Modest Proposal Reaction to Swift's Term Paper

By focusing on elements such as how the babies should be fattened up, served, and prepared Swift actually minimizes the horror of his proposal. In addition, by mentioning the fact that some of his "breeders" already seek to terminate their children, whether through abortion or by killing newborns, Swift continues to minimize the horror of his proposal. After all, the thought of ripping a year-old babe from the arms of a loving mother so that it can be served up as a meal is absolutely awful, it does not compare with the horror of a mother doing something to willfully hurt her child.

Because Swift's argument did not go far enough, his satire does not make me feel as uncomfortable as one might imagine. There is something very flippant about the author's tone, which detracts from the seriousness of his proposal. Because it never seems like a serious proposal, it is very difficult for me to feel strongly about the argument. On the contrary, because the proposal does not seem serious, it makes it easier to inspect some of the underlying elements of the argument from an objective point-of-view.For example, just about everyone has met at least one person who treats his source of livelihood with more reverence and respect than his spouse or her family. Therefore, Swift's suggestion that using babies as a food source would increase their standard of care and the treatment of their mothers during pregnancy and nursing may actually have some merit. In addition, the perspective of time has revealed that the religious conflicts in Ireland have escalated to a point where killing those of a different religion has moved from theory and satire to actual reality. Furthermore, every single day the news reports treatment of children in impoverished countries that actually make a simple slaughter seem almost humane. The combination of all of these different perspectives has made it difficult for me to feel any type of real emotion in response to "A….....