What is one way that a modest proposal is ironic?

In Swift’s essay “A Modest Proposal”, one way in which the author engages with the audience is to make them see deeper political, moral, and social truths and problems through his use of irony. The essay is certainly a satire that is aimed at making his contemporary readers recognize the kind of cold, calculating inhumanity of blunt rationalism when used to address social problems such as poverty and overpopulation.

The irony of the narrator of “A Modest Proposal" though, is that he can go on to criticize the moral weakness of mothers who have immoral abortions or commit infanticide. In one of his most ironic statements, the speaker balks at the idea of eating teenagers because this is “bordering upon cruelty," as if all of his other suggestions were not. The speaker, in the essay, can coldly discuss the economic and social benefits of killing and eating children without ever giving much thought to the moral problems. Of course, no one would consider seeking to develop such a plan as this, but by carrying this thought to the far reaches of his audiences’ sensibilities, Swift is able to challenge them on what little they are doing to relieve the poor and starving of Ireland.

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