ght in the title. There is certainly nothing "modest" about the "proposal" of eating the infants of impoverished Irish citizens. The irony accentuates how cruel and uncompassionate the powerful British Imperialists were, towards the destitute Irish population. The reader must realize that "Swift is operating independently of the narrator in a covert manner" (Phiddian 607). He develops the persona of the proposer to say exactly the opposite of what he feels. While the proposer suggests eating poor Irish children is particularly proper at "merry meetings, particularly weddings and christenings," this could not be further from the opinion of Swift. Nor does Swift actually believe that this plan will "increase the care and tenderness of mothers toward their children." (NA 1052) Moreover, the whole topic of cannibalism, is discussed with tongue in cheek and is meant to suggest that the British were devouring the Irish.
             Images of cruelty and evil put, forward by the narrator, weigh heavily in the theme of "A Modest Proposal." Throughout the pamphlet, the reader is bombarded with disturbing imagery of Irish people and their children being treated like livestock raised for consumption. The narrator refers to the parents of the children as "savages" (NA 1050) and "breeders" (NA 1051) and "dams" (NA 1048). Then he compare
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