Response to Swift

Response to Swift

Dr. Jonathan Swift, author unknown

Let me start with this – I was absolutely repulsed!  I was angered!  I found it almost impossible to continue reading after the first couple of paragraphs.  The only reason I did is because it is required for this English class.

In, A Modest Proposal, Swift identifies various socioeconomic problems, the main one being starvation of the poorest of people in 18^th century Ireland.  Swift looks for a plausible way to “fix” the problem.  His proposed solution is “a slap in the face” to the very embodiment of those who have created and caused these multiple closely linked problems.  In so much as his thought process in telling us his reasoning behind his suggestion to “fix” the problem as he sees it is logically appealing, however, I did not find it in any way to be either ethically or emotionally appealing. 

Swift makes fun of the English who have forcefully taken over his own beloved country of Ireland.  He exposes the hypocrisy or irony of the atrocities that the English are forcing on the Irish day in and day out through the detailing of his solution or remedy for all of the problems that were currently facing the Kingdom of Ireland.

 It seems to me that he is telling the new leaders of his great country – You have created this, you constantly complain about it but you won’t do anything about it, you won’t fix it – so here it is – I offer you a remedy for everything wrong in the land that you fought so hard to take control of.  His solution is certainly not serious, but nevertheless most difficult for me to read.