Friday, February 3, 2012

Jonathan Swift's a Modest Proposal


Swift identifies and explains the hunger and overpopulation if his society, of Dublin Ireland in 1729. His “scheme” as he called it was to care for and provide for the children born to the poor until the age of 1 year then sell them as a delicacy. It would provide income, eliminate another mouth to feed, and actually feed a whole family with good “infant flesh”.

Thankfully, Swift was not serious when he suggested eating babies to solve the hunger and overpopulation problem in Dublin in 1729. He was criticizing the political and economic policies of Ireland and England. Ireland was downtrodden filled with the poor facing disease, starvation, and prejudice.
I got my Background context from http://www.enotes.com/modest-proposal-criticism/modest-proposal-jonathan-swift. I wanted to know what was going on in the 1720's Ireland that caused this proposal satire.
His solution is totally irrational. It would never work for countless reasons. People have an ethical issue with cannibalism especially eating babies. I think most women would not want to give up any of their babies, but I suppose if things got bad enough they felt ending the baby’s life would be the most humane thing to do it could happen. I think if someone really didn’t have scruples they could just produce children to sell them, like potentially a prostitute or drug addict. Potentially a person could also imprison women for the sole purpose of making and selling babies, like cattle.
Swift’s proposal is horrifying but if we were lacking any sort of principals, ethics, or morals it would be a viable solution. I figure if we were all animals eating and surviving would be the only thing we were looking for. His evidence is the sheer number of beggars and mouths to feed. It is especially true for the Irish Catholics he refers to as “constant breeders”.

Source of information: http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/ModProposal.html, http://www.enotes.com/modest-proposal-criticism/modest-proposal-jonathan-swift
image from: http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Baby_farming

12 comments:

  1. Hello again,
    I enjoyed the analysis of Swift's essay. I liked you analogy to women breeding like cattle. That would take some kind mental state to do that. Me being male I could toss a baby to the sharks, no problem. I hope you sense the satire in that one. I really liked the flow, and the content of your post. Your link to the notes was very helpful. Look forward to reading more of your work.

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  2. I agree with alot of your views as American's we really do not understand this kind of poverty. In some country's canabalism is a thing of a not so distanct past. Also think of some American cases like Donner. In pioneer times on the Oregon trail, hunger let these peole set aside thier morals and commit canabalism.The time era we are talking about there was not birth control and probably sex was the only good thing in their lives. I tried your links they didn't work for me. I have one that I used that wouldn't work. I wish I were better at this.Thank you for yoyr review.

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    1. I just had the one link and the one picture. The other 2 at the bottom were not supposed to take you anywhere. Those were just the sources I used in research and for the picture. Thanks for your imput. I enjoyed your insights.

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  3. First off, nice picture. I winced when I noticed a baby was in the sandwich. You made some good points. It's interesting what kind of mindset one would have to be in to actually consider this a viable solution. Like you said, you'd have to be nothing more than an animal, desperate to keep yourself alive. Of course, I don't even know a mother animal would eat or give away her own baby. The proposal does get people thinking of a possible solution, though...even if the actual proposal is ridiculous and shouldn't be considered. Good analysis, Kate. I enjoyed it.

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  4. Lets just start off with the picture. That has to be one of the funniest things i have ever seen. Is that a real baby? You know they make them look so real now days. If so bravo to the parents. Back to the Post, I do see it being a viable solution in a certain circumstance. With saying that I think it is disgusting to think about but humorous on how swift went about it. He made sure everyone in the situation understood what was going on but brought it to light in a dark manner. I enjoyed your post, keep the pics coming, that's how i enjoy reading. HA

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  5. Did that baby taste like veal? I have this English friend who says baby is delicious... Good on you for doing some research on the history before touching the analysis. I think you've hit the nail square on the head about it being a morally bankrupt solution. Oddly enough, there are people today who have more children than they can support and think we owe them a living.

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  6. I agree that Swift was not serious in his essay but that he was criticizing the politicians and the government about the way they were handling the situation. There are many ethical issues that would keep this from ever happening but he makes the reader think of how poorly these people were being treated and that a more humane resolution was required.

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  7. Wow, great picture for Swifts article. You gave a good interpretation of the overall point of the article I think. A shocking article like that must have opened the eyes of many at that time to how serious the situation was in Dublin. The solution actually could have worked if people were into eating babies or mothers wanting to sell their babies for food. What a world that would be...even though there are people out there who would love to eat a baby.

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  8. I really hope that no woman could ever give up their child for the purpose of it being eaten but then again, people are capable of some horrible things. You are right though, he was not serious at all and his essay was meant as complete satire. I think you may have focused a little too much on what he actually wrote though (about eating babies) instead of focusing on his purpose for writing it.

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  9. I personally don't find it hard to believe that a woman would produce a baby to be eaten. After all, look at reality TV shows these days. Ladies like the "Octo-mom" and others already have been exploiting their children for a long time now, for attention and money. Similarly there were cases a few years back of female Olympic athletes getting pregnant, so that the boost in hormones would enhance their athletic performance in training. Then, after the Olympic games were over, the athletes had aborted the barely conceived children,so that they wouldn't have to deal with the unwanted pregnancy. Yes, this actually happened. Jonathan Swift was joking, and I thought he was hilarious, but the truth is people are capable of horrifying things.

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  10. I liked your thoughts on the whole eating your young deal, however, I feel like it's so far fetched that it's really hard for me to imagine having to do that. It is so frowned upon in our society that it would probably never cross many minds in this country. I wonder what it would be like if that's what this country came to one day, if we would actually end up eating our infants. It's an interesting thought, but like I said, it's very hard for me to imagine, and I really don't want to imagine it. I love your picture though and your thoughts on your essay itself were very well written.

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    1. It would not be so far fetched, in another country that is not so well off. If you and your baby were going to starve to death, it would be a different thing. In this country we dont have the sort of widespread poverty they had back then.

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