Running Head: A Modest proposal
women to animals by giving birth to many children. Jonathan also refers women as “breeders”
implying that their role in society is to give birth and sell children. In this regard, women are
compared to livestock with a strategy of making them feel insignificant and dehumanized. This
strategy surprises the audience and they may feel disgusted by words he chose yet at the
beginning, he felt sympathy to women but at the end he does not show respect to them.
In addition, Swift describes meat of a child to be a big source of delicacy for special and
important occasions. He says that a child’s skin would make women’s “admirable gloves” and
fine men “good boots.” These words “admirable” and “fine” gives an elaboration of how people
who are wealthy make money for the poor. He later recommends women to make their children
fat and make them commodities by selling them because they are not able to raise them.
Moreover, he encourages women to eat their children to reduce food shortage despite him
being sympathetic to them in the beginning. He did not propose to the government ways in
which it would employ measures of providing the population with food security but he suggested
that beggars are supposed to give themselves as a delicacy to the wealthy. This is indeed a great
surprise ending to the audience.
In conclusion, the author clearly brings out surprise ending using literacy styles. He employs
negative satire, rhetoric, and irony to capture audience’s attention. He points out the
incompetence of the society in attaining moral behavior instead of blaming the whole population.
In addition, he surprises the audience by shocking them and making them think critically about
values and policies imposed on society.
