an to get themselves even more rich, as Swift states, "the money will circulate among ourselves, the goods being entirely of our own growth and manufacture.". Secondly, he also compares this type of meal to that of eating a pig. He elaborates by naming a variety of ways that you can cook the child, use if for bacon, or to make clothing.He never once mentions what the poor people can gain after they have been paid the purchasing price. He only mentions the benefits of the rich. Yet,Swift wants the writer to believe that he wasnt attempting to bring harm to the people of his country, on the contrary, he was only trying to make his friends rich. This is another demonstration of the sarcasm and irony that Swift uses to both persuade and deceive the reader.Opponents to this analyzation of A Modest Proposal would agree that there is irony present in the story, but it was intended to demonstrate the irony that a writer can use to persuade readers in a different sense. In this case this proposal was intended to make the upper-class examine the conditions under which the lower class lived. In fact it was intended to help the lower-class to gain more recognition from the upper class. If a reader does take his proposal seriously, then the use irony and sarcasm in Swifts writing is exemplified. But, if a reader takes note of the irony they will notice the true point of the story; the assistance that the lower-class needs. Either way, the irony is present and Swift gets his message across.In response, one could argue that the whole context of the story must be taken into account. First of all, one must take into account the environment in which the story was written. During this time period, the beggars that Swift describes could not read, much less afford to buy one of Swifts works. Swift was well aware that his audience was the well-to-do upper class. He could write proposal like this knowing that there would be no repercussions since the upper-cl...
