(2179) Here we have another example of how Swift uses his setting as a perfect weapon for his argument. Not all people are respected and soome are treated badly. These statements are morbid but they are true and that is why this essay succeeds.

Swift's satire has a greter impact because he opens his argument up for debate. Any argument is allowable as long as it is "equally innocent, cheap, easy, and effectual" (2180). Furthermore, he writes to anyone that believes they have a better solution to the problems to:

ask the parents of these mortals, whether they would not at this day think it a great happiness to have been sold for food at a year old, in the manner I prescribe, and thereby have avoided such a perpetual scene of misfortunes, as they have since gone through, by the oppression of landlords, the impossibility of paying rent without money or trade, the want of common sustenance, with neither house nor clothes to cover them from the inclemencies of the weather,...

(2180)
Here we see a unique blend of satire and compassion. This essay would not make the impact it does without the problems being real. As we all know, there is alwys a bit of truth in satire and this is what makes the essay sting. We cannot see the satire and laugh at it without seeing the truth looming behind it. Swift is forcing us to look at a difficult problem that is not easy to solve. The easiest thing to do when we cannot deal with a problem is to look away and pretend that it does not exist. Swift looks directly at the problem and his "solution" only makes us more aware that it is more difficult to solve than we could ever imagine - in fact, it may be impossible to solve.

Modest Proposal" is not modest at all. Swift uses his setting to create a biting satire that attacks the government. Without the social and economic climate of his day, the essay would be considered a joke. However, as it is, the essay is insightful because it focuses on the strained conditions between England and Ireland.

Works Cited

Swift, Jonathan. "Modest Proposal." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol. II. Abrams, H. H, etal, eds. New York W.W. Norton and Company. 1986.