Cannibalism and Politics -Hanna A.

Jonathan Swift, in “A Modest Proposal,” is writing a satirical political commentary about overpopulation, poverty, and the icy attitude of the upper classes towards the lower—particularly Irish—classes. He especially pokes fun at religious affiliation, and how Catholics have way too many children. He also assumes that Americans are savages, and promotes his own savage opinion by citing an American on how it is most definitely a good idea for the upper class to become cannibals and eat all the children of the lower classes.

Swift satirically solves the problem of overpopulation. However, he clearly has very little knowledge of how children actually are, or what the process of child rearing is like. He writes, “I have reckoned upon a medium that a child just born will weigh twelve pounds, and in a solar year if tolerably nursed increaseth to twenty-eight pounds” (2635). Very few children are born weighing twelve pounds, and woe to the mother who bears a child that heavy. Most newborns weight about eight pounds or less unless they are overdue or particularly large. In sections like this, Swift betrays his satirical voice by have incorrect facts that exaggerate the reality of what he is actually talking about.

Swift goes on to describe in rather crass terms just how one might use every bit of the child that is killed. He mentions flaying the skin in order to “make admirable gloves for ladies, and summer boots for fine gentlemen” (2635). It is truly disturbing to actually think about these images, and shocking that Swift was able to write such a piece at the time when he was living.

It seems that the literal cannibalism that Swift is describing in “A Modest Proposal” stands for a different and more metaphorical cannibalism of his society politically. He uses political rhetoric to say that this idea is the bottom line and it solves practically every problem by itself. Swift is clearly making fun of the politicians of his time by coming up with a completely ludicrous, cruel, and morally disturbing proposal in order to bring into perspective the kind of manipulation that happens rhetorically with politicians. It is a very effective tool and is hard to miss in this particular work, which is absolutely dripping with political satire.