A Modest Proposal Response

     The Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift gives an outlandish solution to a common issue: the poor on the streets and what they should do for money. He describes them as having "three, four, or six children, all in rags". He calls the infants in this situation "helpless". Still he claims he has the solution, though his purpose in doing so is strictly satirical. His real purpose is to show the people of his kingdom that the solution to poverty is simple- it is to share what we have.
     Swift suggests solving this "deplorable state of the kingdom" by eating babies. It took a while for me to actually understand what his suggestion was; at first it just seems as though he is suggesting that children are a burden to their society. Then he goes into how mothers in these desperate situations murder their children, either through aborting pregnancies, or simply killing the child after its been born. At this point, the proposal seems like a slam on women, or a piece trying to get an emotional reaction from them. After he's said these statements though, he asks the question the proposal is really trying to answer, "How shall this number [of children] be reared and provided for?"
      Swift begins his actually proposal in a way that makes the children seem like animals. He calls their mother's breeders, the children "reserved for breed", and then compares them to swine, black cattle, and sheep. He does this to dehumanize the children as he presents his proposal to eat them, which he reveals slowly throughout the paragraph. I saw this method as a way to make the proposal seem more modest; he doesn't just throw it on the reader, he says it slowly, bit by bit, as the paragraph goes on, until he reaches the end where he talks about seasoning them with pepper and salt and boiling them to perfection.
     As he presents his argument, he backs it up with facts that make it seem like, if they are true, his proposal really isn't so outlandish at all. He gives evidence in numbers, even if they are made up, such as "I have reckoned that upon a medium, that a child just born will weigh 12 pounds, and in a solar year, if tolerably nursed, encreaseth to 28 pounds." The reality of his argument only adds to the satirical purpose. If it is so easy to support a wildly unusual argument like this, the more morally acceptable solution is obviously valid.
     Swift makes suggestions for how to best use the infant and its flesh. He says the skin will make "admirable gloves for ladies, and summer boots for gentlemen." When I first read this, I was sure he only wrote this to be gross and involve his reader more. However, looking at it again, one can see that he is very openly sarcastic in these lines, showing the reader that he argument is about more than eating babies and allowing them to take a moment to understand the real problem he is trying to solve and how he really thinks it should be solved.
     Swift points out the foolishness of the Irish people as he tells of them "now ready to stave for want of work and service". Though in A Modest Proposal, he says the solution to this is eating babies, the reader can tell that what he actually conveys to the Irish is a push to follow his underlying advice and not starve because they do not have everything they want, but make do with what they have and do not be afraid to bind together with others to all help each other.
     One prominent feature of Swift's essay is the case of dehumanizing children and mothers by calling them "breeders". There seems to be a hint of sexism as well with his exclusion of men from his dehumanization. I see this as relating to his purpose, perhaps because he sees women as the ones who are not willing to help each other, and the ones who desire material things.
     One thing that stood out to me as I reached the end of Swift's essay was the way that he constructed it like a legitamate essay- almost like a fancy Shaefer. He says as he begins to conclude, "I have been desired to emply my thoughts what course may be taken to ease the nation of so grievous and incumbrance." He then gives six reasons, all beginning with first, secondly, thirdly, fourthl, fifthly, or sixthly. At then end of his arguments he just begins listing off random reason why eating babies is good. His construction of his humourous piece as a very serious essay shows the reader that his purpose is not serious at all, because if it was, he'd have come up with a more appealing way to present it.
     Swift's piece is satirical in its argument about eating babies, but presents the real issue of what to do with impoverished mothers. While at first the piece seems a gross presentation put out purely for reaction, with some analysis one can see that Swift's actual purpose was to show the Irish people how outlandish some of their solutions were and point to the actual solution- just make do with what you have and help each other.