A Modest Proposal: Satire as a Joke on Everyone

A Modest Proposal: Satire as a Joke on Everyone
In Johnathan Swift's most well known article, A Modest Proposal, Swift is trying to conceive the point of all the poor children living in Ireland. He is pointing out all the ills done by the British Republic onto them, and doing this using the literal weapon of Satire. Satire is a way to point out all of society's folly, and to try and make the wrong obvious for needed change using humor. Johnathan Swift's A Modest Proposal fits this definition very well. To use satire is a very effective way to prove a point, and a great way to hold a mirror to society's wrong doings and opposing viewpoints of ignorance. There are many ways to use satire, and many layers to it. As you will see, Swift uses many of the different parts of satire and has many layers in his article. Johnathan Swift is an amazing satirist, and is one of the few who saw through society's fake cover, and to the real, underlying folly of it. He proves that satire is very effective.
In  A Modest Proposal, Swift is Specifically targeting the British Republic. and trying to expose the problems with their heavy exportation of Ireland's food to their own country, and proving the extreme inequality among them. He comes from a rich and well endeavored family that has given up their traditional Catholic ways to be on top, and is in a great position to see all of the underlying problems with this matter. Johnathan, being one of the few educated men in Ireland at the time, decided to take action in the most effective way he could. He decided to write an article to be published in Britain, exposing all the problems that Ireland was facing. He wanted them to have a inside look at what was really happening in the country they knew so little about, besides being a newly claimed land from which most of their meat came from. This is where the whole idea of satire comes in. Satire is entirely made to make fun of a group, while still having a sense of humor about it to keep the targeted group aware. This is the beginning of satire.
With this, Swift starts to write A Modest Proposal. He begins by stating the problem he sees. "It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin doors, crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags and importuning every passenger for an alms. " (Swift, 1). In this opening, there is a literal and deeper meaning, to prove the point of satire. On the surface, Swift is simply adverting the reader's attention to the problem he wants to solve and giving the reader an inside look to the impoverished life of children in Ireland. He wants the reader to begin feeling bad for the children. The deeper meaning, is much more than that though. Swift is using the poor children of Ireland as a simple representation of the large population of poor and hungry people in Ireland. He wants the reader to feel bad for the children, but he also wants British readers to become aware of just how much they were really taking from the Irish. He pokes fun at the idea of anyone in Ireland being able to make an "honest livelihood" in Ireland, which was far from what these poor mothers had on their list. He is using the tool of logic in this excerpt. He begins to open up the reader to the real problem, and gets them ready for his proposal. 
After Swift states this problem, he continues to point out the many other examples of the largely hungry population of Ireland. He then, with the reader now intently aware of the situation, proposes his solution to all the hungry people in Ireland. "I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in
London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout." (Swift 3) What Swift is proposing, is literally for Irish families to eat young infants. He proves all the advantages to this, and why this is the most fitting solution for their problem. But the deeper meaning of this is much different. He is first poking fun at Americans, making them seem savage in such a way that they would eat their own children. In another layer, he is also targeting the British again. He wants the reader, if they are really aware of the real point of this, to know that this is what the British has pushed them to. He wants to prove the point that the British have taken so much, and without any other option, were forced to resort to cannibalism. He uses the tool of resentment, guilt, and sarcasm to show how far the British have forced them. After this, if the reader has enough guts to continue, Swift continues to prove advantages and the up-side of eating children. He next strikes at the landlords and Nobles of Ireland, crushing the poor Irish peoples. "I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children." (Swift, 4) This is the most obvious example of satire in the whole article. Literally, Swift is saying that after his plan is put into play and people start to accept it, children will become a regular part of their diet, and even a delicacy in some cases. The deeper meaning however, is quite good. Underneath, Swift is pointing out the landlords folly. He is saying that the landlords, so accommodated to devouring the parents in bills and cruelty, would be savage and mean enough to eat their tenants' children without even a second thought. He is proving the landlords desire to "eat up" their tenants without the slightest care for them as real people. He is using the tool of logic and exposure. The reader, if they were British or not, of any education level, would surely understand this now. 
Next, Swift starts to wrap up his point with a few more jabs and then concludes it promptly. He starts to really turn the heat up on the British. He begins to talk more about the poor tenants to the rich in Ireland and states, "Their corn and cattle being already seized and money a thing unknown." (Swift, 6) This is literally saying that the tenants are indeed poor, and money is almost never in their hands being taken so promptly after earning it. They barely have enough money to get by, and no left over from paying rent for any other necessities. The deeper meaning is just about that, except more directed at the British. He is saying that this is in fact what has happened to Ireland, and this is a common sight of how poor people really were there. He wants to show that the Irish aren't just poor, they are really, really poor. He is using the idea of sarcasm and logic. He then begins to return to targeting the British with his baby-eating solution. He begins to talk about the profit to be made in benefit to the British with his idea. "...beside the profit of a new dish introduced to the tables of all gentlemen of fortune in the kingdom who have any refinement in taste." (Swift, 6). He is using this as the literal meaning of the fine gentlemen in Britain to come and soon enjoy children as a delicacy. More "fancy" people will take to this idea, and it will catch on. But the deeper meaning is hilarious. In the deeper layer, he is saying that the British are already barbaric and savage, why would they be opposed to this idea? They should love eating Irish children. They are already metaphorically doing it. He uses the idea of logic and sarcasm to prevail this. Swift finally makes a few more points, and wraps up his idea with many more examples of satire.
With this, Swift is a great satirist. He is proof that satire is an effective way to bring about change, if people are truly understanding and not ignorant. The ignorant cannot fully understand satire, so it is ineffective to those who choose not to listen, as with everything. But this is not who satire is targeting. Satire is meant for the undecided, and, if one side of a debate uses satire and the other doesn't, the side with satire is almost destined to get most of the undecided, if not only their attention but also their support. This is why satire is an effective form of debate, and why Swift is a great example on how satire can bring about change effectively.