“A Modest Proposal” Analysis
In the proposal “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathon Swift, the author uses excellent form to support the meaning. The thesis of this proposal is for all the babies that are born to be eaten as if they were animals. The author says that by doing this it will relieve the burden of children on parents and will provide a source of revenue for the parents. This proposal of Jonathan Swift is satirical and is meant to make fun of the British landlords, who take advantage of the people of Ireland.
The first way Jonathan Swift uses form to support the meaning is by using terms that make it seem like killing these babies are just like killing any other animal. He basically is saying that the British landlords are treating us like animals so may as well refer to babies as animals. For example when swift is taking about the skins of the babies he says, “…the skins of which, artificially dressed, will make admirable gloves for ladies, and summer boots for fine gentlemen.” When someone says something like this you would think that they are referring to an animal like a cow fro leather but in this case he is referring to babies. Another example of this is when he says, “… they soon would become breeders themselves….” He is referring to women as breeders, as if they were chicken producing eggs. Another thing that he keeps on referring to, are dead babies as carcass. When a human dies you usually refer to it as corpse and when an animal dies you refer to it as a carcass. This proves that the author is using animal language to refer to babies to make fun of the British Landlords.
Another way Jonathan Swift uses form to support the meaning in this proposal is when having long sentences and repetition of the word “Of.” In one paragraph of this proposal Jonathon Swift uses a series of “:” and “Of.” What I think Jonathan Swift is trying to do is show emotion through the sentence structure. When people are arguing and angry they go on long passionate...