Written by Jonathon Swift
1729
This piece of text was written during a time of intense political and economic turmoil in Ireland. England was in the process of putting trade restrictions and Ireland was desperately poor and dangerous. It also exposes how the English Aristocracy thought of the people of Ireland. The main point of the book is that the Irish people would benefit immensely from selling their children to the Irish aristocracy. The struggle of having to raise a child would be removed and the families would receive an immense amount of money for doing this. It would also end the amount of abortions of bastard children and encourage people to keep their children for longer. The theme of abortion is something that seems extremely similar to how it is perceived today. Many of the rich and powerful view abortion as not acceptable and will stop at all costs. Swift makes logical and economic points to support his satirical claims. He also goes into disturbing detail on how the rich could use the children for many different things. He states that the skin will be made into Gloves for ladies as well as Summer Boots for fine Gentlemen. Another argument is that it’s better to just give the children away before they get older and just take up space. One of the other big themes is the battle between Catholics and Protestants. This could be where the stereotype originated for how people believe that Catholics have a lot more children than they can afford. It’s very possible that the rich could just agree with this completely and not even question this. The critique of how the rich operate now and today has not changed much as many of the things they partake in remain the same. A Modest proposal has been a hidden gem to look at and it should really be studied more.