Literary Devices Used in “A Modest Proposal” of Jonathan Swift PDF

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FERDAUS 1  Literary Devices Used in “A Modest Proposal” (1729) of Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)      People have strived against injustice, discrimination and oppression for ages.  Human accounts have rich archives in criticism through writing than front line fighting.  Throughout the ages, writers and...

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FERDAUS 1 

Literary Devices Used in “A Modest Proposal” (1729) of Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)      People have strived against injustice, discrimination and oppression for ages.  Human accounts have rich archives in criticism through writing than front line fighting.  Throughout the ages, writers and social reformers have chosen to scrutinize society's  contradictory radioactivity through writing, in the field of literature. It is said that “The  pen is mightier than the sword.” Jonathan Swift (1667 - 1745) applied his pen as a  weapon to shape society. He piercingly criticized the bad facet of the personalities and at  the same time raised his voice against social degradation, upon a bigoted stance of the  state. Jonathan Swift is noted as the greatest satirist in English literature because of the  use of various literary devices in his writings, by deep intelligence. This paper is an  attempt to disclose the use of literary factors in Swift's "A Modest Proposal" (1729).    In this famous essay, Swift utilized satire to elucidate on particular legislative and  social interests that fumed and shocked him. He also has used trenchant wit, irony,  sarcasm and comparative logic and considerable propositions and supports to manifest  his point of view.     From the first stance, this is a classic layout of satire. Satire is a literary method in  which people’s actions or society’s traditions are ridiculed to lead social amelioration.  According to M ​ erriam Webster,​ satire is "1: a literary work holding up human vices and  follies to ridicule or scorn, and 2: trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and  discredit vice or folly" (“Satire,” def. 1 & 2). Jonathan Swift was an Irish, but he lived for a  long-drawn time in England. He regularly spurned the approach of his Irish brethren at  the hands of British politics while he spent a larger part of his time in England. In ‘A  Modest Proposal’, Swift applies satire to query the themes of civic exploitation, famine  and underprivileged kids.     When "A Modest Proposal" was penned, Ireland was caught in the trap of  inequality as well as poverty. The situation there was a complete exception from  England. England was rich while Ireland was then in famine. In this case, England's  policy towards Ireland shifted to authoritarian trend. Poor people who are victims of  discrimination join the begging profession on the streets with their small children.  Jonathan Swift, once, commented to illustrate the adverse situation as in a set of  publications named ​The Draper’s Letters​, — “Am I a freeman in England, and do I  become a slave in six hours by crossing the channel?”     At this point, Swift dropped his trust in England's strategy to war Ireland and  drafted his famous satire in which he criticized this discriminatory system of  aristocracy and kingdom with the utmost humility but with firm reasoning. He switched 

FERDAUS 2 

the fuss of these small children begging in the streets of Dublin to an offbeat  perspective, turning these children into an asset for the country that they might produce  income for the families, also can avail the state, and may lessen abortion from society.  He mentioned one-year-old children. Moreover, he mentioned several possibilities of  this trade-off. These are basically intense satirical criticism. People living in society will  never support cannibalism and will never think of their own children to be cooked. He  declares— "..a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious,  nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make  no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout." (lines 62 - 640).    One of the distinctive aspects of this writing is the use of verbal irony. Incipiently,  Jonathan Swift's humble proposal, by proposing to use children in cooking in a cruel  way, has expressed his intense annoyance and hatred as well as irritation towards the  kingdom. It is a special application of verbal irony. One of the satirist’s most certain  appliances is verbal irony, in which what is said is the opposite of what is suggested. In  the essay to indicate that the Irish resident should not be treated like beasts, Swift  differentiates them to animals, hence he opines: "I rather recommend buying the  children alive, and dressing them hot from the knife, as we do roasting pigs." (lines 187 -  188).    He successfully used rhetoric logic and reasoning to establish his point of view.  The aforementioned trait is clearly evident in this text. He frequently uses data and stats  to demonstrate the logic. For example, he says— "The number of souls in this kingdom  being usually reckoned one million and a half, of these I calculate there may be about  two hundred thousand couple whose wives are breeders..." (lines 35 - onwards). From  another point, he utters these phrases— "humbly propose" and "humbly propose" to  strengthen his logic in a modest way.    Moreover, throughout the whole essay, he provides proposition and support to  solve the problem but it is also a part of the satire. His assist, indeed, is an ironic  situation. Albeit “A Modest Proposal” is a satire, it is penned like a serious  problem-solution essay. To reach out a solution He says— “..whoever could find out a  fair, cheap, and easy method of making these children sound, useful members of the  commonwealth would deserve so well of the public as to have his statue set up for a  preserver of the nation.” (lines 12 - 15).     In the very end of the essay, he performs sarcasm by defining his very personal  situation. He says— "I have no children by which I can propose to get a single penny; the  youngest being nine years old, and my wife past childbearing." (lines 252 - 255).    All these qualities and the mastery use of literary devices prove the essay as one  of the greatest works of satires. Therefore, it is also to be realized why Jonathan Swift is  acknowledged as the greatest essayist of English literature, all time. ...