When reading a Modest Proposal I tried to keep track of all the specific targets it satirizes. The most obvious is the landowners, forcing common people into poverty, and England, with the comment on the impossibility of export of children’s flesh as it could not be salted, but what particularly caught my notice was a section I had overlooked in past readings that targets parents’ theoretical behavior if the child flesh selling scheme became reality. He claims that the policy would be a “great inducement” to marry, as once married they could produce children to sell, and this is another benefit as he says all societies should encourage marriage. Swift writes that women would compete amongst themselves to “bring the fattest Child to the Market” and even claims they would be more loving towards their children knowing they would not be a burden but rather profit them. He further claims that men would treat their pregnant wives like sows or mares, implying this would be an improvement and husbands would not hit their wives to avoid risking a miscarriage if they were able to sell the child as food. This section could simply be Swift advancing the satire to be as shocking and ridiculous as possible to serve the message of the text, but it seems that he is sparing a moment in his essay to satirize even the people who are suffering because of the other issues he proposes to solve with cannibalism. It could also be interpreted as another assault on the inequality of society, commenting on how the stress it places on families can destroy them. Interpreting the passage in this way, it is once again more of an assault on the establishment than it is on the tenant farmers and homeless. Most likely, it is an additional commentary on the greed of humanity overall. It’s a small passage and a brief note that I had not considered before, but it’s an interesting addition to the larger message of A Modest Proposal.