How does Jonathan Swift use sarcasm in a modest proposal?

Answer 1

There are two major parts of the essay that the reader needs to identify before trying to understand the dark satire that follows in the rest of his proposal. There is the part where the reader realizes Swift is joking (about his proposal), and what his proposal actually is. Swift drops subtle hints to his joking manner throughout the first few paragraphs. The first instance of satire appears at the last sentence of the second paragraph when Jonathan proclaims, "whoever could find out a fair, cheap and easy method of making these Children sound and useful Members of the commonwealth would deserve so well of the publick, as to have his Statue set up for a preserver of the nation." (Swift) No one should actually believe that he wants a statue in his honor is he should solve this dilemma of the overpopulated, impoverished people in Ireland; but rather making a mockery of the 'system'.

Swift is a man of detail. His accounts of how many children there will be to consume, how they should be cooked, how many a child will feed, and what to do with the skin, but make gloves of course. His goal was not to disgust you in way that you should dislike him and his thoughts, but to scare you into the reality of how big a problem these impoverished children have really become. Their welfare, and the welfare of all citizens of the city, is what should come first and foremost. I believe that Swift is trying to present the worst possible solution to a disturbing problem. His goal is to shock you, and make you aware of what is happening now! There is a point around paragraph seventeen where, the reader may be questioning this guy's sanity, he throws in a claim to peace, stating, "as a little bordering upon cruelty, which, I confess, hath always been with me the strongest objection against any project, how well so ever intended." (Swift) I think this is his little disclaimer that, yes this is disturbing, but yes this is a problem and I am only offering one possible solution.

I, personally, have a taste for dark humor and found this essay to tap into my inner thoughts and way of processing them. The sarcastic tone in his voice was the easiest thing for me to pick-up on. His tone is full of mockery and snide, but not malicious remarks. A good example of this would be paragraph 24 when John states, "the constant breeders, besides the gain of Eight Shillings�by the sale of their children, will [also] be rid of the charge of maintaining them."

Answer 2

Jonathan Swift uses sarcasm in "A Modest Proposal" by presenting a satirical solution to poverty in 18th-century Ireland. By proposing that the poor sell their children as food for the wealthy, Swift sharply criticizes the British government's oppressive policies and the indifference of the upper class towards the suffering of the poor. The exaggerated and shocking proposal serves as a scathing commentary on the inhumane attitudes towards the Irish people.