Journal 10

Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” is an entertaining, satirical piece that pokes fun at the government’s attempts at solving the Irish famine. He uses satire to make people realize that the previous plans were ridiculous. Not only did he poke fun at the government’s plans, he subtly hinted at how poorly the less fortunate were viewed. His proposal was to have parents fatten their children up for the first year of their lives and then to eat (or sell) them. Eating them, he said, would eliminate the famine and selling them would prevent any future occurrences. This proposal is very effective for a few reasons. He does not outright mock the plans, but rather shows a plan that he believes is better (which happens to be eating children). He also makes his proposal sound somewhat logical through his reasons. On top of that, he even makes an appeal to finances through his idea of selling the children. This piece was entertaining as well as highly effective.