An Overview on a Modest Proposal

Anas Hassani     11 avril, à 00:24
At the begining of his pamphlet, Jonathan Swift exposes the economic and political difficulties that his country goes through and because of which all the children, either those who are employed in beggary, or the children whose parents can’t provide for them; are to be used for some greater scheme as long as they will not be able to serve the country in the work field when they grow up. He proceeds to illustrate his plan for the poor’s children who, he thinks, would be more useful if they are sold, after they are one year old, as nutritive food to the wealthy for a very little sum of money regarding their one-year nursery expenses and their tasty, nourishing meat. Moreover; he adds one of his acquaintances viewpoint on his own scheme, which he humbly disagrees with, that involves lads and maidens of eleven and fourteen to be consumed as well in order to lessen the sharp shortage of venison in the country; an idea he perceived from the business of dead bodies. As for young and old people, the matter demands less concern as long as those people die every day of famine and cold and when hired to work, they are unable to perform it whatsoever. As a tentative attempt to prove the effectiveness of his scheme, the writer argues that his plan would lessen the number of papists in the commonwealth, would make the poor more better off, would save the country more money, people would acquire new eating habits, and marriage would increase eventually because parents would value more their children as long as they are their source of living. He, therefore; puts it clear that his relentless effort to establish a scheme to improve the social and economic condition of his country is confined only to his homeland considering the very special nature of his people and land. He confesses at the end of his pamphlet that his sole interest is to find a way to relieve the mobs, make the rich happier and ultimately help his country advance and prosper.