Dec 08 2008
Swift(ly), Now… (Period 1)
REACT to Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.”
26 responses so far
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Swift’s writing was very funny, yet disturbing. It’s funny to me that a caring parent who is unwealthy, would sell away their children for food to wealthier persons. You’d think a parent would want to look out for their children and get food for the children first. I found it disturbing that any parent would try such a thing. You’re responsibilty for an adult is to care for your child. However, due to the circumstances you shouldn’t sell your child away, you should attempt to trade and work before. If you believe that selling the child is what is best for both than do what you must, however I found this sarcastic essay very interesting.
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At first when I read this I thought to myself, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” I did not exactly know what a satire was, and that it was probably a good idea to look it up before reading the selection. However, I did not look it up until after reading. Thus I read the whole article thinking he author was serious about selling, literally, baby back ribs.
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My first reaction was horror that anyone would propose the feeding of poor children to the wealthy to lessen poverty. Then I paid more attention to the satirical aspects and tried to analyze the reading in a more humorous light. I definitely would have missed that his true intent was not to sell children as meat if we had not been told the reading was a satire.
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Swift’s use of satire can only be described as totally and utterly acerbic. His satire uses strong imagery and symbols such as cannibalism to approach the plight of Irish. It becomes obvious that his criticism is mainly focused on unforgiving landlords and deep religious prejudices against the impoverished Irish. In essence he intends to communicate the fact that the rich landlords already cannibalize the poor Irish both socially and financially. It elucidates upon the fact that those who hate the Irish view them as lowly and deplorable. It also shows that they treat the Irish as animals or commodities rather than as people. Swift’s satirical comparison of how Irish babies are like herds of sheep evokes deep sympathy for the Irish in the mind of the reader. This was truly a moving article, although its satire did seem a bit hyperbolic to me, it was effective in communicating its intended message.
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Similarly to Rob, I overlooked the true meaning of a satire (I didn’t realize the type of writing was significant to the work until I glanced at other blogs) and read Swift’s writing as a serious idea. Personally, I was shocked that Swift would propose and idea of having the wealthy feed the poor children who couldn’t be taken care of. Thankfully, I know now that this writing was not intended to actually occur.
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Knowing the satirical nature of this essay before reading it helped a lot, however, the suggestions made in it were still more than a little disturbing. While I doubt that any person in their right mind would make this type of proposal, I admire Swift for what he was trying to do, and think that his satirical point of view may have been affective in trying to make people think of better ways to solve the problems at hand.
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Initially, I was disgusted with Swift’s proposal of selling and eating children just to help curb the poverty crisis in Ireland. Then, after acknowledging the questions for the assignment, I realized that the essay was meant to be accepted humorously. After examining the essay, or trying to do so, I found it to be funny, and at times, arrogant, but keeping in check of what I would consider a satire.
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I’ve read satire, but nothing quite like this. To me, even to suggest killing or eating human beings in jest is offensive. At the same time, I like Swift’s sensationalism. He keeps the reader engaged, and I’m sure he got the attention of the literate public when he first published his modest proposal.
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I thought that Swift’s use of satire was very amusing. His suggestion mocks the lack of help the English did not give to the Irish. He insults his own culture to help make his point. He calls the list of suggestions that would be alternatives to child eating unimportant and ineffective if one eats the poor children. I found that while much of the details were morbid that his point was shown through his humorous sarcasm.
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Reading through Swift’s Proposal, I have to say that he does an excellent job of getting the point across. The proposal he makes is blunt and ludicrous, though at the same time it forces people to ask “What should we do instead?” The knee-jerk reaction is obviously, and rightfully so, to reject the idea presented. But being bludgeoned with harsh reality forces people to consider alternate solutions, of which Swift proposes several, in a roundabout fashion, lest his Modest Proposal become the only remaining option for the country.
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In the first two pages of the essay I was disgusted by the language. He uses such horrific detail that it becomes clear that he thought about it too much even though it is a satire. I think that as absurd as his ideas were he was just trying to prove a point. There are an absurd amount of people who need help and he uses his awful idea as a way to say the country needs some better ideas then his. After I finished, I thought that the writing was funny because he clearly was not serious about what he said about the children.
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When I read this, like some others not knowing if it was a serious writing or not, at first it seemed nice that someone wanted to write about caring and suggesting ideas to help poor beggars that he has seen. Then as I read what his ideas were, I couldn’t believe that someone would actually think of eating children as a way to solve a problem and in this case reduce the amount of people there are begging on the streets in rags. However, what bothered me even more about this was that he said this idea and his reasons for why it would be a great idea in such an innocent way, as if it was a great idea and there was nothing wrong with it. Eating babies, as if to ask why no one has ever thought of that before. I understand that someone would want to help a situation like this but I don’t understand why anyone would think of something like that as a solution. The one good thing about this was that it did indeed keep the readers attention. It was by no means a boring idea and definitely stood out. Also, as I found out it helps that it was not something that was intended to actually happen anyway.
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Swift’s essay reminds me of Futurama, when Fry travels back in time by putting stove-top popcorn in a microwave. Along the way, he accindentally canoodles his grandma and finds out he’s his own grandpa. It’s incest, sort of, but not real or repulsive enough to detract from the big picture. This is about how I felt about A Modest Proposal.
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When I began to read this, I was a bit shocked. I was not clear on the idea of what a satire was, and I probably should have researched it before i began to read. Reason being, that I would have had a much better understanding about Swift’s thoughts on “feeding on babies”. I would have precieved the thought in more of a humorous light than I did when reading. However, even after rethinking the whole essay, and reviewing what a satire was, I still found it to be a bit offensive, and crazy.
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I also overlooked the idea that “A Modest Proposal” was a satire. It was until after I read the story, that I realized it was a satire. While reading, I though Swift was completely insane and an extremely confusing man. Although, I did find his outlook definitely unique and very funny. After understanding that the reading was a satire, however, I began to believe that Swift is quite clever by giving examples of absolutely absurd ways to try to help homeless, which catches people’s attention. It also highlights that there are people who need help and urges people to get involved.
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When I was reading this work, I was shocked when I first came to the point where he presented his idea. As I kept reading, some sentences made it clear that selling babies as food was not his purpose. This idea became increasingly ridiculous as he went through the statistics and estimations. Swift’s writing made it obvious that he was extremely angry at the English and their judgmental way of ruling.
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I was amused after reading Swift’s essay for the fact that no sane human would be serious on the issues he presented. It is evident that he is mocking his culture and the issues that are present in his nation. The issues that he addresses throughout the essay, such as poverty, are serious concerns for the prosperity of the nation and its people. Swift does a fantastic job on illustrating serious problems in a satire way so that people are drawn into his nation’s problems and not drawn away due to the cliché call for help from other countries, or organizations. One of the most amusing lines in the essay was “Infants flesh will be in season throughout the year…” (Swift 560). This line proved to me that Swift’s real intentions are woven in his texts, but through an amusing means to portray them.
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It’s never okay to eat people.
The United States is over populated. You can barely move in China! But they eat every part of every animal in that country to help with the food problem. What if you’re mom had you and your 8 siblings, and just one day decided to eat you so she could cop out of paying the grocery bill?
This guy is old. He doesn’t have to worry about being sold and eaten. He just wants those poor kids out of his sight so his afternoon stroll in the park could be a little more pleasent. Not like he gets out anyway. He spends too much time indoors pulling numbers out of thin air, that are just big enough to somehow justify cannibalism to himself.
His work was written in 1729. You had to be someone to get published. I would bet any amount of money that this heartless pig of a man didn’t grow up on the street. Who does he think he is? Selling people like livestock to the rich! It’s too disgusting.
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I felt the essay ‘A Modest Proposal’ to be very presumptive. The author, Swift, felt that what he was suggesting would be accepted by all and that there was no harm in such a preposterous solution to a problem. He was aggrandizing the idea of it being posh to eat child’s flesh in order to reel in the audience of the rich and the powerful. It was a desperate attempt to reach out to the only possible audience, especially since the lower classes were bound to sympathize with the poorer children that were to become society’s next meal. All mothers, too, would sympathize, as the very purpose of motherhood would be put into question. They would be comparable to the sow that bred for meat. It seemed as if Swift was trying to mask the atrocity of his designs with supposedly accurate statistics as well as with the notion of classiness. That he would even dare think that his suggestion was ‘innocent’ disgusts me. That he would even dare even think such horrid things put into doubt the very goodness that humanity supposedly is. There is nothing humane, after all, in eating children, nonetheless another human being.
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As I began reading Swift’s article, I understood that he was going to propose an idea that he thought would eliminate Ireland’s problem of an excessive amount of poor people, starving and living on the streets. I was eager to read on, interested on his thoughts on how to solve this problem. The I was totally shocked and honestly confused when I read his proposition of selling and using unwanted babies as food and for material goods. I don’t beleive that Swift was being serious, but was just trying to make a point.
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At first, my reaction to Swift’s work was one of shock and disgust. I mean it must have been some desperate times back then. I did not really catch on to the satirical element of the story and I was convinced for awhile that Swift was deranged. In retrospect, I realize that the title itself was a big satirical element. “A Modest Proposal” really underplays the idea of cannibalism, especially cannibalism on a nation wide scale. Besides the title, I could not find any other satirical elements.
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Swift’s “blunt” style of writing was very disturbing. Selling children is a common joke (JOKE!) said by many parents, but the joke of selling children to become food is no laughing matter. Not only that, but Swift’s style of writing made this almost believable! I can safely say that when I have children, I will not sell them to a meat packing plant.
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At first, my reaction was one of disgust that someone would actually think of something like that. But after I thought more about it, the idea of taking care of poverty and hunger with one action by such an outlandish method brings to light how serious the problems really were.
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I was both amused and horrified by Swift’s essay. His idea that poor children should be eaten made me laugh out loud, yet it also horrified me that someone would write something like that. However, while I read the essay, it became clear that Swift was mocking his culture and the problems of his nation, most specifically the poor. He was also speaking to the English and their oppressive way of ruling.
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My initial reaction after reading “A Modest Proposal” was a mixture of horror and amusement. I knew his essay was meant to be satiric, as no one could honestly advocate selling babies as food. But the way he laid out his argument so seriously was a bit scary, and made me doubt for a minute whether he was trying to be satiric or was just insane. I guess that means he is a good writer, because he was able to convince the reader he believed in something that no sane person would.
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After I first read swift’s work I was taken aback and a little disgusted. It was heard to imagine someone really thinking in that way. But the more I thought about it the more I could see the satirical element entwined throughout the piece. By toying with the idea of cannibalism, on a nationwide scale even, Swift really highlights how serious the problems of hunger and poverty really are.
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