Wednesday, September 26, 2012

What element of satire is evident when Swift says that England will not mind if Ireland kills and eats babies?

Near the end of "A Modest Proposal," Jonathan swifts writes that
his plan of using Irish children as food "can incur no danger in disobliging England"; in other
words, he is sure that England will not mind if Ireland eats its babies. Swift also mentions that
it would be impractical to export the child meat, because it would require salting for
preservation; however, he could "could name a country that would be glad to eat up our whole
nation without it."


Both of these sentences are references to the
English exploitation of Ireland in Swift's times. In those days, England essentially used Ireland
as a colony, milking its labor, resources and crops for English
profit.


When Swift indicates that England would not mind if Ireland
ate up its babies, he is really saying that England already is eating up Ireland's "babies." This
is an example of irony, which is always an important element in satire.

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