"A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift is a satirical work that gives an extremely sarcastic solution to the problems that Ireland was having with poverty and overpopulation in the 1700s. He gives a series of unrealistic and simply absurd solutions to the problem that include the harsh treatment of children. The complete title of the work is "A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burden to their Parents, or the Country, and for Making them Beneficial to the Public." This can kind of give you an idea on the bizarre insights that the author is going to give. His all around solution is to "fatten up" the undernourished children and selling them into a meat market where they will be sold for food, thus solving the economic and population problems in Ireland. Swift does this through a very sarcastic and brash style that was very new for the time that he wrote it.
             Swift's main purpose of "A Modest Proposal" was to show the absurdity of the insensible acts that were being carried out by the Irish government. This essay had nothing to do with actually solving the problems in the country. He was mainly attempting to show the people of Ireland that this was the equivalent to what the government was allowing to happen. The poor were getting poorer and the rich were getting richer. Swift uses the word 'breeders' to refer to women. He is basically saying that they were treated as someone that kept mankind going rather than a provider. Some of the speaker's ideas could cause the reader to become disgusted with "A Modest Proposal" if they weren't aware that Swift was making a mockery of Ireland's political system.
             If one looks beyond the actual content of "A Modest Proposal" they will realize that the tone is one of utter disgust. Swift is simply expressing his disgust with the actions of the Irish government. He...