Mehta 1!

Hemang Mehta
Ms. Martin
English 12 AP
October 27, 2014
A Modest Proposal Response
The treatise, A Modest Proposal, proved to be truly disturbing. By painting a picture of
a starving Ireland, and class disparity, Jonathan Swift asserts that the consumption of babies
would be a blessing. The logic, and the nature of this argument both are satirical due to their
heinous nature.
Mr. Swift proposes that the sale of about 100,000 Irish children will boost the economy
of the impoverished nation. This logic calls for selective murder for the enjoyment of the upper
class. However, he also denounces abortion earlier as he describes it to be, that horrid practice
of women murdering their bastard children(2). The irony lies in the fact that he rejects fetus
murder but calls for infanticide. His factual tone, and economic reasoning depict the extreme
methods for economic revival from that time period.
The nature of the argument is even more heinous. The country of Ireland is historically
Catholic centric especially in the 18th century. A culture that was so religious would respond
dramatically to the Modest Proposal of cannibalism. The terminology such as boil or fricassee,
when associated with dead babies was extremely upsetting to an atheist like myself, and I can
only imagine the response it would have garnered when published.

Mehta 2!
The Modest Proposal does point out some issues with the Irish economy and the social structure
of the time, but uses dark humor to do so. While I do not appreciate it, it is undeniable that it has
a strong effect, and can easily illustrate the problems facing society.