The modest proposal was written by Swift at a time when the Irish people were suffering due to problems caused by the overpopulation in the region. One of the major probems that the country was facing is poverty whereby there was a big difference between the poor and the rich. People were coming up with various proposals on how the problem of overpopulation would be solved. People were keen to evaluate these proposals so that their problems could be brought to an end.
In the introduction, the proposal introduces the writer of the proposal as a highly qualified individual who had come up with a good solution to the problems that the people were facing. It shows that the writer had enough knowledge of economics and politics and therefore his proposal would be the best among the many proposals. The introduction generally demonstrates the confidence that the author had in proposing the best method that could be used to solve the overpopulation and poverty problems. Reading this part convinces an individual that the writer is likely to give great hopes to the Irish people.
When an individual reads few more paragraphs, a surprise is experienced when the author proposes that raising more children is advantageous to the Irish people. The problem being addressed is how to reduce overpopulation and the author proposes increasing the number of children in among people (Swift, 2005). This creates a shock to the readers. A greater shock is experienced when the author proposes that the children who are one year and below should be sold to the English people. The author actually proposes that the newborn children should be sold to the English landlords who would eat the children as food. He gives an example of United States where the people who ate children and enjoyed their meals a lot. According to the author, the two problems facing the Irish people would be solved easily. First, when the children are sold and eaten, then it means that the population will reduce (DeGategno, 2006). Secondly, the Irish people would get money from the sale of their children and therefore their poverty would be eliminated. Therefore this means that the more children an individual raises the wealthier he/she becomes.
Evaluating the proposal up to the recommendation, the readers become disinterested with the proposal since they expected that according to the description of the author, a rationally made proposal would be availed to them. However, this proposal engages the minds of the people in that it appears rational since if implemented, it can actually solve the problems. However, the readers of the proposal view the author as an individual who is inhuman and does not value the life of human beings. The recommendation is itself not in accordance to the title of the proposal that makes the readers guess that the recommendation is modest. Having more children and then selling them for cash is actually not a modest thing.
Anybody who does not carefully read and understand the proposal views the author as an insane individual who is irrational and not humane. However, the author actually intends to show the people that when people eagerly seek to solve a certain problem may end up making a decision that is funny and dangerous (DeGategno, 2006). The author also criticizes the Irish people who view the people as numbers instead of human beings. Why should the citizens think of reducing the total population? Doing this is a way of saying that it is rightful to kill some people which is illegal. The proposal actually acts as a challenge to the people seeking tirelessly to find a way of reducing the population.
The whole proposal is ironic and sarcastic in that it tries to criticize those people who think that every problem they face is related to economics and therefore economic knowledge can help to solve the situation. He tries to show how people would come up with irrational solutions to great problems that face their country.
Reading through the proposal, I first realized that the proposal of the author is likely not to be in accordance with my expectations when the author suggests that more children should be born to solve the problems facing the Irish people. Rationally evaluating the situation, having more babies is not related to the process of reducing population in a country. In fact, the opposite is likely to happen in that the population is expected to increase.
However, the author has convinced me fully on the validity of the surprise that was not initially shown at the beginning of the proposal. In the first place, looking at his proposal shows rationality in that eating children reduces the number of people in the population and hunger in the region is eliminated. When the children are sold, the revenue is used to eliminate poverty among people. The decision however is unattractive in that not many people would be willing to sell their children. In addition, eating children is not acceptable in any society. Generally, the proposal shows how individuals come up with absurd decisions that are funny and unacceptable when they concentrate so much in solving a certain problem in the society. I am convinced that the proposal was not really a solution but was meant to criticize the people who are too busy seeking solutions to various problems they have.
References.
Swift, Jonathan (2005). A Modest Proposal. Accessed 28 Jan. 2005. Last updated 27 Dec. 2004. http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/swift/modest.html.
DeGategno, P. J., & Stubblefield, R. J. (2006). Critical companion to Jonathan Swift: A literary reference to his life and works. New York: Facts on File.
