"A Modest Proposal"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains how, using satire and metaphor, Swift was able to talk about his subjects in a very indirect way so that he does not actually have to say what he feels outright. It discusses the relationship between the English and the Irish during the time of the work.

From the Paper:

"There are quite likely several reasons that Jonathan Swift wrote A Modest Proposal, and most of this had to do with what was going on in the country. The conditions in Ireland, and those of the Irish people, were terrible during the time that Swift lived, and he used his satirical writing to talk about these things. The English were oppressing the Irish very strongly during that time, and Swift writes to indicate this, but he also pokes fun at the Irish people for their inability or unwillingness to try to change this (Spacks, 362). By using satire and metaphor, Swift is able to talk about all of these things in a very indirect way so that he does not actually have to say what he feels outright. This is the safest way to say these things, as Swift creates a fictional person to write the story, but it is also much more witty and interesting then simply coming out and saying that the English were oppressive and the Irish were pathetic during that time."

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