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A Modest Proposal Summary

This satirical essay by Jonathan Swift outlines a ridiculous proposal to help address the problem of poverty in Ireland by selling and eating poor people's children. Swift suggests keeping 20,000 children for breeding and selling the remaining 100,000 to the wealthy as food. He argues this would reduce overpopulation, give the poor money, and introduce new culinary delights, though he hopes to draw attention to the government's inaction on real poverty solutions through his absurd proposal.

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678 views

A Modest Proposal Summary

This satirical essay by Jonathan Swift outlines a ridiculous proposal to help address the problem of poverty in Ireland by selling and eating poor people's children. Swift suggests keeping 20,000 children for breeding and selling the remaining 100,000 to the wealthy as food. He argues this would reduce overpopulation, give the poor money, and introduce new culinary delights, though he hopes to draw attention to the government's inaction on real poverty solutions through his absurd proposal.

Uploaded by

unzila noor
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A Modest Proposal Summary

This essay, written by Jonathan Swift in 1729, is a satire in which he


outlines suggestions for helping the poor people of Ireland in ridiculous
ways. Although the problem he describes is real, he chooses to deal with it
in a mocking manner because the government is not taking the poverty
issue seriously or doing anything to relieve the problem. He hoped that this
essay would grab their attention.

He begins by honestly explaining the problem that Irish families are


facing. Parents are unable to feed their children. Mothers have to beg or sell
themselves in order to provide for their families. He explains that they need
to find a fair, inexpensive, and quick way to assist these people who are
lacking basic necessities.

Since children are basically nourished through their mother's milk for the
first year of their lives, he has a suggestion for what they should do with
infants once they reach the end of their first year of life. He lists some
approximate numbers of people in Ireland leading to the conclusion that
approximately 120,000 children are born there each year. Therefore, they
need to find something to do with this vast amount of children who are too
young to work or provide anything to their families.

He claims that he knows an American who assured him that children


make delicious meat when served in stews or other tasty dishes. Therefore,
he suggests that they keep around 20,000 children for breeding purposes,
and the remaining 100,000 be sold to people of high quality for food. Infant
flesh would always be in season, moreso around Lent because people tend
to procreate more in the nine months after the end of their time of
abstinence has ended. He suggests the skin of these children could be sold
separately to be made into such things as gloves or boots.

He realizes there will be objections to this practice, relating to the cruelty


or the fact that it doesn't help the hungry teenagers or the feeble elderly
who already are wasting away in Ireland. He believes many of them will die
off soon, and no longer be of concern. He wishes to focus on the advantages
of his solution rather than fixate on the minor problems with it.

First, it will lessen the number of Papists in their country as they are the
principal breeders. Second, it will give the poor something of value, which
they may sell to pay their bills. Third, it will provide a product which the
countrymen can produce themselves. Fourth, it will relieve the burden of the
parents for having to care for these children after their first year. Fifth, it will
bring new culinary delights to their restaurants. Sixth, pregnant mothers
would become revered and prized by their husbands.

He admits that it will result in a decrease in the number of inhabitants of


Ireland, but he believes this practice will unite the people that remain due to
the improved conditions and pride they take in the improvement of their
nation. He asks that if anyone have a better suggestion for solving the
poverty problem that they come forward and let it be known.

He sums up by saying he has no personal stock in enacting this system


as he has no young children, and his wife is past childbearing age

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