A Modest Proposal Part One

A Modest Proposal #1
Swift as the master of satire

Satire is defined as “A work or manner that blends a censorious attitude with humor and wit for improving human institutions or humanity” (Handbook, 464). The form of satire may vary, depending on the audience, however there are two forms of formal satire, Horatian or Juvenalian. “Horatian is gentle, urbane, smiling; it aims to correct by broadly sympathetic laughter” (Handbook, 464). “Juvenalian is biting, bitter, angry; it points with contempt and indignation to the corruption of human beings and institutions” (Handbook, 464). In A Modest Proposal, Swift is using Juvenalian satire to make his points about the plight of the poor in his home country of Ireland. By proposing that instead of letting the innocent poor children become a burden on society by roaming the streets and begging or stealing, and rather than the mothers of these children having to be removed from the workforce to feed and beg for these children, the children should be fattened up and sold as a delicacy to the aristocracy to supplement the mother's income. The idea of course is absurd, the majority of human beings are of course appalled at the thought of eating another human being, this is the point. If things are so desperate that women are willing to sell their children to be eaten, it makes a statement about the policy of the government that is in charge of their welfare, or in this case, the lack there of. Swift is using biting satire to force the reader to take a good, long, hard look at their society, knowing that what they see will shock and disturb them.