the wealthy. This satirical suggestion is meant to highlight the dire poverty faced by the Irish, proposing that children be fattened for a year and then sold, with benefits including reduced domestic abuse and economic gains. Jonathan Swift uses this shocking proposal to criticize the lack of humane solutions to poverty, aiming to provoke thought and reform.
Jonathan Swift's proposal in "A Modest Proposal" and its implications for improving Irish society
In "A Modest Proposal," Jonathan Swift satirically suggests that impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food to rich gentlemen and ladies. This shocking proposal highlights the dire state of the Irish poor and criticizes the British exploitation and oppression, aiming to provoke thought and inspire real social and economic reforms.
Alternative Solutions in "A Modest Proposal"
In Jonathan Swift's satirical essay "A Modest Proposal," the narrator suggests cannibalism as a shocking solution to poverty in Ireland, proposing that impoverished Irish sell their children as food to the wealthy. However, Swift uses this extreme suggestion to critique the English exploitation of Ireland. He ironically dismisses more practical solutions, such as taxing absentee landlords, promoting local products, and encouraging ethical behavior among the rich, highlighting their potential to genuinely alleviate poverty if pursued sincerely.
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