Essay Database

In Jonathon Swifts “A Modest Proposal,” one of the voices that is present throughout the story is that of irony. The story itself is ironic since no one can take Swifts proposal seriously. This irony is clearly demonstrated at the end of the story. Swift makes it clear that this proposal would not affect him since his children were grown and his wife unable to have any more children. It would be rather absurd to …

…once mentions what the poor people can gain after they have been paid the purchasing price. He only mentions the benefits of the rich. Swift wants the reader to believe that he was not attempting to bring harm to the people of his country, on the contrary, he was only trying to make his friends rich. This is another demonstration of the sarcasm and irony that Swift uses to both persuade and deceive the reader.