Saturday, November 1, 2008

A Modest Proposal - Jonathan Swift

Swift truly is the father of modern satire, unfortunately true satire is a dying art form. "A Modest Proposal" is one of the most brilliant papers ever written. A biting idea proposed on handling the issues of poverty and overpopulation in Ireland.

The infamous proposal is the fattening, and eating of the children of the poor. Swift goes into great detail proving that his theory would work. Is he truly proposing that the English dine on "yearlings" as he calls them? Of course not... but he is showing that just because an option is available and COULD solve an issue, doesn't mean that people can stomach the ethics involved.

This should be MANDATORY reading in all schools... if nothing else perhaps the next generation will realize the importance and the power of satire.

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