Jonathan Swift’s Essay “A Modest Proposal” Essay

The purpose of Jonathan Swift’s essay is to satirize the solutions to poverty issues in eighteenth-century Ireland. The text begins with the description of the realities of society living in the time of famine. Families with starving children are a common sight on the streets. As parents do not have the resources to feed their children, they live in poverty. Mothers are forced into begging, while children resort to stealing and other crimes. The narrator reasons that the abundance of offsprings who have to be fed, yet do not produce any products and services themselves, is a burden to the kingdom. Since small children are not capable of work, they only constitute the source of expenditures to families and the country. The narrator mentions other public issues, such as abortions and deliberate child injuries. He believes that despite the children’s age, lack of skills, and continuous drain of resources, they still can be useful. The narrator calculates that until a child reaches the age of one, they are relatively cheap to feed since they only rely on their mother’s milk. Breastfeeding on a regular basis makes children healthy and increases their body mass. The narrator suggests that a proportion of the infant population can be sold to wealthy people as food. He reasons that his solution may resolve the abortion problem because all children will bring benefit to society, as well as end the famine as they can be served as meals. The narrator adds that the remaining number of children will be sufficient for breeding future generations. Overall, the essay is a satire meant to bring the mistreatment of poor people to public attention.