Who is the proposer in a modest proposal

The author begins detailing his proposal, saying that he hopes it "will not be liable to the least Objection.

He proceeds to offer suggestions as to the sort of dishes that might be prepared from their meat. After this quick outline, the author moves on to the specifics of the proposal.

First, he discusses the price of the meat. Since a one-year-old baby weighs, on average, only twenty-eight pounds, the flesh will be relatively expensive. These children, therefore, will be marketed primarily to Ireland's rich landlords, who, as Swift points out, "have already devoured most of the Parents" anyway. Second, he speculates that the new foodstuff will be in season year-round--with perhaps a particular surge in the springtime.

The cost of nursing a "Beggar's Child" to marketable age is 2 shillings a year. The cost of the meat will be ten shillings, and the profits of the sale will be mutual: the mother will make eight shillings, and the landlord who buys the child will not only have "four Dishes of excellent nutritive Meat," but will also enjoy an increase in his own popularity among his tenants.

In times of need, the skin could also be used for leather. The author does not doubt that there will be plenty of people in Dublin willing to conduct these transactions and to butcher the meat. He then tells of a friend's proposed "Refinement on my Scheme," which was that, in light of the shortage of deer on the estates of Ireland's wealthy Gentlemen, teenage boys and girls might be butchered as an alternative to venison--especially since so many of these young people are already starving and unable to find employment.

Swift, however, resists this idea, protesting that "their Flesh was generally tough and lean He then acknowledges a general concern about the vast number of elderly, sick, and handicapped among the poor, who are no more able to find work than the children. Having been asked to consider how the country could be relieved of that burden, Swift declares himself unworried--these people are dying off fast enough anyway.

The irony of Swift's piece turns on the assumption that his audience, regardless of their national or religious affiliations or their socioeconomic status, will all agree to the fact that eating children is morally reprehensible. Parents Home Homeschool College Resources. Study Guide. By Jonathan Swift. Previous Next. The Proposer Narrator Who is this guy proposing that the Irish eat their own children? He's methodical in his analysis of Ireland's poverty and completely unaware that he's suggesting anything ridiculous: I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least objection.

The guy knows how to make a good argument: A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends, and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in the winter. Big Words and a Bigger Ego The Proposer is slow to come to the main point, mainly because he is so thorough in explaining his reasoning. Number and Kid Crunching In addition to using big words, the Proposer seems to really like numbers.

Where is Swift? The Proposer even turns up his nose at some of Swift's former suggestions for improving Ireland, like taxing our absentees at five shillings a pound; of using neither clothes nor household furniture, except what is our growth and manufacture, […] of being a little cautious not to sell our country and consciences for nothing.

Ladies and gentlemen, behold a Swift trademark zinger: For this kind of commodity will not bear exportation, the flesh being of too tender a consistence to admit a long continuance in salt, although perhaps I could name a country which would be glad to eat up our whole nation without it.

What's Up With the Ending? Tired of ads? Join today and never see them again. Get started. Download this LitChart! Teachers and parents! Struggling with distance learning? Our Teacher Edition on Modest Proposal can help. Themes All Themes. Symbols All Symbols.

Theme Wheel. Everything you need for every book you read. The way the content is organized and presented is seamlessly smooth, innovative, and comprehensive. The unnamed speaker in A Modest Proposal is not Jonathan Swift himself, though at first he may appear to be.

Rather, he is an exaggerated persona meant to represent a class of people whom Swift especially disdained. He is a fastidious but entirely deluded planner, whose grand designs for the improvement of Irish society fail to take into account the most basic assumptions of human decency and morality.

For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:. A Modest Proposal Quotes. Related Characters: The Proposer speaker. Related Themes: Satire and Sincerity.

Page Number and Citation : 52 Cite this Quote. Explanation and Analysis:. Page Number and Citation : 53 Cite this Quote. Related Symbols: Eating. Page Number and Citation : 54 Cite this Quote. Related Themes: Colonialism, Greed, and Inhumanity.