A Modest Proposal

A child is usually referred to as a messenger of God. When instead of respecting a child, people talk about using it for personal benefits that are entirely selfish; the act would be the most ruthless act in the history of mankind. Parents do not view their children as a burden to their lives, on the other hand parents are sometimes ready to sacrifice their on lives just to make sure that their children are safe and sound. But Jonathan Swift seems to have a different view about children. The proposal he puts forward as, "A Modest Proposal" is not at all modest. On the other hand it could be viewed as a cruel act. In "A Modest Proposal", Jonathan Swift puts forward a proposal to the dying and helpless people of Ireland to improve the condition of their life.

Swift's proposal involves selling a year old child for the purpose of serving as a replacement for a delicious, nourishing and wholesome food that would benefit everybody. Swift supports his proposal by saying that children just add to their parents' troubles. Instead they could be served as a delicious recipe on a table of a person who is worthy enough to buy the carcass. He

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thinks that this would lead to the improvement of the state as well as the parents. Swift compares the price of raising a child, which is two shillings to the price the parents would get at selling the carcass, that is ten shillings. Thus Swift thinks that the parents would make a gross profit of eight shillings for each baby they sell. The state would benefit, as the government would no longer have to worry about the increasing deaths caused due to famines and the increasing population.

Swift also thinks that enacting of this proposal will also solve the social and religious problems occurring in Ireland. He supports his horrific proposal by saying that it would greatly lessen the number of papists who are the principal breeders of the state. He further acknowledges that the men would stop beating their pregnant wives and instead take great care of them. He also seems to think that the annual profit instead of the loss would encourage women to take better care of their children.

Swift enumerates other benefits for the poor people of the nation from doing business of their children. He points out that the money earned could be used in repaying the debts that people would not be able to repay even if they worked their whole