In his essay " A Modest Proposal" Jonathan Swift adopts the persona of an economist who is making a proposal of how to make Ireland a better place by getting rid of all of the orphan and pauper children. Through his use of Juvenalian Satire, Swift uses this type of cold-hearted, money minded businessman, to make a convincing argument as he explains the benefits this proposal would bring Ireland if followed, but gives little regard to its de-humanizing, immoral and inhumane characteristics.
             The tone of this essay is harsh, cold and callused. This persona exhibits little respect for the lives of children who aren't fortunate enough to be born to a family who has wealth and means to financially support them. Instead he is more concerned with the state that his country is in and how to benefit Ireland rather than to try to take care of and provide for the children as stated:
             I think it is agreed by all parties that this prodigious number of children in the arms, or on the backs, or at the heels of their mothers, and frequently of their fathers, is in the present deplorable state of the kingdom a very great additional grievance: and, therefore, whoever could find a fair, cheap, and easy method of making these children sound, useful members of the commonwealth, would deserve so well of the public as to have his statue set up for a preserver of the nation.
             The undeniable lack of respect for human lives is clearly evidenced by his intolerance for others who may have been less fortunate regardless of their age. His thoughts state very clearly that unless these orphans and paupers can be useful and contribute to the good of the country then they have nothing to offer and are only a nuisance.
             In this essay, Swift's use of Juvenalian satire is at its peak when he starts revealing the actual proposal. Juvenalian satire has been defined by Robert Harris as follows: " [A] harsher, more pointed, pe
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