A Modest Proposal

In the modern Western world, Jonathan Swift is virtually synonymous with satire, a literary form and device that uses wit and irony to mock public figures or societal conventions. In the case of A Modest Proposal, Swift adopts the persona of a heartless and out-of-touch Anglo-Irish elite who contends that eating infants is the solution to poverty in Ireland. Although the narrator’s identity is not revealed, Swift models his rhetoric and argumentative techniques on several influential economic thinkers including William Petty. The success of the satire relies on Swift’s ability to create ironic distance between the narrator’s attitudes and Swift’s own beliefs. Although the satire is presented in a straight and deadpan manner, Swift easily signals his intent through the sheer absurdity of his premise.

Paralipsis is a device in which a writer or speaker argues a point while professing to deny its relevance or importance. Swift uses this device to great effect late in the essay when the narrator writes, “Therefore let no man talk to me of other expedients” (57), before launching into a list of far more sensible reforms that Swift himself likely supports.