A modest proposal

Jonathan Swift left the clues to solving Irelands problems while mocking the government. He
begins by stating that he is not too hell bent on carrying out his plan, and would indeed accept
the idea of another be it a wise one (Swift 342). He then goes onto to say that the ideas of said
person must first attend to two problems. As things now stand, how they will be able to find
food and raiment for an hundred thousand useless mouths (342). Mr. Swift asks them to consider
all the hungry mouths of poor children who do not work and are useless. The second point is
what they will do with all the people who have no money and are just acquiring more debt. The
hidden meanings behind these words are very clever as Mr. Swift has just revealed to the readers
the real problems at hands in a very subtle manner. If we were to bring out the true thought
behind these words it would be, if you want to solve Irelands problem, these are the issues you
really need to address. Swift continues to leave clues while being very cheeky by point out the
crimes committed against the Irish with an ironic and sarcastic tone. He states that the people of
Ireland would rather have been eaten around the age of one, like he proposed, than be forced to
work for oppressive land lords, and pay an impossible amount of rent without trade or money.
Here we can see that swift has revealed to the reader the harsh reality of the Irish men and
women without breaking the key elements of a satire. The fact that he tries to make his modest
proposal sound like heaven compared to the reality of things is genius. When we look at this
satire analytically, swift is trying to say if you think my proposal is bad. Look at the reality of
things.