A Modest Proposal September 12th
Quote:
“I do therefore humbly offer it to public consideration, that of the hundred and twenty thousand children already computed, twenty thousand may be reserved for breed… that remaining hundred thousand may, at a year old, be offered in sale to the persons of quality and fortune through the kingdom”
Throughout this paragraph, Swift provides quite a few statistics about births in Ireland, this I believe is to give the essay more of a comedic effect. Since this essay was intended to be a satire and calling for a genocide isn’t such a “modest proposal,” one way to attempt to make this subject matter funny is to really try to sell this idea to people. Throughout this essay, Swift routinely ignores the sheer cost of lives and instead talks about the benefits of fewer Catholics, less spent on resources to keep children alive, and the encouragement of marriage.
In this paragraph, Swift uses the word savage to describe the Irish people, even comparing the lack of marriage among Irish families to the breeding of swine, sheep, and black cattle. Swift uses this derogatory language to back up his proposal, and to draw comparisons as to how the British landlords treated Irish peasants.
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