A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift

Today we live in an age of satire, in which everything we see is so readily parodied that we often begin to lose the meaning of such an act in the first place. However many of these modern satirists do have points that they wish to make, as well as inspirations for doing so. Arguably one of the biggest influences on satire as we see it today was none other than the Irish author Jonathan Swift. Swift’s style of writing was iconic and very often ageless, as he frequently merged the general and specific in order to create cutting commentaries on the issues of the world. In particular he was known for his use of irony, parody, and personas in order create claims while remaining detached from them as an author and leaving his reader guessing as
to his true feelings.

Within this essay I will be referring to 3 of Swift's writings.
The first and likely the most well known is his essay “ A Modest Proposal” which was written to address the population and poverty problems in Ireland at the time of it’s publication. This piece was aimed at both common folk and government alike and used the satirical message of how the Irish people should adopt cannibalism to disguise it’s message about how the Irish government was failing and how he felt the people should react. Second is an excerpt from Swift’s book “Gulliver’s Travels”, which is about a man who suddenly finds himself on an island of tiny people and becomes entangled is their issues. This piece provided an outside look into the seemingly arbitrary and ridiculous arguments of government that was meant to make the common people rethink the validity of their government and it’s issues. Finally we have “ Meditations on a Broomstick” which is an excerpt from Swift’s book titled “ The Battle of the Books”. In this piece we witness our speaker contemplating the nature of a broomstick and how it relates to humankind. This particular excerpt is much more frank in stating it’s views and offers a negative view of man on which the reader
reflects.

Within each of these pieces Swift’s style is quite apparent, and can be described through several elements. The first major element is Swift’s frequent use of personas, or in other words how Swift creates a character to speak through. For example in “Gulliver’s Travels” Swift speaks from the perspective of Gulliver, while in “A Modest Proposal” he adopts the guise of a simple and concerned irishman (Sources 4&5). The purpose of such a persona is that it allows Swift to remove himself from his claims and allow the reader to receive them from exactly the perspective that Swift feels will best sell the point. Not to mention his frequent use of quite candid tones helps put the reader at ease about the credibility of his claims. Often secondly comes Swift’s frequent parody of common human themes and types. For example in “Gulliver’s Travels” Swift describes the political conflicts of the island of lilliput, such as the debate over the size of the heels on one’s shoes and which end of an egg one breaks in order to eat it (Source 5, Pages 1-2). These parodies take relevant issues to extremes in order to highlight the true problem behind them, and Swift’s tone when presenting these parodies is often one of either severity or indifference which usually contributes to the argument that how we consider such subjects normal is ridiculous. Finally comes the use of irony which in the words of Samuel Rogal “is especially effective because it obscures even Swift’s deepest feelings on his subject”(Source 3, Page 3). Or in other cases his irony can also serve to accentuate rather than tame it. Such as in “Meditations Upon a Broomstick” in which Swift’s speaker describes how much like a broom, a person also spreads “the very same pollutions he pretends to sweep away” (Source 2). Throughout many of these techniques Swift’s main goal is often to highlight what he feels to be a wrong within humanity or society.

Additionally once one looks into Swift’s life and history it becomes no wonder why he is so particularly fascinated with these themes.
In particular Swift’s writings made many inquiries into the nature of politics and the morals behind it. This could be credited to the fact that he spent 10 years working under the english statesman Sir William Temple (Source 1). It is also quite noteworthy that many of Swift’s writings, particularly “A Modest Proposal”, follow many of the teachings of the classic rhetoric and structure from his time (Source 3, Page 2). This also comes as little surprise as Swift received a variety of classical literary training from his time within both Kilkenny Grammar School and Trinity College (Source 1). Finally SWift’s frequent messages of disdain towards the Irish government can largely be attributed to the events of his time. In particular the overthrowal of the king of Ireland, England and Scotland in what became known as the Glorious Revolution of 1688, spurred a time of great turmoil in Ireland that would eventually lead to an Irish rebellion after Swift had passed (Source 1. Source 3, Page 2).Taking all these into account Swift’s particular themes and disdain for the Irish government were certainly
understandable.

All in all Swift’s style is without a doubt a large inspiration for the many forms of satire we see today. Not only does he maintain a particularly sharp wit towards those he is opposed to, but he also is able to dull his true feelings towards his claims in order to fashion a far more accessible claim. His iconic blend of soft humor and sharp wit create arguments that are both incredibly convincing and also vastly entertaining.