Thesis statement: It is the responsibility of the state to create an equal society.

A Modest Proposal is a satirical essay by Jonathan Swift, with the aim of showcasing the inequalities in Ireland. The author proposes various solutions to solve poverty problem in the society. He uses economic reasoning to suggest fattening of poor kids and feeding them to wealthy Ireland land owners.  According to Swift, this is the best solution, as the poor parents would benefit from selling their children, and the rich would get a healthy meal.

Swift is successful in convincing readers that his proposal is the best. He goes to an extent of using a calculation to show the expected returns, as well as proposing a recipe to cook the children.  He uses Pathos in an ironical way, with the aim of capturing the emotions and feelings of the reader. By using satire and irony, Swift can use Ethos and Logos to win readers attention. For instance, he notes that his proposal will reduce voluntary abortions and that horrid practice of women murdering their bastard children (Swift). This is intended to show the reader what is going on in the unequal society.

Swift intend to catch the attention of the author by expressing sympathy and the need for a solution. He goes a step further and calculates the number of infants born in this poor state and rhetorically asks what should be done with such kids. From Swift’s point of view, these infants are unfit for employment and are also too young to steal, and logic is evident here. Also, he cites that neither the merchants can buy or sell these infants nor hence the conclusion that it would be a good idea that the people of Ireland should simply consider eating the infants after attaining the age of one year.

He uses logos to give six reasons why he thinks the proposal should be adopted. For instance, in his third reason, he argues that the nation’s overall wealth will increase significantly since people will not have to cater for the upkeep of their children. The writer captures the reader’s attention on the sixth reason. Swift argues that his proposal will lead to better marriage institutions since mothers will take good care of their infants so that they may fetch good prices after the sale.  Consequently, men will be caring for their wives to ensure that they give birth to many more babies. He uses logos to emphatically defend the strength of his proposal and why the government should adopt it. Logic is also evident when Swift criticizes his proposal. He argues that the Ireland’s population will be dealt a big blow since there will be no more infants beyond the age of one year.

Although the proposal by Swift eventually gives the notion of poverty levels in the country, his argument may not be taken seriously. The tone, insincerity and the ridiculousness of this proposal make it difficult for the readers to take it seriously. For instance, one can see the insincerity by the resentment of the author towards the Roman Catholics who are referred to as ‘’papists’’ within the essay.  The later parts of the article confirm this when the author suggests that his proposal will have the advantage of reducing the number of Roman Catholics. This makes it evident that the essay is biased and flawed since the author was a Protestant and an ordained Anglican priest. The reader can, therefore, conclude that the essay is aimed to settle religious differences between the Protestants and the Roman Catholics and hence undermining the intention of addressing the poverty levels in the state of Ireland.

The same treatment has also extended to the Americans and English as Swift emphasizes the importance of the people of Ireland dealing with their economic problems.  He attacks Americans by calling them, cannibals. By so doing, the author fails to use the right tone thus making the essay quite unsuccessful. Swift blames others for the wanting state of poverty in Ireland and exaggerates the state thus making him not successful in delivering the message. The insincerity, rhetoric, and dishonesty in his work make the essay look unserious, and the whole essay seems absurd.

Work cited

Swift, Jonathan. “A Modest Proposal”. Art-bin.com. N.p., 1729. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.

 
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